Queensland Fishing Monthly November 2018

SENSATIONAL SPRING FISHING • MARLIN MAYHEM

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Boating & Kayaking

Features Game on for black marlin • Cicadas for bass • DIY lure making: Crabapillar • Monduran bumper barra •

Exploring Hinze • Kayaking: abandon ship!

• Avoid boating pitfalls •

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November 2018, Vol. 31 No. 1

Contents NORTHERN NEW SOUTH WALES Yamba 22 Ballina 24

introduce to fishing, the more that will raise their voice when some preservationist with a promotion wants to stop us doing what we do.

After all, anglers are the true conservationists. We all want there to be more fish in the sea next time we go fishing.

BARRA TOUR It’s happening soon and there’s still time to come and join the fun! The 2018 Zerek BARRA Tour is happening again this month – a week of

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Phone: (07) 3387 0800 Fax: (07) 3387 0801 Managing Editor: Steve Morgan s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au Editorial Manager: Jacqui Thomas Sub-Editors: Bob Thornton Nicole Penfold Annie March Field Editors: Jason Ehrlich Wayne Kampe Publishers: Steve Morgan Matthew Drinkall

Sales Enquiries: nkelly@fishingmonthly.com.au Advertising Enquiries: Ph: (07) 3387 0800 Nicole Kelly nkelly@fishingmonthly.com.au Printing: APN – News Corp Australia Production: Karen Millward Keith Hawley Website: www.fishingmonthly.com.au Distribution: Gordon & Gotch Pty Ltd Subscriptions: Kym Rowbotham Office Manager: Marie Dykstra

TO SUBSCRIBE SEE PAGE 80 FIND THE GAMAKATSU LOGO COMPETITION PAGE 101 Queensland Fishing Monthly magazine goes on sale the first week of each month (latest sale date 7th of the month).

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Qld Fishing Monthly Pty Ltd ABN 72-010-542-195 IN

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Brandon with a couple of decent bass he caught on the prefish day before the ABT Wyaralong Dam competition, where he placed fourth.

A Brandon Goulding image.

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full-on barra fishing in some of Queensland’s best dams.

We had newbie teams from Queensland and NSW come last year and they had a blast.

ABT, who runs the event (and also operates out of the Fishing Monthly offices) has a motto – ‘Who Shares Wins’.

The teams on the BARRA Tour are always keen to share a beer and some techniques after the sessions. Fishing is from the late afternoons into the evenings, so you beat the heat of the midday North Queensland sun.

If you don’t make it on tour (someone has to keep the country going), make sure you tune in to all of the coverage on www.abt.org.au.

The BARRA Tour is a full catch, photograph and release event, so there’s a mountain of epic barramundi pic spam headed your way if you visit the site or go and like the Australian Bass Tournaments Facebook page.

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“It’d take us so long to learn what we picked up today by trial and error,” said one of the carers. And a lot of us take that for granted.

People who don’t fish often don’t have the skills to take a kid for a fish and to introduce them to the recreation that we all love so much.

That’s a real positive of Gone Fishing Day. But I think that we should take that attitude into the rest of the year. The more people you

AUST

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GONE FISHING DAY Gone Fishing Day #3 is in the books (#gfd18). Over 100 organised events took place all over Australia – from Darwin to Tasmania and from Botany Bay to Western Australia, Aussies enjoyed our birthright – to recreationally fish for fun and food.

One of the highlights of the day is the number of new anglers that we get to introduce to fishing. Some of our staff were at the NSWDPI event on Botany Bay. On the day, 10 boats took out 10 kids (and their guardians) who wouldn’t otherwise get the opportunity to be in a boat and catch a fish.

The reactions for these people was amazing. For most of them, the experience of being able to ride in a serious fishing boat was eye-opening enough, but when the kids started dragging in bream over a kilo and flathead over a couple of kilograms, the smiles really started.

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REGULAR FEATURES Back to Basics 20 Camping and 4WD 70 Cooking 76 Dam Levels 62 Freshwater 62 Fun Page 96 Junior 45 Sheik of the Creek 71 Suntag 90 Tech Tricks 18 Tournament News 78 Track my fish 92 Trades and Services 94 What’s New Boating 100 What’s New Fishing 86 SPECIAL FEATURES Game on for black marlin Bass anglers be buzzin’ DIY lure making: Crabapillar Monduran bumper barra

From the Editor’s Desk...

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BOATING AND KAYAK

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TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND Whitsundays 54 Ayr 56 Hinchinbrook 56 Townsville 57 Cairns 58 Cairns NFZ 58 Port Douglas 59 Lucinda 59 Cape York 61 Cooktown 60

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CENTRAL QUEENSLAND Hervey Bay 46 Rainbow Beach 47 Bundaberg 48 Lake Monduran 48 Gladstone 49 Rockhampton 50 Stanage Bay 51 Yeppoon 52 Mackay 53

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PRO

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND The Tweed 25 Southern Gold Coast 26 Gold Coast Canals 27 Jumpinpin 28 Gold Coast 30 Southern Bay 32 Brisbane 34 Brisbane Offshore 36 Northern Bay 38 Noosa 40

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BLACK MARLIN

Black marlin trolling basics – it’s game on!

BRISBANE OFFSHORE

Kaspar Lenigas

With the approach of summer and the big burst of warm water pushing down the East Coast, a lot of offshore anglers’ minds turn to pelagics and, in particular, black marlin.

Black marlin are often seen as a fish that needs to be caught out of game boats or large trailer boats, however, they are easily accessible to anglers out of trailer boats as small as 4.2m.

Almost every year from November onwards we can expect to see black marlin off the South East Queensland coast. Generally most are

trolling a spread of 2-5 skirted lures. By trolling a spread of skirts you can cover a lot of water and locate areas where the activity and marlin are, or intercept fish on the move.

To troll a spread of lures effectively you’ll need the right equipment and set up.

BOAT AND GEAR Most boats over 4.2m in length powered with the right outboard will get you amongst the marlin. The rod holder position in your boat is critical to success, as this will ensure the lures are spread correctly to avoid tangles.

Rod holders in the back corners are ideal for shorter lures. Rail rod holders that sit wide of the gunnels, gunnel rod holder or outriggers are

Holding the fish in the water with the boat in gear is critical to a healthy release. This fish was tagged before being released. Hopefully it is recaptured in the future to gather information on its size and where it has travelled. juvenile blacks ranging from 15-40kg but you can encounter larger fish, some over 100kg at times. The run of juvenile black marlin is an inshore run of fish that are often found from as close in as the beach out to 150m of water, which is easy to access for most trailer boats.

The most common way to catch juvenile black marlin is

ideal for longer lures as they give the lure height and spread so they work properly.

Generally when trolling for blacks, most boats run a spread of 4-5 lures, but this can be daunting for people new to trolling as the lures can tangle easily. Depending on how many people are on board, it can be a bit of a process to set and retrieve,

Justin with his first black marlin. Fish of this size are very common and easy for most anglers to manage. especially when you’ve hooked a fish. I suggest a spread of 2-3 rods as it’s very easy to manage.

When running a spread of 2-3 lures, I suggest running your short and long corner set a little further back than normal, then run the third rod off the short rigger position.

If you don’t have a rigger, just elevate the rod or set it out a bit. I usually use rail rod holders and set the rods out and elevate their position until I’m happy with how it works the lure.

If you are confident running a fourth rod, run it so you have a longer lure in the spread – just in case the fish are a little boat shy and feeding further back.

For seasoned anglers, teasers are also great when run close to the boat, whether it be a mirror, dredge or bird teaser. However, for anglers new to this form of fishing I suggest going with out, as it’s one less thing to worry about clearing when you get hooked up.

Traditionally a lot of

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juvenile black marlin fishing is done with light tackle.

However, using overhead gear with 8kg monofilament can be a little hard to use if you haven’t done this style of fishing before. I recommend using 15kg mono either on spin or overhead tackle, as you have a little more control especially if you hook a larger fish.

Spin tackle is perfectly fine to use on these smaller fish. A lot of anglers feel more comfortable using spin gear and it can handle small black marlin with ease. The 24kg gear can be a little too heavy to enjoy the fight on smaller fish so it’s important to use the according drag.

You need to run at least 300m of line when chasing marlin. Most spinning reels won’t hold this amount of 15kg monofilament so I suggest running 30-100m of 15kg mono as a top shot on top of your spool of braid.

Monofilament is good for this style of fishing as it is very forgiving – it stretches and absorbs the shock and headshakes, as juvenile black marlin are very acrobatic.

Mono line also helps in hooking the fish as the stretch allows the hook to set better and it’s drag in the water helps keep the hook in place, especially if you get slack line through the fight.

The gear I recommend is 20-30 size overhead reels and 5000-8000 size spin reels on 5-7’ rods rated from 10-15kg or 15-24kg. The rod and reel doesn’t need to be heavy for these juvenile fish, the most important thing when trolling is the right drag setting so the hooks used in the lures set properly and stay in.

The rule most used for strike drag setting is one third of the breaking strain of the mainline. For 15kg line you would use 5kg strike drag, but anything from 3-5kg is fine.

Using the right hook rig and hooks in the lure will greatly improve your hook up ratio.

As black marlin have a

hard bony mouth and bill, finer gage sharp hooks are the key to success. Hooks like Pakula Dojo in size 20-25 and Gamakatsu sl12s in 6/0-9/0 work well.

Skirted lures and rigging lure selection is very important – you need to run the right lures, in the right colours, in the right sizes, in the right positions to allow the spread to work effectively.

The general rule of thumb with lure colour is the closer the lure is to the boat the darker the colour and the more natural and lighter/ brighter colours should be further back. At short corner I use black or dark colours, long corner a natural colour,

Slant head lures are great to use as well, but work best with cleaner water behind the boat.

For smaller black marlin you don’t have to run very large lures, 4-8” is enough.

Run the bigger lures close to the boat and go smaller further back.

When rigging skirts for black marlin I prefer to use 2m of 100-150lb monofilament leader crimped to or tied to a hook rig. Your hook rig can be either a double or single and there are many ways to make them. I use a single as they are much easier to make and don’t twist up or spin as easily as a double after a few fish. A lot of the time you’ll find that you’ll hook the black marlin on the rear hook if you use a double hook rig.

Doubles are great for other species like mahimahi, which are typical by-catch while targeting blacks. But plenty of people have also caught them using a single hook rig.

I find the single hook rig to be far safer when de-hooking or dealing with fish boat side.

As wahoo are another common by-catch, it’s important to use multi-stand cable in your hook rig as it prevents unwanted bite offs and losing expensive lures.

The cable also prevents some chaffing, but the mono above your hook rig can become damaged from a marlin’s bill so you’ll need to cut it back and reattach your mono

Large mahimahi are a regular by-catch when trolling lures for marlin. They make for a great photo, can fight really well and are exceptional eating. short rigger bright pink red or purple, and long rigger green or lumo.

The type of lure head on your skirt will also have an impact on success rates, as certain lures work best in certain positions. Shorter heads with large cup faces are best run close to the boat, this is because they usually dive deeper and have a lot of action making them more visible to the fish as they get under the white wash created by the boat. The further back you go the longer the lure head and smaller the cup face, as the white wash further back in the spread isn’t as thick or deep.

to the hook rig. You can buy pre-made hook rigs but making them is much cheaper.

You can make them to suite the lure, you just need the right size cable and crimps.

TROLLING SPEED AND LURE POSITION A speed between 5-7 knots is perfect for trolling skirts, however your speed will fluctuate depending on the speed of the current and how the lures are working.

You want the lures to come to the surface grab air smoke and dive then come back up for air and repeat.

The diagram shows how to position your lures correctly. The distance you

BLACK MARLIN place them behind the boat depends on your boat, but most place them on the pressure waves created behind the boat. My short lure is around 10m behind the boat, the next is 3-5m behind that and so on. As long as the lures don’t tangle and look to be working smoothly you are in with a chance of a hook up.

HOW TO LOCATE MARLIN Juvenile black marlin

are unique in that they are a relatively coastal fish and travel down the coastline following warm water currents in search of baitrich waters, so unlike other marlin they can be relatively easy to locate as they aren’t too far off the coast but you need the right conditions and factors for them to be in an area.

Generally water over 25ºC is ideal with current, bait and birds present in the

area. Water colour doesn’t always need to be blue as they will feed in green water if bait is present.

There are certain locations/areas where marlin are frequently caught but it can take some time to learn where these areas are. The aid of some local knowledge is very helpful but as long as you get out there, cover the water and pay attention to what’s going on you’ll begin to work it out. Being part of

a local game fishing club can greatly increase your chances of getting into these fish, as there are many experienced game fishers who are willing to share their experience and knowledge with other anglers.

My best advice is to find a location that is holding bait and with birds in the area, then wait until a tide change – the marlin might be there but aren’t active enough to eat a lure until the tide changes.

And, of course, persistence

Typical Marlin Spread Long Rigger

Long Corner

Shotgun

Short Corner

Short Rigger

This striped marlin was caught while chasing black marlin on light tackle. They put up an excellent fight on 15kg and are stunning to look at. is the key.

Some hot spots along the coast are: Fraser Island and Hervey Bay, Double Island Point, Mooloolaba, Cape Moreton, Point Lookout, Stradbroke Island, outside the Jumpinpin bar, Gold Coast and Tweed Heads.

Black marlin may travel great distances but they can be quite lazy – they don’t like to hold in strong current and will generally ride with it until they find an area where the bait is holding out of the current, making for an To page 12

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BLACK MARLIN From page 11

easy meal.

There is a whole array of by-catch when targeting black marlin, such as various tuna, mahimahi, wahoo, sailfish and other marlin species, such as stripe marlin and on rare occasions blue marlin. Some of these by-catch species are great eating and can put up an awesome fight, which can alleviate the boredom between black marlin bites.

There are a few things that will greatly improve how many you covert from a hook up, namely the tackle and boat you use.

The boat can keep pressure on the fish, as well as change the line angle and increase/ decrease the distance the fish is from the boat. It is important that you always have someone keeping an eye on the spread of lures so you can anticipate or prepare for a bite and know

run boat side – so be prepared.

When close enough, pull up on the leader and grab the fish by the bill firmly as they will shake their head and carry on.

I suggest keeping their head in the water once you’ve grabbed them by the bill as they seem to calm down a lot quicker.

Black marlin are a fragile fish and don’t take too well to being pulled out of the water – if you wish to pull it from the water for a photo be prepared to keep it. They are quite nice to eat, as long as you bleed and ice them. If you wish to release them don’t pull them from the water, the best thing to do is keep their head in the water and the boat in gear to revive the fish as they are generally pretty spent from the fight. You can also get some great shots of the fish in the water upon capture,

which really shows off their colours and size.

Catching small black marlin is a lot of fun and any one who can wind a reel can do it. I’ve caught my fair share and love watching others, including younger anglers, catch their first and experience the spectacle of marlin fishing. Some days it can happen in the first hour or the last but as long as you stay patient and persist, something will happen – those moments of mayhem make up for the hours of boredom. I hope all this information gives you the confidence you need to tangle with your first marlin or the information you need to refine and improve your technique to catch more.

Just remember to take enough fuel to get you out and back safely.

A large array of black marlin lures in various colours, sizes, heads and hook rigs.

Juvenile blacks are incredibly acrobatic and a lot of fun. This one was hooked only a couple of hundred metres from the shore in 15m of water.

THE FIGHT Juvenile black marlin are very acrobatic hard fighting fish, making them incredibly good at avoiding capture.

what it is that you are hooking.

Once you have hooked a marlin, it is imperative you keep the boat moving forward and away from the fish until

you’ve cleared the other lures out of the water. If you can, make sure someone grabs the rod that’s hooked the fish so they can keep pressure on it while the spread is cleared, just in case the fish changes direction. Once the spread is cleared and the fish is away from the boat, gather your line and chase down the fish.

Simply follow up on the line

with the boat and keep an even pressure on the line and the fish.

Depending on the size of the marlin, the fight could last hours (or minutes). Once a marlin is boat side and ready for capture, make sure the person tracing is wearing gloves as marlin have very rough bills. Black marlin can also jump or go for another

The best locations are areas with water over 25oC, with current, bait and birds present in the area.

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Bass anglers be buzzin’ BRISBANE

Bob Thornton

You’re slowly nosing up a freshwater creek on a hot, muggy afternoon, and you’re dripping with sweat from an arduous paddle. The trees that line the bank are gradually closing over to form a canopy over the deep, dark pools as you make your way further upstream.

black/brown, all the way brighter colours like green, yellow and sometimes even orange! Most cicadas breed in the warmer months of the year, and the males can often be heard vibrating a drumlike plate on the side of their abdomens to call in a mate on warm afternoons. The bestknown of Australian cicadas is the green grocer, which, as the name suggests, is a leafy green colour. The green grocer is credited to be one

Larger rivers with plenty of trees and grass along the bank are great places to toss cicadas.

It’s clear no anglers have been in this stretch of creek for a while. The ringing of cicadas builds to a deafening crescendo overhead, and you reach into your cluttered tackle collection at your feet for a lure to imitate one of these winged invertebrates. With your offering tied on, your first cast to a likely corner sees the water erupt as if someone’s thrown a brick in the water. It’s going to be a good evening.

It’s scenarios like these that make this time of year so exciting for a bass angler, and anyone who regularly chases our bronze battlers will fanaticize about sessions like these when they should be doing something else.

For those yet to experience a topwater cicada bite, let me take you through the whole process.

THE PREY I won’t bore you with entomology, mainly because it’s not my area of expertise! However, a basic understanding of cicadas and their habits will help you in your search for cicadaeating bass!

In Australia we have around 200 cicada species, and they range in colour from 14

NOVEMBER 2018

of the loudest insects in the world, with some recorded calls reaching 150 decibels, and let me tell you, in a small overgrown creek it can create quite an eerie atmosphere – but it’s worth braving!

When there’s trees and other cicada-harbouring vegetation lining the bank of

any bass water, the bass will patiently wait for one of these clumsy morsels to fall into the water. When the males are ringing and drumming, it means there’s females flying around trying to find their male counterparts, and quite often it’s these unfortunate souls that end up in the water. The buzzing of their wings on the water’s surface only helps to call bass in, before they meet their watery doom. Such is the cruelty of the food chain.

LOCATION Bass are targetable on cicada imitations virtually throughout their range, and in a variety of different environments, from ponds where they are stocked, to rivers and creeks, and even in some of Australia’s largest impoundments. The trick is to find a body of water that has bankside vegetation harbouring cicadas. The classic environment for this caper is a creek or river, but cicada-eating bass can be found in still waters as well, there just needs to be cicadas nearby!

As far as accessing these locations goes, there’s plenty of options. In areas where the water is too small to conveniently manoeuvre a kayak, walking or wading may be your only option.

Don’t be knocked back by this idea. Not owning a boat or kayak does limit what waterways you can fish, but it certainly doesn’t put a cap on the fun you can have! My best bass fishing memories have come from the some of the smallest creeks – insignificant trickles that you could almost step over. Any slightly deeper, darker pools with adequate shade form the vegetation above is worth throwing a cicada in, even if the retrieve is only a few metres long!

The Duo Realis Shinmushi perfectly imitates the cicadas that can be heard ringing in the vegetation around our rivers, creeks and dams.

In rivers and creeks where it is a little impractical to operate a trailer boat, but too wide in some areas to cast to the other bank from the shore, a kayak or canoe

may be the best bet.

In most dams, trailer boats are allowed, however some only allow for paddleonly access, and some even have a no vessel

afternoons as the sun starts to dip closer to the horizon, and any time the calls of male cicadas can be heard, it’s definitely worth tying on a topwater presentation.

Small creeks are an arena where an angler can use cicada lures all day, with nice, shaded pools like this one often holding many opportunistic little bass.

If your casting arm isn’t twitching, you may want to get yourself checked…

Tiemco Soft Shell Cicadas are fantastic for small creek work.

The fish in these smaller waterways are often small, but who can complain when they’re smashing cicadas in tiny, clear pools?

policy, but allow for shorebased angling.

Whatever water you choose, make sure you pick a method of fishing that allows you access to all the likely areas, such as log pile, overhanging shrubs and banks, and any shade cast by cicada-holding structure!

TIMING The general rule for bassing with topwater presentations is that it’s viable during any month with an ‘r’ in it. This is a very loose rule, however it’s a good starting point when picking apart any creek, river, or dam that holds bass.

It’s during the very warmest parts of the year that bass start to refine their search to the insects that become particularly active at this time of year, and featuring heavily among them is the cicada. Their ringing can often be heard on hot

Generally speaking, chasing a cicada bite, as with most topwater fishing, should be planned around the lowlight periods of the day, and sometimes after dark.

There are specific scenarios where cicadas can be used to great effect during the day, however. Very occasionally, these mating rituals between cicadas can happen during the day. If drumming is audible at any time during the day, it pays to have a cicada tied on, even if you aren’t fishing it as your primary weapon. However, if you can see bass actively surfacing and chasing cicadas, it’s a no brainer.

Small creeks are an arena where cicada bites can go right through the day. Small creeks are often narrow enough to have shade over them all day from the canopy of trees above. With so much vegetation over the shade-

cooled water, these creekdwelling fish often feel comfortable to hunt cicadas all day, almost completely free of predation. Again, listening for sounds of cicadas will be your best clue as to what you should tie on!

CHOOSING YOUR PRESENTATION There’s so many cicada imitations out there to choose from, it can be daunting to know where to start! Cicada-imitating lures range between around $7 and go beyond $30, and they all work! Let me take you through some basic types.

Paddlers and walkers These are by far the most common type of cicada imitation. They often have their tow point at the rear, and their two arms that create the walking action usually fold away to make for easy storage, and also to look like wings. Some paddlers even have rattles in them to sound like the real thing!

Some brands have created soft-bodied cicada paddlers. The beauty of these designs is that they land softly, like a cicada, and their softness means that if a fish misses the lure in an attempt to strike, they’ll often come back for a second look without suspecting anything artificial.

Wakebaits A wakebait is a crankbait

the surface can be aided by the use of monofilament leaders, as this material floats. Fluorocarbon, while a worthy tool for the job, sinks and can affect the desired action of certain lures.

Testing your lures before fishing with them is the best way to work out whether to go fluoro or mono.

Plenty of anglers will cast their cicada out and simply straight retrieve, fizz, or pop it back to where they’re positioned. While this works fine, if you really want to provoke a feeding response from a frisky summertime bass, you got to think a bit like a cicada!

When a cicada falls in, there’ll often lie stationary for a few moments so as not to arouse any nearby predators. Seconds later, there’ll buzz their wings gently on the surface. At this point, some will manage to fly away, while others will resort to a desperate attempt to propel themselves to the shore nearby.

To imitate this with a lure, you should let the lure or fly sit stationary where it lands. If you accidentally cast into a tree, even better!

In this case you should try to jiggle it off so it lands naturally in the water. I To page 16

After noticing the amount of small black cicadas scattering from the grass as he crashed through the bush, Andrew Thornton decided that a black Teeny Torpedo was the closest thing he had to match them. with a small, verticallyangled bib, which makes the lures wobble like a normal crankbait, but on the surface.

Many smaller models have been designed with cicadalike patterns on them, making these lures another great tool when chasing that cicada bite!

Flies Anyone who knows me knows that I always find a way to fit flyfishing into my

articles, so this one will be no different. Surface flies can be an excellent way to imitate a cicada, as they land very softly, and the material flies are made of often resembles the exact texture of the real thing. If you’re a fluff chucker, definitely bring the long wand next time your after the cicada eaters!

Others Many other lure types have been designed with

cicada patterns on them.

Fizzers, poppers and hollowbodied soft plastics lures are all potential choices, just think about what they local cicadas look like, and match the lures to them!

FISHING CICADAS Obviously, if you’re using a lure designed to imitate a cicada, you’ll want to impart an action that resembles a cicada!

Imparting a good action on

With a hot cicada bite happening in this large pool, the author couldn’t help himself and threw a fly into the action. The bass were quick to respond.

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From page 15

believe sometimes the leaves you shake off when doing this alerts the bass to the potential snack hanging above! After allowing your offering to sit for a few seconds, a great trick is to gently shake the rod tip to imitate the wing flapping; this also works with a fly rod. After a few seconds of this action, then I usually

commence the prescribed action, whether it be a straight retrieve in the case of paddlers and wakebaits, fizzes and pops in the case of fizzes and poppers, or gentle sliding strips for flies.

Intermittent pauses are just another trick the angler can employ during the retrieve. Bass love to hit a stationary lure, particularly if

Saratoga are just another predator that won’t knock back a juicy cicada when it falls into their domain.

Using a bright yellow lure might seem like an odd choice, but yellow cicadas do exist in certain places!

Naturally, bass in these areas are quick to pounce on anything resembling these curious insects.

16

NOVEMBER 2018

the bite is tough!

Strikes can happen at anytime during this process, so it pays to be on the ball.

Bass have an uncanny habit of striking when your mind is elsewhere, and can leave even the most seasoned anglers dead-eyed, wet and shaking.

GOING GLOBAL Many smart anglers have come to realise that cicada imitations are effective not just on bass, but a variety of light-tackle sportfish, in fresh and saltwater!

Travelling north, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of casting cicada lures into crystal clear rainforest streams in search of jungle perch and sooty grunter.

Closer to home, I’ve lobbed cicadas under mangrove overhangs for weary bream on hot summer afternoons.

Further south, I’ve scaled up the tackle slightly to tempt Murray cod from their lairs, as while they have a

preference for bigger tucker, they won’t often knock back a helpless, buzzing cicada as an easy feed.

Even in Tasmania, some switched on anglers are tossing soft-shelled cicada imitations into the snow-fed streams of the highlands to trick the local trout, with some great success!

In all these scenarios, the same principals apply. The only thing to adjust is the tackle, the layers of clothing you wear and the amount mozzie spray you apply!

FEEL THE BUZZ If you’ve ever wanted to know why bass anglers get so weird when they hear cicadas ringing in the trees outside

on a hot afternoon, get your hands on some cicada imitations and head down to your local bass creek, river, pond or dam.

The anticipation of that explosive topwater strike is rewarding enough in itself, let alone the satisfaction of landing, unhooking, photographing and finally releasing the East Coast’s premier sportfish.

Now is the perfect time to be preparing for the summer ahead. Hopefully by the end of this bass season, your hands will be covered in bass spikes, your legs spotted with thistle rash, and your camera full of memories – all thanks to one loud little invertebrate!

It’s a simple fact: bass just love eating cicadas in the warmer months!

Tech Tricks

Lure storage BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

Most keen anglers quickly accumulate a broad array of tackle items including rods, reels, lures, terminal tackle, lines, tools and other items. Quality tackle can be rather expensive these days, therefore it pays to look after your investment.

If you’re like me and enjoy any form from freshwater flyfishing to

heavy tackle bluewater trolling, then you will accumulate a broad array of tackle over the years. Some lures may only get used a few times a year. The last thing you need is to find that they are in bad condition when you go to use them as replacements are costly and unnecessary. You just need to store lures properly so they remain in top condition.

In this issue we are going to have a look at the various types of storage options designed for your lures and flies.

STOWAWAY BOXES 1

1

There’s a huge array of stowaway boxes ideal for storing all manner of lures and other tackle. These boxes are often designed to go into larger storage options, such as hard tackle systems and soft bags. They have internal interchangeable dividers so you can segregate certain lures or lure styles into one area.

As your lure collection grows, you can get more boxes which fit into your main lure storage box. Certain boxes can be designated for different applications, lure brands or lure styles – you just swap them around in your main tackle storage system as you need.

Plano, Versus and Moncross are the main brands in Australia although most major tackle companies will also have their own branded product. Numerous brands conform and will have similar outer dimensions, so they are interchangeable in a wider array of storage systems.

One of the good aspects of these boxes is that not all your tackle is exposed to the salt air when you need to get something. A stowaway can be at arm’s reach in your boat without having to bring out the entire tackle box.

Additionally you can simply take whichever stowaways of tackle you need and the rest can be kept at home.

STOWAWAY 2

STOWAWAY 3

3

To maximise storage for large minnow and bibless lures that are used for species such as barramundi, Murray cod and bluewater beasts. A larger stowaway with no dividers will offer a decent storage option to hold a maximum number of lures. I use elastic bands to secure the two trebles of each lure together which makes a single lure easier to get out.

Using a box with more dividers is a better option in regards to protecting your lures but will greatly cut down the number of lures you can store in each box.

Wire traces on lures can be coiled to help them fit.

For large cod lures, such as topwater paddlers, wake snakes and swimbaits, these large compartmentless boxes are a great option. Many of these have an extra rubber seal around the top and a closure on each edge in an attempt to make them waterproof.

DOUBLE SIDERS

6

Some lures require a better storage option than the average stowaway to keep them in top condition although you will not be able to store as many lures. These double-sided boxes have individual alternating V-Shaped recesses on each side. Each space is designed to hold a single lure and the V-shape limits the amount of movement of the lure and keeps it straight.

For high quality minnow lures, many of which have exquisite finishes, this box type keeps them in better condition, minimising tackle box rash from vibration and rubbing against each other during transit. Soft plastic vibes and many prawn lures need to be kept straight otherwise they will distort over time, making them a lot less effective. Sometimes the different types of plastic in each will react causing them to melt or distort. These boxes offer an ideal storage option for such lures by keeping them straight and separated.

SLIT FOAM BOXES

STOWAWAY 4

4

Deep stowaways like this are also ideal for storing smaller packets as most will stand up on their edge.

This is one of my rigging boxes that I keep at home and has sections for inline hooks, split rings, solid rings, jig hooks, assist skirts and assist cord.

I have another similar one to this set up for live baiting and rigging trolling baits. It stores a pair of crimping pliers, some small rolls of wire, circle hooks, packets of crimps, octopus skirts, stitching needles, wax thread, rubber bands and a few premade garfish trolling rigs. By having this all in one box, I know that I can just throw it in the boat and everything is there that I need for this type of fishing when going on a trip.

7

Although originally designed for storage of flies, slit foam boxes have found plenty of other uses for tackle storage. The bottoms of these boxes are lined with foam possessing numerous parallel slits.

Items such as jigheads, spare treble hooks and those lures sporting single hooks can be inserted into the slits, holding them in place, preventing them moving around. I store my plastic crabs in one box as it keeps them true to form and the legs don’t get distorted. Soft vibes can also be stored in these boxes as well as a lot of other types of lures.

WALLETS 1

STOWAWAY 5

2

Stowaway boxes usually have some fixed dividers and some removable, so that you can customise the box to your requirements. I try to cram as many lures as possible into each box, therefore I commonly put the lures in without adding dividers.

To maximise space or to protect the finish on lures, some will store them without hooks. When the lure is needed, a treble or single lure hook is quickly added. You will almost double the number of lures that you can store in a box without having hooks on them. Additionally, you will not be picking up a lure to find the hooks blunt or rusted. You will need split rings, a few sets of trebles and split ring pliers to alternate hooks between lures of a similar size. Lures without hooks can be taken as carry on baggage if necessary and the hooks carried in your checked luggage when flying to a fishing destination.

18

NOVEMBER 2018

5

The type of tackle being stored will dictate what size of box you need. Sometimes to maximise space you will need two shallow boxes instead of one deep box for storing smaller items. These two boxes will take up exactly the same space as one larger box yet the two boxes eliminate wasted space inside the box, especially where smaller items are concerned.

Choosing the best stowaway box for your lures and other tackle can maximise your stowage space in your tackle locker or large tackle box or bag.

8

There is a broad array of wallet styles and sizes on the market. Many of these have a series of plastic envelopes inside in which you can store and separate items. These can be used for premade leaders such as wind-ons and fly leaders, premade rigs, spare fly lines, flies, bags of soft plastics, storage of gamefish tags, packets of hooks, split rings and other terminals plus a huge array of other items that can be stored flat. This will keep them organised, easy to source and protected.

Tech Tricks JIG BAGS

WALLETS 2

9

Some manufacturers produce wallet systems specific to their particular product. Soft plastics manufacturers in particular, try to assist anglers to keep their particular plastics in good order by offering wallet systems that hold their bags of plastics, which is always the best way to store any plastic. This allows anglers to organise their plastics with particular styles or sizes in each wallet and offers quick identification of size, colour and style.

LURE ROLLS

12

10

Available in several lengths and widths, lure rolls are a great way to store numerous types of skirted lures. These commonly have a series of pockets with Velcro closures along the length of the roll. The pockets are generally clear vinyl and the main part of the roll is mesh, which allows the lures to dry and breathe, and so you can see each lure for quick identification.

The roll can be hung vertically or laid down horizontally in the boat and lures chosen and removed as needed. At the end of the day the entire roll can be hosed to wash the lures and left open until all are dried. When rolled up the lures move very little, which eliminates leaders and hook rigs from tanging. Some also store poppers and stickbaits in such rolls but there is a better option.

Smaller numbers of metal jigs can be stored in a variety of ways including stowaway boxes, lure rolls and specialist jig bags. However, if you have a broad selection then a specialist jig bag will be the best selection as they are made strong enough to support the weight of a large number of jigs.

These bags can come in several forms yet most have mesh sleeves with individual mesh pockets on a page type system within the outer case. The jigs are slid individually into the pocket with the assist hook at the top. The jigs and hooks are secured in place by a flap that is folded down and secured with Velcro before the case is closed. Some bags are designed for long jigs, some for short jigs and some will hold a selection of different sizes. Your jigs will stay in better shape if they aren’t rubbing together during transit, which greatly affects their finish.

FLY BOXES

POPPER ROLLS

13

11 Similar to lure rolls, popper rolls have been specifically made with larger pockets more suited to the bulk of such lures. Some of these roll up and some are designed to form a rectangular bag when clipped up. With many quality poppers and stickbaits costing in excess of $100, it pays to protect your investment.

Many of these popper rolls will also have an additionally smaller pocket for storage of spare hooks and split rings. Two of the more readily available ones are made by HPA and Top Water Australia and are a worthy investment.

Flies come in a lot of different sizes, styles and profiles and as such there are a lot of different fly boxes to store and protect your investment. The slit boxes (aforementioned) are great for most styles. All fly boxes come in an array of sizes with varying qualities. Some fly boxes are waterproof and strong enough to be stood on without breaking. Ripple foam boxes have rows of ripples (or waves) in the foam insert.

The points of the flies are dug into the foam to hold them in place. Some fly anglers will have a larger box with the majority of their flies and a small box that fits in their pocket for wading of walking the banks. It takes a while to tie your own quality flies and custom tied ones are usually not cheap. Additionally, opening your box and finding your flies creased and errant when you want to use them is very annoying. Store them well and they will last and work as intended.

These are just some of the main ways to store your quality tackle items. Which storage option you choose for different types of tackle is sometimes a personal choice. This can be dependant on your fishing situation, whether you travel to fish, how much tackle you want to store or what type of craft you fish from. However, the main importance is that your tackle is protected and in good condition for when you want to use it.

NOVEMBER 2018

19

How to catch a crocodile NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.fishotopia.com

It’s big flathead time right now in many parts of the country. So, how do you set about targeting the largest flatties living in your local waterways?

exceeding 55cm is a pretty good fish. The same goes for sandies and rock flathead in Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay. Over in South Australia’s gulfs, around Kangaroo Island, or on the northwest corner of Tasmania, a ‘big’ southern blue-spotted flattie could well be a fish in excess of 70cm, and there’s always

catch a few less of the smaller, run-of-the-mill flathead that generally tend to fill anglers’ bags. You need to decide up front how important this is to you. Are you more interested

flatties (these fish are often referred to as ‘crocodiles’ or ‘crocs’ by those who love them).

Big flathead of any species are capable of

Flatties can reach impressive proportions!

Starlo with a reasonable dusky. Not quite a crocodile, but getting there!

Jo Starling prepares to release the sort of jumbo flathead we all want to catch.

Whether you chase sand, rock, blue-spotted or tiger flathead down south, bar-tails in the west and north, or the king of them all, the mighty dusky flathead of our east coast waters, right

the chance of an 80cm+.

And of course, from Wilsons Promontory to Cairns along our heavily populated eastern seaboard, duskies are known to top a metre in length on very rare occasions, although

in quantity, or quality? Bear in mind too, that in most cases you’ll be releasing these jumbo flathead after a quick photo anyway, either because local laws require you to do so, or simply as recognition of their importance as breeders. This is not a meat hunting game.

eating very large meals. In fact, an 80cm+ flattie can easily wolf down a 25-30cm mullet, whiting, bream or tailor. They are also not at all averse to dining on their smaller brethren, and stories of genuine crocs grabbing average-size flatties that have been hooked by anglers are surprisingly commonplace. I know of one 88cm flattie that grabbed a hooked 44cm dusky and held on long enough to be netted, photographed and released.

That’s a potential meal half

as long as the diner themself!

So, if you normally use whitebait or sprats, upgrade to whole pilchards, while if you already cast pilchard or poddy mullet baits measuring 10-15cm in length when chasing flatties, think about scaling up to significantly heftier yellowtail, slimy mackerel or herring.

Similarly, if your standard flathead lures or flies are mostly in the 8-12cm length range that is so justifiably popular for this purpose, bite the bullet and double their dimensions. Seriously.

You may need to beef up your tackle slightly to cast these larger baits and lures, but that’s not a bad idea anyway, as it will help you handle not only XOS flathead, but also the sort of by-catch you’re likely to encounter, which may well

include mulloway, kingfish and even barra, estuary cod and jacks further north.

Think about strengthening your leaders and terminal tackle, too. Big crocodiles are extra hard on leaders and it’s heartbreaking to play a monster lizard almost to your feet, only to have it win its freedom at the last moment.

Hunting crocodiles isn’t for everyone, but if you’re up for it, these fish are certainly out there. Happy hunting.

Starlo’s new website portal www.fishotopia.com offers access to lots of nittygritty, how-to information like this, including a 34-page flip magazine dedicated to the pursuit of extra large flatties. Jump on, have a look around and consider signing up for the free monthly newsletter.

All XOS flatties should be carefully released to continue breeding. now is a pretty good time to be looking for the biggest specimens of the year.

Exactly how large a truly ‘big’ flathead is depends very much on where you happen to be fishing. If you’re chasing bar-tails in Perth’s Swan River, anything 20

NOVEMBER 2018

anything over 80-85cm is a trophy dusky for most of us.

Targeting these largerthan-average flathead generally requires a certain degree of dedication and specialisation in terms of both gear selection and technique.

It may also mean that you’ll

Assuming that you’re serious about wanting to target those extra bigger flatties, the first and most important tip I can give you is to significantly upsize the dimensions of your bait, lure or fly. This is by far the most vital key to catching larger

Don’t be afraid to throw seriously large lures if you’re chasing seriously big flathead!

NOVEMBER 2018

21

Warmth makes fish feed more aggressively YAMBA

Dave Gaden

November is a great month for fishing in this part of the world. October can sometimes be a bit hit and miss, but this month it all seems to get back in the positive again. The ocean has settled into the constant warm waters coming down from the north, making fish travel

haunts: Whiting Beach, Sleeper Island, Romiaka and the entrance to Lake Woolawayah to name a few.

The hard work of pumping a good bucket of live yabbies will certainly be worth it, as there is no better way to get a bag of whiting. But for those sportfishers amongst us, throwing a few poppers around can mean the sport of kings when you find a patch. Whiting are one of the only fish I seem to catch

fishing you can do; I have been known to almost fall asleep laying back with a rod in my hand only to be woken by a big lizard trying to steal the rod from my sleepy hand.

As I said earlier the crabs will be on the move.

setting the dillies along the depth change. Anywhere from the Tavern all the way to the entrance to the lake there will be crabs.

Offshore this month the options are endless. The FAD will be in full swing with fish hitting it already.

Kerry and the author’s brother Alex with some snapper. and working them over the edge into the deeper water will produce a few fish as they lay ready to ambush the small fish on a run-out tide. I like to troll

this time of year, just on the edge of the banks in around 1.5-2m of water, using a small diver, my favourite is a Zerek Tango Shad 50mm.

It’s about the most relaxing

Mitch (12yo) from Logan was happy with this snapper.

Dave from Grafton with a Maori cod. and feed more aggressively and the mud crabs in the river that disappeared through October will get going again.

In the estuary it’s time to dust off the whiting gear this month. The tasty little fish will be around in good numbers in all the usual

more of when it’s windy, they seem to be more comfortable taking a popper when the water is choppy.

Flathead are going to be holding the edge of the deeper water as the weather warms up this month. Throwing a few soft plastics onto the shallows

Tiger (14yo) holds up a quality snapper.

I have a few mates who are professional mud crab fishers and have been told muddies almost disappear in October, but come back in November with gusto.

The blue swimmers arrived early this year and will only be growing in numbers this month. Early in the season we trap the swimmers in the deeper water but as it warms up they will be everywhere.

Find somewhere where the tide has a good run and the water drops from 1-2m

It is a bit of a drive out, but well worth it with last season producing mahimahi to 12kg on some charter boats. This month will also see small shoals of wahoo around the FAD. Last year they were there with lots of 5-6 fish around the 8-10kg class. They can be very cagey fish that will take a skirted lure trolled extra fast when you first get there, but will then sit alongside the boat so close you can almost touch them, but not

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take a live bait sat in front of them. Be prepared to be frustrated.

Heading north, the trag and jew at Black Rock, Italian Grounds and South Evans Reef will be an easy target for you. I like to fish

will be heaps on the grounds you are fishing. I rarely fish livies while drifting, but once anchored there is always a couple out, even if you don’t happen to get a big jew, the trag will eat every livie you have.

heading north to just stop in and have a look.

If you are heading to the southern grounds, then you really can’t go past the reef between Brooms Head and Red Cliff. It’s an easy fish as the current will

and you will have 3-4km of very productive ground to cover. Good snapper on the floaters and pearl perch, Venus tuskfish and Moses perch on the bottom.

Now you have all the good oil on what to do and where to go, so when you catch that fish of a lifetime how about you call into my shop at Yamba Marina and weigh it in for the Fish of The Year competition they run down here. It might get you a great prize.

A solid snapper caught by Sean from Grafton.

Graham Blake with a 30kg cobia that was too heavy to lift. between 40-45m this time of year, drifting with the lack of wind in the morning and then anchoring over the bait shoals when the northeasterly winds kick in.

You won’t have to waste a heap of time chasing live baits for these guys, as there

Later this month might give you your first show of mackerel, both spotted and Spanish, at Woody Head and Shark Bay. This is usually a hit and miss first run with a red hot bite one day and no fish the next, but it’s not that far out of your way if you are

be predominately running downhill and the breeze is mostly north. This gives you a drift from Red Cliff all the way past Brooms, covering some great reef. Start in around 40m deep, lining Red Cliff up under Clarence Peek when you look west

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23

Bass are booming in Ballina BALLINA

Joe Allan

The whole region is fishing well, but what we do need is some rain to stir things up a bit. It’s almost too clear in some parts of the

what the fish are eating at this time of year. I have had good success on the Atomic Crank 38 in ghost gill brown, muddy prawn and black beauty.

The close in reefs have been producing a few tuna, bonito and horse mackerel of late. The best way to target

these fish is by trolling big metal slugs or pint skirted lures. If you find a bait school, get your slugs and start casting

eating and can provide some awesome fun on light gear.

As the water starts to really warm up the mahimahi will

The author with a bass caught on a Bassman 3/8oz jig with an Atomic Skinny Grub trailer.

Nige Skyring with a beautiful bream caught from the South Wall.

Anthony Melchior with a trevally caught upriver on an Atomic Crank 38. lower reaches of the river, a little colour in the water would really kick things along nicely.

The freshwater reaches of the river are well and truly hitting their straps. The Aussie bass are out in numbers and eating surface lures in the early and late parts of the day.

The best lures to try are any of the cicada imitations. The best time to give these a go is when the cicadas are out singing and you can’t hear yourself think. The old faithful Bassman spinnerbaits are always a go-to, but worth a try this early in the season are small profile crankbaits that imitate prawns, because that’s

24

NOVEMBER 2018

because this action can be crazy, with fish often coming on-board cast after cast while you’re on the school. There are still a fair few snapper around Lennox Point, Riordans Reef and Black Head Beach, the latter can be a little hit and miss though. There are a lot of smaller fish, however, these fish can still be great

Christian Booker with a solid snapper caught off Evans Head on an Atomic Prong.

become hungry and should be around in solid numbers. Best spots to check are the FADs and the Wave Buoy.

The beaches along South Ballina can produce some amazing whiting fishing this time of year. Scout the beach a few days before the bigger tides and head out at night with live worms and pipi.

The pipi numbers will start to increase as the water warms up. Watch out though, if the northerly winds are blowing the blue bottles will be out in numbers and while not generally deadly, they pack a punch and getting stung can be quite uncomfortable.

Whiting in the lower reaches of the Richmond are on and firing, especially on small surface lures. The best lures to try are the Bassday Sugapen 70s in a variety of different colours depending on water clarity and sunlight.

The most popular colours have been the C95 (orange), MB16 (clear with pink stripes) and C137 (banana prawn). Get these walking as fast as you

can over the weed or sand flats, until you find a concentration of fish. Then keep going as they can be in big numbers together. Be prepared to hook a few things as by-catch like small trevally, bream and very hungry flathead. When there is water moving over these flats, the fish know it’s time to feed. A good little trick is to

truly on the bite in the middle reaches of the river around Pimlico Island and right through up to Woodburn. If you’re bait fishing, get some white pilchards (salting keeps the flesh harder), fresh prawns and live poddy mullet. If you’re into throwing lures or trolling them behind the boat, this can be the best time of

This bass couldn’t resist a Bassman jig. change the rear trebles to the assist hooks in size 10. This will help increase your hook up rate when the fish are not as committed.

Flathead are well and

year for this type of fishing.

Get as bright a lure as you can, flathead can’t seem to get enough of those fluro things.

Until next month, tight lines.

It’s beginning to smell a lot like summer THE TWEED

Anthony Coughran

The summer species are waking from their slumber and starting to wreck havoc on anglers. The jacks and whiting are really coming on the bite with the temperature rise in our estuary system.

The summer pelagic are already starting to make their presence felt on close reefs offshore, and there is still the odd large snapper on close reefs off Tweed.

Plastics at dusk and dawn are still finding the goods.

The dam has fully recovered from the fish cull back in

up off the bottom feeding for best results. You’ll find the odd pack of tuna sitting between the close reefs. Look for birds working and position your boat windward side of the pack; tuna almost always feed into the wind. Pegging metals and trolling small jet heads past the pack should see the line start peeling.

The odd spanner crab can be found between the 24 and 36 fathoms. It is well worth a pot soaking while fishing out there. You will want your trap or pot in the shale or sand next to the reefs. There has been a lot of baitfish at point reef, yellow marker at cook and on the south side of Kingy.

Nick Dillion with the last of the season knobby.

July and the bass are really starting to slurp those insect lures off the top.

OFFSHORE The current is in full flight now. The water temp has risen and the pelagic are starting to show up around the close reefs off of Tweed. Kingfish are starting to show up around Nine Mile and the Mud Hole and are making it difficult for anglers to keep them out of the reef. Down rigged baits and livies are fishing the best this month. Finding bait with arches sitting around it means you are in the right area. But fishing 80lb or more is the only way most anglers are stopping these brutes. Jigs and large stickbaits are also working well.

Mahimahi, wahoo and various marlin species are starting to make their presence felt. Most are being caught out on the 24, 36, and 50 fathom lines and the FAD. Trolling skirts on current lines is proving to be the method to catching the early pelagic.

Purple and black skirts are catching more this month, with the odd mackerel sitting off the backside of the close bommies.

Trolling large hardbodies, wire skirts, swimbaits and floating baits has been working best, but no real numbers have shown up yet.

The odd large random reefy is still hanging around the close reef. Large snapper, golden snapper and spangled emperor are still taking plastics and drift baits this month. Look for active fish

ESTUARY The temps in the rivers are rising and so are the appetites of the red dogs. Jacks are really starting to claim territories, and now is the best time to troll the rock walls of the Tweed. Fingal, Chinny, Cobaki, Terronora, around Stotts Island and Tumbulgum with 100-200mm deep-diving hardbodies. These rock walls are long and allow you to get long trolls in with two rods going, but a tackle back is a must to get those $30 lures back. Vibes and slow-rolled plastics around and along these rock walls have been productive as well.

It’s been a little slow on the bait scene this month. Smaller live baits such as herring, potty mullet and biddies around the

bridges of a night are still catching a few this month.

But the lures are out fishing baits this month, with upper reaches of the systems getting a special mention. Structure around skinny water and little drop-offs are catching a few, too. A few anglers have been catching some big estuary cod as by-catch from fishing these methods and places.

There are still some good flathead around the skinny water when chasing the whiting, and out in the deep water around the river mouths. But the sand banks that hold large amounts of yabbies are holding most of the whiting, which in return holds the better quantity and quality of flathead. Fishing the last two hours of the run-out is your best chance at a good flat fish session. Drains, draining sand and weed banks, main channels and thoroughfares have been the best spots to find them.

Whiting are pushing up into the skinny water. The run-in tide with Sugapens, poppers, stickbaits, plastics and small blades are all fishing well, and it is so much fun when you see packs of fish fighting over your lure. A quick retrieve is crucial for the whiting to get excited and reaction bite your lure.

Yabbies and worms are also catching a good feed, but the lures are producing the larger elbow slappers. A few trevally are still being caught in the Tweed. Live baits at night are fishing better than lures. You will also chance the odd mulloway sitting around the trevally and munching on the bait that goes through and hangs around the bridges.

BEACH There are still a few tailor around the Headlands and rock walls this month, with dusk and dawn still fishing best. Metals, poppers, hardbodies, stickbaits and ganged pilchards have all been working this month.

There is the chance of an odd mulloway hanging around the tailor around the rock walls.

Large plastics and hardbodies

Clint McCarthy with a decent Tweed kingy. have been working well this month. Gutters are still fishing well this month.

Soaking baits in these gutters is producing some great bread and butter species, with bream, dart, whiting, flathead and tailor being caught in most gutters around the Tweed Coast.

Look at southern beaches at night on a draining tide for best results in these gutters.

Having a good bait selection and mixing it up every few casts should see you double your catch rate. Running a berley bag or cubing pilchards will help you bring them in and keep them in the gutter in front of you. There are still a few black fish around the southern headlands. Cabbage weed is fishing best for a feed of luderick this month.

Cabbage weed can be found

on most rocks at the beach and around the headlands at low tide. But thin your harvest out and only ever take a little from each rock. This way you will always have a good supply.

FRESHWATER The bass are waking up this month. The insects are out and the bass are slurping them off the top. Cicadas, frogs, bugs, grubs, popper and stickbaits are all working bets around dusk and dawn.

Divers, plastics, jig spins, spinnerbaits and live baits such as worms, bugs, grubs, maggots and insects are working well once the sun is established. High atmospheric pressure and shrinking pools are making it easier to find the bass. This doesn’t mean they are necessarily easier to catch, it just means you can find them easier. Targeting

pools below weirs, dam walls, levies and drains is the best bet for a fat bass this month.

The dam has recovered from the fish cull back in July, and is fishing really well of an early morning. Cicadas and insect lures have been working best, but vibes and heavy spinnerbaits are working in the deep once the sun is up.

NEXT MONTH The air and water temps will keep rising and so will the summer species’ appetites.

Bass will slurp lures harder off the top. Jacks will really start to wreck havoc in the estuaries and start hitting live baits more. Whiting will rule the flats and the flat fish will be there to eat them. Summer pelagic will thicken up over the next month with wahoo, dollies and marlin on the target list of most anglers. The mackerel should start to show their toothy faces around the close reef. Yellowfin should start to show up out wide.

Look for 25° water and the marlin will be shadowing these barrels. Kingies will rule the close reefs and be tormenting most bait balls that come too close. There is still the late chance of a good snapper and spango on drift baits and plastics at dawn and dusk on close reefs.

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NOVEMBER 2018

25

Crystal clear waters this month SOUTHERN GOLD COAST

Mark Ward markward222@bigpond.com

The southern end of the Gold Coast is all about beaches and beautiful clear estuaries. This month is perfect for hitting the beach, but try taking a rod instead of a board and enjoy the serenity of the beach in spring.

BEACHES The surf beach responds well to the warmer conditions. The big tailor have moved on, but the beach comes alive with whiting, bream, dart and flathead.

Bream and flathead spawn in the mouths of estuaries in winter and early spring.

Many of these fish will leave the estuary and move along the open beaches, possibly to move into a new estuary system. For the next couple of months, anglers can expect to catch the odd big bream and flathead but I wouldn’t necessarily target these fish. Instead, welcome them as a fantastic surprise by-catch. I have often been fishing with the kids for dart and had a 1kg+ bream nail a pipi and it feels like a giant trevally just hit my lure.

Flathead are a lot cleaner as they take on the colour of their surrounds. It’s not uncommon to land a flathead over 70cm in the surf at this time of year and while I still wouldn’t target them, they can be found at the ends of the gutters where the sweep brings water from the shallows into the deeper water. They love to have flowing water to point

their nose into and ambush anything coming into the gutter.

The pick of the fish this month is whiting. They can be as thick as Popeye’s forearms, but the very big ones are a little tricky to

fish this type of gutter you need to stand well back from the shoreline. Walking into the gutter will only scare these big whiting away as they will be feeding hard up against the shore. I stand at least 20m back and lob

Crabbers love this warm weather. Summer Ward landed this blue swimmer on her rod. catch. Gutters that are hard up against the shoreline and see waves breaking on the sand are no doubt ideal for whiting. This type of gutter can be hard to locate, however, when you do the fish will always be there. To

the bait into the wash. Pipis and worms are the best as that is what the whiting are there feeding on. The waves smash down on the shore and churn up the sand, releasing worms, pipis and crabs into the gutter.

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Dart are a little different but very easy to catch. Beach gutters will have a back bank where the waves break and the surfers like to catch, but between that break and the shore will be deep water.

These gutters will allow the waves to reform and break again once they get close to shore. The back bank creates white water and this will roll into the back of the gutter. This is where dart like to hang as the white water protects them from the birds.

Early morning also seems to be the best for dart but they can be caught all throughout the day. Cricket score catches are not uncommon, but they don’t eat too well and certainly don’t freeze or keep well, so keep a few big ones and leave the rest.

They are great fun for the kids but just watch the spikes on the anal and dorsal fins.

While not venomous they are sharp and can give a nasty puncher wound.

ESTUARY Flathead will be going a lot quieter this month as the water temperature increases.

Instead, whiting, trevally and mangrove jack will be responding well to the warmer water.

Whiting love the shallows of Tallebudgera and Currumbin creeks. Weedy edges and yabby beds that are covered at high tide are great locations to search for whiting. Bloodworms, wriggler worms and beach worms are ideal baits as are live yabbies. If the water you’re fishing has a current flow, keep sinkers nice and light and allow the flow of the current to move the bait through the shallows. If there is a lack of current, a slow stop and start retrieve work very well also.

The maze of canals and lakes in the middle of Gold Coast suburbia creates warm water very early in the season and the mangrove jack and trevally really respond. These lakes can be 2°C warmer than the rivers and creeks, so this brings the warm weather fishing on a little earlier. Perfect for jack anglers.

Surface lures, plastics and hardbody lures are all ideal for mangrove jack.

However, surface lures are only suitable at night, as well as first and last light.

Soft plastics are ideal for sinking down structure like pontoons and bridge pylons while hardbody lures work well when running them alongside the structure.

Floating pontoons, for example, can have mangrove jack living under them, so running a lure that dives to a couple of metres will work well. A stop and start retrieve is a good technique and this will keep the lure closer to

Cody Ward with a good flathead from the shallows. Flathead will still be about this month but they will be well spread out. the surface where the jacks will hit them.

Trevally are very similar but I prefer to target them when they are feeding on baitfish. First light is usually best and they can be found were canals split or current forces bait into a small area. Live baits work well with jacks and trevally, but surface lures add a visual aspect to every bite and plastics work extremely well also. For deeper water or trevally that are not as active, the vibration lures like Zerek Fish Traps are ideal.

OFFSHORE The shallow reefs of Tweed Heads are still producing snapper and mulloway. Out wider there are snapper and pearl perch,

but the current can make it difficult some days.

School mackerel have been in close and taking trolled lures and metal slugs cast into feeding fish.

Mac tuna have been in good number as well and the dolphin fish will be on the improve as the weather continues to warm up.

Out wide the marlin have been in good numbers when the weather allows anglers to get out. The northerly winds have been keeping the smaller boats in close, so there hasn’t been a lot of reports from out wide.

Beach anglers can finally get their toes wet and enjoy the start of a summer of beach fishing. Enjoy that warmer weather.

Flounder have been caught in good numbers and are a very underrated table fish.

Bring on summer GOLD COAST CANALS

Josh Dunn Instagram: @josh__dunn__

We are making our way into the warmer weather, and I love those afternoon storms after a hot day.

They produce spectacular lighting shows, and turn an afternoon of fishing into a red-hot session!

Summer is my favourite time of the year as there’s so much on offer!

Each day at work I’m hearing stories of customers getting amongst the jacks. We are well and truly into the season, so these fish are certainly making themselves known.

Using plastics with great action tends to work the best on jacks.

Despite the recent Flathead Classic tournament being held last month, there were still plenty on the bite straight after the comp. Normally it

CREATE YOUR ADVENTURES

Chris Bates will be getting into the flathead this November.

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realservice@barneysmarine.com.au Good bream are being taken from deep water, fished slowly on the tough bite. takes a few weeks after the Classic to see the flathead action firing. I’ve caught most of my fish on a rising tide from heavy structure, such as bridge pylons.

Small plastics around 2.5” in a colour representing a baitfish is a perfect imitation for flathead, as it’s more of a natural approach.

Over the next month we’ll be making our way into prime summer and it’s one of my favourite times for surface fishing. The weather is up, down and unpredictable, which seems to turn the fish on the bite.

The amount of times I’ve seen big GTs bust up after a hot day in the afternoon, just before rain, is crazy! A

lot of these fish come into the canals for an easy feed, some fish easily measuring high 50s, even early 60s! If you keep a close eye on the retaining walls, rock walls, bank edges, you’ll notice shrimp and small baitfish flickering on the surface.

Most of the time, being a pelagic species, these fish are always on the hunt for food. So hanging in an area full of baitfish will be worth the wait, especially if it’s known for good fish!

There are plenty of bream getting around lately, especially in the deeper parts of the estuaries and broadwater.

These areas can produce more consistent results than pontoon fishing,

especially in conditions such as 100% sun.

Bream tend to school up in good numbers. If you’re having trouble finding these fish, start with the red and green beacons as they have a good amount of structure for the fish to hug. Vibes, small plastics and live bait are perfect options for this style of fishing. Keep it light and simple, it’ll make life a lot easier, plus you’ll notice a better bite!

In conclusion, persisting for the summer species this month will pay off. Especially in the late afternoons of a hot day, right before a storm when the barometer is perfect!

See you on the water.

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NOVEMBER 2018

27

Lizards like the warmer weather JUMPINPIN

Mick Morris gembait@tpg.com

November is the start of the warmer weather, which brings new species on the bite in the ‘Pin area, like jacks, cod, trevally, threadfin salmon and there are still all the old favourites like flathead, bream and whiting about.

Flathead are by far the most sought-after fish around Jumpinpin, as a table fish because they taste fantastic and as a sportfish because they are great fun to chase on light gear. I usually run a light 7ft rod with 6lb braid and a 10lb leader when trolling and bump that up to 10lb braid and a 20lb leader when chasing the bigger fish on plastics, just in case I hook a monster as you don’t want to lose that trophy fish.

The last half of the run-out tide as the water

The author picked up this trevally trolling for flathead near Jacobs Well.

Scott Fleming from Wilson Tackle showed us how it’s done with this 69cm beauty.

28

NOVEMBER 2018

drains off the banks is premium flathead time and when you will catch the most fish. Concentrate around the edges and drains and you can’t go wrong.

Try around the deep water off Kalinga Bank to Swan Bay, the lagoon at the top of South Straddie, Tabby Island, Cabbage Tree Point, the mouth of Browns Bay and Tipplers Passage.

Bream should be on the bite as well this month with plenty of small to medium size fish around, which are great fun if you’re taking the family out for the day because everyone’s happy when they are catching fish.

For larger bream concentrate your efforts towards the last two hours of the incoming tide and the first of the run-out tide around Kalinga

Bank, Cobby Passage, Rocky Point the mouth of the Coomera and the Seaway. Using larger baits like banana prawns, half pillies, stripbaits and big balls of mullet gut tends to entice the larger fish.

Whiting will be one of the main species to target this month and there should be plenty around too.

The Logan River always produces some quality fish with plenty over 40cm to be expected. The pick of the spots are Ageston Sands, Marks Rocks, the Junction and the mud flats at the Mouth of the Logan. Other spots to try out of the river are Fishermans Channel, Cobby Passage, Slipping Sands, the Gold Bank and from Tipplers to the Never Fail Islands.

Bloodworms are by far the best bait for catching whiting, however, they are very expensive and not always in abundant supply, so be sure to order them a few days in advance to avoid disappointment.

Other baits to try are beach worms, pipis, prawns and squid.

Mangrove jack and estuary cod will become more active and get on the chew with the warmer waters in any spot with a decent snag, fallen tree or rock wall. Fishing for these fish can sometimes prove difficult as they live in heavy snags and fight extremely hard, usually resulting in loss of gear for you. Using heavier line will prevent you from getting blown away and using large live baits and flesh baits usually takes away the pickers and allows your bait to stay in the strike zone longer.

The Coomera and Pimpama rivers have lots

A decent school flathead like this one are great fun on light gear. of rock walls and sunken trees to fish on, or you can also give trolling lures a go, which allows you to cover more territory and find where the fish are. Troll rattling lures by the snags or presenting a small live mullet/herring will always tempt these great fighting fish to strike. Pack the crab pots if you’re heading out, as it has been a top start to the season for sandies between Long Island and Cabbage Tree Point, in Canaipa Passage or Tiger

Mullet Channel. Muddies have also been going strong and we’re finding that they are mostly being caught out of the rivers and more along the mangrove lined banks of Eden, Tabby Tabby, Mosquito and Long islands.

• Thanks for all your reports and keep those fish coming in. If you’d like any advice or up to date fishing information drop us a line at Gem Bait & Tackle on (07) 3287 3868 or email gembait@tpg.com.au.

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Impending pelagic season has anglers excited GOLD COAST

David Green

This month things warm up a bit and it is often a good month to head wide of the continental shelf chasing blue marlin.

OFFSHORE Mahimahi start to make an appearance and on the wide grounds we have also caught a number of good wahoo in November. Most of the action takes place in water depths between 200-400m. There should also be a few striped marlin around and when the water temperature hits around 22.5°C the action is often surprisingly good.

Most of the blue marlin encountered are between 120-150kg at this time of year, but the odd monster can also show up, so it pays to use at least 37kg tackle.

On the inshore grounds there may be a few juvenile black marlin turn up towards the end of the month. Reports from northern ports have shown a few fish moving south, but not in the numbers of those seasons when double figure catches are made.

Mahimahi should start to

show in numbers on the inshore grounds when the first push of the East Australian Current moves inshore. Every season is different and it is hard to work out the predominate fish species, be it black marlin, wahoo or mahimahi.

Towards the end of the month it is definitely worth a troll around Sullies, the Cottons and east of the Tweed. The Nine Mile is also a good spot for early season black marlin.

Bottom fishing slows down as the current picks up, but there should still be a few snapper on the 36-fathom line and out on the 50-fathom reef there should be pearl perch, kingfish, amberjacks and pigfish, current permitting.

This slows down as the current increases and the water temperature goes up.

Palm Beach sometimes has an early season run of cobia and spotted mackerel in November. It is a good time to stock up on mackerel baits, and there are generally a few small bonito, tailer and big slimy mackerel to be caught and put away in the freezer.

These schools tend to move inshore in November and

can be caught spinning at the back of the surf line on metal lures, small stickbaits and plastics.

Fishing at night on the close reefs east of the Seaway is often productive in November. Go out early

and catch plenty of live baits before dark, and once anchored on your spot berley heavily. Both mulloway and big snapper are quite active just as the sun sets. Fish your live baits 2-3 metres above the

bottom and also float a big strip bait or pilchard down as well. The mulloway on the inshore reefs have been very active this season, and if you find the fish it is not hard to get your bag limit. Most of these fish

Connor Frendin holds up a muddy destined for the pot!

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are between 100-120cm in length. There is also a good chance of catching a nice cobia by the same methods, but they tend to bite when the sun is in the sky.

RIVERS AND ESTUARIES The conditions start to change in the estuaries as the water warms.

This season we had unseasonably warm water throughout the Broadwater all through September, with temperatures around 22°C the norm. This made the flathead fishing quite patchy as the warmer water seems to put the fish off the bite. In November, flathead should continue to be a good target species and by this time most of them have spawned. After the fish have spawned they move back into the estuaries and feed quite aggressively around the weed edges and channels.

Towards the end of the month the water warms up and the fish thin out a bit, but on cooler days the fishing should be quite good throughout the month. Around the new moon period there should still be a few late spawning

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fish in the deep water. This year has been a relatively poor flathead season.

Mangrove jack become quite active this month and

baits, but quite a few have slammed lures intended for jacks.

Whiting start to feed over the flats and are most

methods. Most of the action takes place on tide changes.

As conditions warm up a lot of smaller mulloway less than legal size move into

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Mark Frendin with a tasty mahimahi from out wide. bite well when the humidity is high and there are a few afternoon storms around.

Most of the action takes place alongside the many floating pontoons in the canal areas of the Nerang and Coomera systems.

There have been some monstrous jacks around in the early part of the season with quite a few fish over 60cm turning up in the Coomera. In addition, there have been quite a few solid barramundi turning up in the Coomera River, a phenomenon that seems to get more common every year. Most of these fish have been caught on live

active early in the morning.

They can be caught on poppers or by sight casting yabbies to schooling fish.

They are most active on the first hard push of a run-in tide and if you fish light line and a small hook you can cast an unweighted yabby a reasonable distance.

Small surface poppers and stickbaits are also effective at times, particularly if the fish are actively feeding on small prawns and shrimp.

There should be a few nice mulloway in the entrances around Jumpinpin and the Seaway. Deep soft plastics and live baits are generally the most effective

these areas and need to be released carefully. I find white 7” Jerk Shads to be the most effective lures.

Crabs start to become more active as conditions warm up, with good numbers of sand crabs in the estuaries and mud crabs start to move in the upper Coomera and Pimpama rivers, and Coombabah Creek. Tough baits work best in November, as small fish are abundant. Try chicken frames for mud crabs.

Overall, November is a month of transition, and as the water warms up it is a good time to prepare for the coming pelagic season.

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For more information visit www.stessl.com.au NOVEMBER 2018

31

Find the bait schools for all the top spots with large amounts of bait.

There have been a few schools of prawns showing up. Most have been reported

SOUTHERN BAY

Nick Whyte

Mackerel have been thick throughout the Rous and Rainbow channels. There has been plenty of bait in these areas, so just look for the bird activity and you’ve found the spot.

Sometimes the fish have been feeding under the bait with no surface activity, so make sure you keep an eye on your sounder and sink plastics or jigs down to them. Try and get in front of the feeding schools rather than driving right up into the feeding zone.

They have been feeding on a range of different bait sizes, so if they are a little finicky try and match the size and colour of the bait as best you can.

There have been good reports of nice bream up

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in the shallow reef areas.

Top water baits or shallow cranks have been doing all the damage. The eastern side of Macleay Island, Pots Point, Coochie northwest corner, Cleveland Point and South West Rocks at Peel Island. Fish a making tide and push up as shallow as your boat will allow, then cast even shallower.

Sometimes you’ll see fish swimming on their sides feeding, so don’t be scared to go super shallow.

The Brisbane River is starting to show a few better threadfin salmon around the port. They are still not in big numbers, but shouldn’t be too far away from their annual spawning migration. There has also been quite a few school jewfish around the mouth of the river. Most of these fish have been falling to slowly worked soft plastics or soft vibes.

The better quality fish have been coming from the lead beacons out the front of the port. Putting the time in to

sound out the fish will see a much better chance with these bigger fish.

Flathead are still in great numbers down the

Luke Cameron with a nice Moreton Bay bream.

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Jumpinpin. Any shallow flats close to deep water are producing good numbers of fish. Trolling the edges with small lures like the Zerek Tango Shad or casting small lures like the ZMan 3” MinnowZ to the drains has had the best results.

Back up the bay, the area around the mouth of the Logan River has been producing some quality flat fish. Try around the Ws on the low tide as well. Look for the draining water or areas

as small, but it looks good for the coming months.

Hopefully the rivers and creeks will cop a bit of a clean out from all this rain we have been having.

It will be worth targeting the mouths of local rivers and creeks looking for a colour change where there should be the odd jewfish ambushing baitfish. Flatty will also enjoy these conditions if you can find them.

There has been a heap of mangrove jack reports coming through lately. The

live baits into the night around structure will see you with the best chance, but casting hardbodies or soft plastic lures tight to structure will really get the heart going. There have been plenty of fish around the rock bars and sunken timber in Cobby Passage, Sovereign Islands Canals, Logan River rock bars and Raby Bay canals.

If you have a great capture from the Southern Bay that you would like to share email them through to nick@techfishing.com.au.

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Good things will come to small offerings BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

Hot conditions are well and truly upon us and as a result we will notice a lot of new species coming to the foreshore. Warm conditions promote heightened baitfish prominence throughout Moreton Bay and so we should start to experience a number of pelagic species, such as mac tuna, longtail tuna, bonito, cobia, school mackerel and possibly spotted mackerel.

While many of these can be found surface feeding in concentrated schools, they can also be located using other methods.

The estuaries should produce a good array of species such as mangrove jack, flathead, trevally, estuary cod, flathead and the ever consistent whiting and bream. Crustaceans on offer can include mud crabs, blue swimmers and sand crabs. You will even probably be able to locate some squid to complete your Moreton Bay buffet.

TUNA Late September and all throughout October saw good numbers of longtail tuna and mac tuna within Moreton Bay. These

speedsters were mainly in the southern bay around the M1 to M2 area, along the front of Bribie (quite close to the beach at times), the NW Channel and in the shipping channel between the Curtin Artificial and Tangalooma.

Hopefully by now they have headed further south and can be located in the Paddock, Measured Mile area, Middle Bank and the waters in between. They may even venture as far as Peel Island and the Banana Banks, but that will depend on water temperatures and other factors.

Targeting these surfacebusting schools can be easy at times and damn near impossible at others. Tuna species can often develop tunnel vision and will only eat exact replicas of the species on which they are currently feeding. When they are eating centimetre long, virtually clear baitfish, getting them to bite can be quite tough. If you flyfish, then you can match the hatch and present a small fly similar to the bait on which they are feeding. As you are casting the weight of the fly line when flyfishing, the weight or size of the fly is irrelevant. In fact, a small fly is easier to cast than a larger or heavier offering.

Once a small replicate-thebait pattern is cast in, it

can often be as easy as letting it slowly sink using an intermediate line then having a longtail slurping it up as they cruise through engulfing baitfish.

For those using lures, casting a small plastic or small profiled chromed slug is near impossible without using a very light rod and line. If you actually get the hook up, landing a decent tuna on this light tackle will often require several hours of fighting, if the sharks don’t eat your prize first. Sometimes when the baitfish are so small, presenting a quite large, slow moving offering, such as a floating, or slow sinking, stickbait will work. Fish this through the melee with long sweeps and pauses and you may get a bite. Hopefully the tuna are bored with eating the same baitfish and will take the opportunity to pounce on something quite different.

Large, lightly weighted plastics and other lures may also work in this situation.

Often it is just a case of continually trying different offerings and retrieves until you get a strike. As we get further into summer, the size of the average baitfish will increase and achieving hook ups on moderate sized offerings will become much easier. While moving

Jordon recently scored this mulloway. Even during the warmer months these are a serious possibility in the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay artificial reefs.

James tempted this solid Brisbane River threadfin with a live bait. throughout the bay it pays to have two rods rigged and ready to cast: one with a chromed slug or jerkshad plastic and the other with a stickbait to around 150mm.

If you are skilled with a fly rod then this is also a handy tool to have at your disposal.

MACKEREL Most likely it will only be school mackerel that will be available in any numbers during November, however, towards the end of the month the occasional spotty may show up. In reality spotty are more likely to be prevalent late December, however, the way the seasons have been lately, it is possible they may turn up early. School mackerel will commonly be caught around the beacons and in the main channels, with the occasional surface feeding school as a high possibility. The Measured Mile is often a popular spot at this time of year and anglers will commonly anchor and then float out pilchards on ganged hooks.

Mostly the mackerel will be taken in the upper half of the water column, so this

is where your baits should be presented. If things are quiet then a deeper bait may be worth deploying.

Berleying with slices of cut pilchards may turn the odds in your favour. The mackerel will often come through in schools and every bait in the water may go off in quick succession.

Early morning high tides are generally favoured with the period leading up to the new moon offering the best opportunity.

The four beacons group and those heading north from here will also hold school mackerel and these can be targeted using two popular methods. Drifting pilchards adjacent the beacon around the change of the tide is most likely to reward. When the current is running, chromed slugs and slices can be dropped adjacent the beacon and then retrieved with a rapid or erratic retrieve.

The major channels (Rous, Rainbow, Small Ships, Pearl, Kianga and edges of shipping channels) are all worth trolling with deep diving minnow lures or spoons behind paravanes.

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The school mackerel will often move around a bit and be in a different area of the channel every day, therefore you may need to move around a bit to find them. If you are trolling and score a schooly then a few more passes of the same area may reward further.

BRISBANE RIVER The lower reaches of the Brisbane River is often a productive zone during the warmer months for threadfin, snapper, bream, flathead, cod and mulloway.

Live baiting is a popular and productive way to score a range of species, especially mulloway and threadfin.

Live baits such as herring, mullet, banana prawns and pike can all be used with great results. Despite the warmer weather there will still be a few mulloway to be caught during November.

With the average fish in excess of 80cm, these are well worthwhile targeting in the deeper holes adjacent the jetties and wharves and the dredge holes wide of the retaining wall at the mouth.

Threadfin will also be caught in these areas, but also like to hang along the edges of the decline into the main river basin, especially during the first half of the falling tide. These areas can also be targeted with a broad array of lures, especially paddle-tail shads, soft vibration baits, blades and prawn profiles. The ledge in from the sewerage shute, the outer ledge of Claras Rocks, the fronts of jetties and the flats at the mouth of Boggy Creek can all hold threadfin salmon at various times. Well-lit areas commonly attract threadies at night and anglers fishing around the Gateway Bridge and well-lit jetties will often see large forked tails breaking the surface as they prey on baitfish and crustaceans attracted by the light. Accurate casting will often produce a hook up the instant your offering starts moving. These same areas can also produce many other species.

The retaining wall at the mouth and the Sunken Wall will hold estuary cod and bream during November.

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the wall is likely to work well for both species. Small minnow lures, soft plastics and Cranka Crabs will work exceptionally well for bream and also entice a few cod. If specifically targeting cod then try slightly larger offerings that bang and rattle across the rocks during the retrieve. Flathead are likely to be lying around the rocks bases that make up these structures, where the sand and mud begin. They will take most bait and lures put before them.

WHITING Anglers have been catching good numbers of quality summer whiting at a host of locations. The shallow sandy flats and fringing gutters throughout estuarine areas, such as the Pumicestone Passage and Jumpinpin region, are all great areas to catch whiting.

Throughout Moreton Bay there is a host of good bank and shallow channel areas with the Rous Channel, Small Ships Channel, Browns Gutter, Blacks Gutter and many other areas producing good numbers of quality whiting. Fresh baits such as recently pumped yabbies and numerous worms including sand, Cribb Island and blood will heighten chances of results.

Squid can be cut into thin strips and tenderised with light pounding between the side of the knife blade and cutting board. These strips are then threaded onto a long shank hook and fished

in the mangrove zone and out into the main basin where they are easier to catch. Without this flushing rain, crabbers are best to set their pots well up into small drains and gutters deep into the mangrove expanse where the better quality crabs are often located. Generally those who go to the most effort with pot placement are the most likely to score the best results.

Sand and blue swimmer crabs are most likely caught at the mouths of the rivers and well into the bay around the edges of the bay islands and dividing channels. The depths where crabs are commonly found can vary at different times and it often pays to set pots in varying depths to hedge your bets. Taking notice of the depths where the commercial guys are setting their pots will also be a good indicator. Find a similar area around the same depth and you should meet with success. Whether chasing mud, sand or blue swimmer crabs, setting our safety pots with baits of fish frames, whole mullet, chicken carcasses or even a few pilchards in a mesh bag will work well.

SHARKS As the waters warm, sharks will become a lot more active and aggressive within the rivers and Moreton Bay. Many anglers target sharks for a bit of fun or sport, however, many

soon attract any sharks within the area. The main species caught are bull and spinner (dusky) sharks, but on occasion other species will show up.

Within Moreton Bay there is a huge array of sharks including tiger, white, bull, pig-eye, nervous whaler, black-tips, dusky, bronze whaler and many other species. They all respond to roughly the same methods. I personally find that berleying with tuna oil (a continuous slick is required) and drifting whole fish baits into the slick will work a treat. I generally use baits such as gar, pike, mullet, slimy mackerel or XOS pilchards pinned on two circle hooks snelled around 15cm apart on a nylon-coated wire leader. One bait is drifted behind the boat unweighted and another bait is fished further back underneath a balloon. The average bay shark is around 1m in length, but there are plenty of larger ones lurking around. Remember you aren’t allowed to keep a shark over 1.5m in length.

If you do decide to keep a shark under this size then you are best to fillet and skin it immediately to increase the flesh quality.

CONCLUSION During November anglers will have loads of options. In addition to the aforementioned species, there will be a host of others available including

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It’s not all doom and gloom for the snapper BRISBANE OFFSHORE

John Gooding

On recent charters the school-sized amberjack have been keeping us busy, and there have been some good juvenile snapper to around 50cm out on the 90m line.

The 29 and 35 fathom lines of reef have also continued to fish well for snapper, and even on those days when we’ve been live baiting out wider, both areas have produced good fish for us in the middle of the day.

Shallow Tempest will continue to be a good option for the next couple of months, and species encountered will include pelagics such as mackerel, cobia and yellowtail kingfish along with reefies such as snapper, spangled emperor, mulloway and moses perch. It often pays to drop a livie over on a paternoster while you’re float-lining the area. If you get bitten off a few times, put a short length of wire on, as unseasonal Spanish mackerel frequent the area, hunting the bait schools.

For those wanting a feed of mixed reef, the shallow ground around Point Lookout should produce parrot, pearl perch, moses perch and squire.

36

NOVEMBER 2018

PROPOSED SNAPPER RESTRICTIONS The Rocky Reef Fishery Review has started and it’s mainly focused on snapper and pearl perch stocks.

I managed to get in this group, as I wanted do my bit in ensuring that no rash decisions were made, and to protect angler access.

QLD Fisheries and their scientists believe that snapper are “overfished, and the biomass is approximately 20% of unfished stocks” and that something needs to be done.

Let me say that obviously stocks are nowhere near unfished numbers. However, in my opinion the stocks aren’t as bad as Fisheries are making them out to be. I am concerned that the way in which some of the data has been collected and interpreted is not an accurate assessment of actual snapper numbers.

For example, 90% of fish are probably caught by 10% of the anglers. These are the guys who are out and back a few hours either side of dawn and dusk, and by the time the data collectors are asking questions at the ramp, the only people left are casual fishers who haven’t caught much. I know a lot of good anglers who have been telling

We’ve enjoyed many great sessions on snapper this year. me they are having a great snapper season this year, both in the bay and offshore.

Off Moreton Island this year, we had a terrific couple of months of good quality squire and snapper. From late June until the end of August there were a lot of fish on the 29 fathom reef. During the week there would hardly be another boat around; it was only really Fridays or weekends that there was any boat traffic – and this sometimes shut the fish down and you’d have to go elsewhere to find more. In late

August we started fishing the Tempest area and also found good numbers of fish there.

Since then though we’ve stopped chasing snapper to focus to school-size amberjack on live bait, so my logbook shows only incidental snapper catches, which doesn’t reflect the actual snapper numbers.

Weather and current lines play the biggest role in whether there’s a good snapper season or not. This year was the first in seven or eight years that the 29s fished really consistently well.

True, you could go there on occasion and pull some good fish, but this year because we had cool, blue water under 20°C and plenty of current, plenty of fish pushed in close. On those years when cool blue water pushes near Moreton Bay, snapper catches are particularly consistent. The fish seem to bypass us if conditions aren’t favourable.

Back to the data. There’s also been a change in effort and we aren’t seeing the amount of bigger trailer boats

fishing out here as we once saw. When snapper limits dropped to five and then four, places like Double Island, Fraser Island, Gladstone and 1770 became popular with anglers with these bigger boats as they could chase a variety of species.

Another common complaint from all sectors was the amount of sharks, especially offshore. You just couldn’t get a fish to the boat.

Gone are the days of anglers killing fish en masse, which is good. However, our bag limits are now very tight.

If we end up with drastic restrictions or closures it would really hurt businesses such as charters, tackle stores and marine stores.

If Fisheries are so keen to do something, why don’t deploy new FADs? And why not better police the minority of fishers who break the rules?

Let’s hope that common sense prevails, and that any new regulations are sensible and reasonable.

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Summer breaming is on NORTHERN BAY

Grayson Fong graysonfong@bigpond.com

With a stormy start to the summer season, it has been the ‘match to the torch’ the northern bay has needed to fire up its fishing. After a tumultuous spring, with fishing success being scattered and unpredictable, the start of our afternoon storm activity has been a fantastic catalyst throughout the bay. Not only has the bait activity increased (and pike numbers), but the rains have helped decrease water clarity, making fish less skittish throughout the day

and therefore producing more ideal fishing conditions.

FLATHEAD This is one species that has shown exceptional consistency throughout the year, with seasonal changes not even making a dint in their feeding activity. Great reports have still been coming in about catches through the bay, with many anglers working out their own special techniques on nabbing these bottom predators.

My newfound flathead technique was shown to me by a good friend who has success with it in the Tweed River, which involves jerkbaiting in very shallow water. Using 60-80mm slender lures and

Summer breaming will start to come into its own during November.

38

NOVEMBER 2018

‘ripping’ them into the sand with a rod twitching action imitates a dying baitfish, and flathead have found this irresistible, especially on the last two hours of the outgoing tide. The secret to finding areas where this technique works is looking for a creek or river mouth that has good flow during tide changes and somewhere that has reasonable bait activity during the top of the tide.

BREAM Bream numbers have been the big mover for the month, with the storm activity really twigging the feeding sensors of these pack feeders. Fishing with small hardbodied lures or very lightly-weighted soft plastics can be the ticket, as bream are highly reactive to spikes in our barometric pressure, making it an ideal time to fish for them both in estuaries and inshore waters.

Pumicestone Passage has been a prime example of this, and when the afternoon storm clouds from the west start rolling in, areas like Ningi Flats, Donnybrook, Cooks Rocks and Tiger Rocks become a hive of breaming activity with surface fishing being a must during these times.

For the bait users, again lightly-weighted presentations are a effective technique, as bream are roaming around in packs and no small creature is safe.

SUMMER WHITING As we are on the subject of the Bribie area, this has been a standout for summer whiting, with many anglers making the worthwhile trek up there from Brisbane to get amongst the action. Up the passage there have been reports of good whiting at Lime Pocket and the mouth of Coochin Creek.

Anglers wanting a shorter

Mick Thompson found some good creek flatties recently. journey to catch these table delights, Margate Foreshore has also started its annual summer whiting run, with the incoming tide being the pick of times.

SNAPPER Redcliffe Peninsula has been producing some good catches lately, with the abundance of bait helping the cause. Add in a few days of a southeasterly wind and you have a great recipe for juvenile snapper. Shields St Reef has been the pick of the areas, with North Reef numbers slowing over these last warmer months.

CRABS It’s that time of year where everyone’s favourite crustacean, the mud crab,

has started to appear in our many river systems in the northern bay. Caboolture River, Burpengary Creek and Nudgee Beach have been the stand-outs, with the upper reaches of Cabbage Tree Creek also producing.

Sand crabs have started to appear in Bramble Bay and inshore areas around Woody Point. Deception Bay has had a slow start to the summer, but be sure to keep an eye on it in the next few months.

Pumicestone Passage has also been showing numbers of sand crabs in the main channel, with the number of pots causing quite the America’s Cup course when travelling through the area, so be cautious.

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Liquid sunscreens have stood the test of time with their protection being proven to be excellent when used liberally, especially around the face and ears. Zinc cream is also a must for those with sensitive lips and noses, with a head sock also recommended for helping to protect from the glare of the water.

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Pelagics are plentiful NOOSA

Peter Wells

With the recent warmer weather, the Sunshine Coast has seen the pelagics coming back on lines earlier than in past years. School mackerel are not uncommon around September/October but there seems to be more Spanish mackerel earlier in the season. Spotted mackerel also started to run last month and the

to be dead baits then large pilchards, slimy mackerel, bonito fillet, mullet fillet or even tailor fillets are all excellent baits. Having good quality gear that is up to the task is essential.

Rods rated to 15kg along with a spin or overhead reel with good stopping power is perfect. Line for me is always braid and most anglers seem to sit around that 50lb mark, with the angler that likes a challenge getting down to 30lb. At the business end of the line

running and cast up into the current, working the lure back with the current. Small fish and prawn profiles are the most successful, with pink and chartreuse as the most popular colours.

The Berkley Powerbaits in the nemesis pink is a proven winner.

Another great fish that a lot of anglers spend many hours pursuing is the mangrove jack. The Noosa River has to be one of the best environments for jacks on the Sunshine Coast,

Jack Dekort with a very nice 65cm flathead taken on the new Daiwa Double Clutch lure.

Michael McMahon with a cracker snapper taken around the Caloundra Wide area. Michael was fishing a day or two before the full moon. water temperatures are coming up quickly thanks to a beautiful mild end to spring.

Spanish mackerel migrate south along the coast in the warmer southbound currents. If using lures, the trick is to have the motor just ticking over. I would recommend a squid skirt and an array of flashers that can be seen from a great distance underwater, as this really fires up those hungry pelagics.

Another effective method for chasing pelagics is trolling deep diving hardbody lures. Trolling along the pressure edges of those longer reefs is a great idea as this is a favourite hunting ground for pelagics. Deep diving highspeed lures are the way to go and the DTX Minnow from Nomad is perfect for the job. These lures come in a great range of colours and have a great action.

Last but not least is the bait option, and bigger is always better when it comes to Spanish. Live baits of either yakkas or slimy mackerel are ideal. If it has 40

NOVEMBER 2018

most anglers opt for heavier leader 60-80lbs rather than using wire. You may lose a bit of gear, but you also catch a lot more fish.

In the rivers the flathead have been on fire with plenty of fish caught over that 75cm size limit.

These are the breeding females and are vital to the improvement of the fishery. The run-out tide seems to be the best phase to target them and if you can time that with dawn you are in with a great chance of picking up a big one. If you don’t currently fish plastics but want to give it a go this is a great time to start. Flathead are an opportunistic feeder and will pretty much eat anything you put in front of them. So with that in mind, fishing plastics hard to the bottom is one of the easiest techniques to master. The trick is to get that plastic to the bottom and keep it there, working your plastic slowly across the bottom and not lifting until you set the hooks is one of simplest ways to lure fish. Think of which way the current is

with plenty of moored craft, pontoons, jetties and snaggy riverbanks for these predators to call home.

Numbers and sizes seem to be on the increase over the

last couple of years and I put this down to the amount of catch and release anglers that are out there these days.

Live bait has to be one of the best ways to claim a jack. Fishing herring or small poddy mullet at dusk and into the evening has seen plenty of quality fish taken. Fishing land locked

areas like Noosa Waters or Mountain Creek Lakes has seen some monster fish taken. These fish make their way into these systems and then cannot run to sea as they would normally do, this allows them to grow to be very large fish you would only expect to see on the reef.

Father son team Craig and Dale Mullet with a great feed of Spanish mackerel.

On the beaches it is all about the whiting. Plenty of summer whiting are all along our coastal beaches, with the early morning run-out tide the best option.

Fresh is best when it comes to whiting, so live beach worms, pipis, soldier crabs and yabbies are all ideal baits. Fishing light surf rods is ideal, with the Gary Howard 10’6” Breambo or the Dart at 11’4” being perfect for the job. Casting a 5” Alvey or a 4000 size spin reel loaded with 8 pound line and a running sinker rig using a size 4 worm or bait keeper hook is the perfect setup. Cast to the back of the gutter and roll the baits under the white water. Dart are the other species that love these waters and they are also in great numbers. It seems the higher the tide the bigger the fish when it comes to dart, so the top of the tide is the better time to wet a line.

• For all the latest information log onto www. fishingnoosa.com.au for up to date bar and fishing reports. Drop into Davo’s Tackle world Noosa or Davo’s Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola to find out where the fish are biting, and remember tight lines and bent spines!

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DIY Lure Making: Hardbody jig clip Crabapillar FMG

Michael Thompson

For decades fishos have searched for that fair dinkum fishing lure hidden in every beer can. Many have tried, some have come close, but now we can say it has been found – Crabapillar!

Crabapillar is a new and

innovative lure that can easily be made from a beer can. The commercially available hard and soft body lures are typically constructed from moulded plastic or timber. However, the hardbody jig clips are made from aluminium so they have all the strength and flexibility you would expect of a space age metal alloy added with the lightness and physical

characteristics of paper. The size and weight is up to your jig choice, from incredibly small to extra large, from feather light surface fishing, to heavy surf beach fishing.

The big surprise is in how simple they are to make. It only takes a few minutes and they can target bream on rock walls, or whiting and flathead on the sand flats. All it takes is to cut

a piece out of a can and shape it into a 3 dimensional creature using the following method. In fact it’s so easy to make, I won’t put an age limit on it – we’ll just say that if you’re old enough to be competent with scissors, a kebab skewer, a hammer and nail and you should have no problem making one of these amazing lures.

The lure designs have

undergone rigorous fieldtesting in some of the most arduous conditions Australia can offer, from the windswept beaches of Victoria to the crocodile-infested waters of the Territory. The more stressed and dinged they get the more realistic they look.

FISHING WITH CRABAPILLAR The Crabapillar works

best with a 1/8oz jig and light rig of 30cm 4-6lb test fluorocarbon leader line and a good 9ft estuary rod with a light workable tip. It is ideal for gently hopping near some rock or reef when timed with the wave or current action. Tight little twitches of about 4-6cm, making full use of the rod tip action, will mimic the natural bait that often get washed

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: Beer can, Scissors, kebab skewer, small hammer and nail, texture, wire, two beads for eyes and jig of size and weight of your choice.

Optional materials are: O ring, fingernail polish and fishing lure holographic decal for dressing up.

Start by cutting out the body of a beer can. Lay it out flat, use the top of the can, trace a 5.5cm diameter circle and cut it out. This is known as the blank.

1

2

Use a 3mm kebab skewer and bend the blank in half. This bend will create the ‘spine’ and provide the rigidity in the blank to maintain strength and integrity.

3

4

Using that measurement, in this case 27mm, mark the points where you will clip your jig in the centre.

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NOVEMBER 2018

Measure the jig from the tie eye to about 10mm from the end of the hook. Ensure the choice of jig suits the 5.5cm blank. Larger jigs will need larger blanks.

Use the hammer and nail to gently tap through the material, but not too much.

off the rocks and suspended into the water column where opportunist predators are waiting.

Drifting over the sand flats on the change of the tide has its own rewards because of the realistic resemblance to the creatures that live there, the legs scraping on the bottom make a racket. Use it in the manner you would use any jig is a good place to start –

the book is still being written on these fantastic new DIY beer can lures. I’ve had some success with jigging over the top of a solitary weed patch on the high tide for trevally.

And remember you don’t have to limit yourself, you can experiment using larger, heavier jigs and DIY jig clips in deeper water.

BEER CAN INGENUITY The aluminium alloy from

5

a beer can is strong, malleable and corrosion-resistant. The density of the material allows you to cut so fine that it takes almost no effort to make little legs or antennas, and even better, feathers which should pique the interest fly fishos.

With a little direction from www.milkshakesuds.com and some practice you’ll be making all sorts of different lures for fresh and saltwater.

6

Draw an 8 pointed star/compass on the blank, making sure 2 points run up and down the spine getting the 2 jig clip holes inside the star/compass shape.

8

String a piece of wire through 2 beads and thread through the holes you just poked and twist.

DRESSING UP YOUR CRABAPILLAR There are a few ways to dress up your new creation.

The easiest is to just pick a beer can already painted in your preferred colours. However, when this is not enough, holographic decal adheres to the aluminium very well and then a coat of clear acrylic nail polish to seal. You can also paint with nail polish, which

works very well. I rummage through the bargain bins, and I find some really cool colours.

Wire and beads are a must for the eyes. It really set these lures off and it’s just so easy to do. Use a little bit larger than usual eyes and don’t tighten the wire too much and the realism is undeniable.

Good luck on making your DIY Hardbody Jig Clip Crabapillar.

VIDEO

For more information go to www.milkshakesuds.com for extra tips and other beer can lure designs.

7

Once finished, cut out the star shape. You should start to have the beginning shape of the Crabapillar.

Take your hammer and nail, 5mm back from the tie eye hole on the blank, and tap a hole evenly on either side of the spine.

9

Slip through the jig hook on the tail of your blank and swing the other end around poking the tie eye up and through. You should hear a little click. If not, you may have poked the hole to big, so try again.

10

Using the scissors cut up the star points into bendable little crab legs.

Don’t forget to do the nose and tail for antennae and a stinger.

11

And there you have it – you’re ready to take it out on the water! Use some holographic decal or nail polish to dress it up or just go plain.

Sling a treble or assist hook underneath to increase your chances.

NOVEMBER 2018

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NOVEMBER 2018

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Southern Junior

Simple summer success MORETON BAY

Ryan Smith

Summer is almost here and I cannot wait for the fishing to fire up, especially the surface bite. Summer for me means two main things: the flats surface bite and skinny water bass fishing.

My favourite thing to do is to grab a handful of surface lures and a rod, and walk across sand flats for hours on end. A technique that some people think is only for small fish but if a few little things are done right, big fish will be on the end of the line.

Firstly, choose a bank with something that attracts fish – don’t just fish on a desert flat sand bank. Find a flat with weed patches, yabby beds or even small changes of depths from sand gutters.

All these little things attract fish to the surrounding area.

Secondly, make sure

Bream like this one are common when walking the flats.

Lots of anglers love bass fishing. The explosive hit that they produce and the fight they put on, gets anglers addicted. Chasing

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The author loves his bass fishing and the upcoming months are prime time to target them. to be quiet when walking around. If you make a lot of noise the fish, especially the bigger fish, will spook very easy.

Lastly, use a monofilament leader when using surface lures.

Monofilament floats compared to fluorocarbon, which will sink. This allows your surface lure to have a lot more action and isn’t dragged down under the water.

Generally, the gear that is suitable for this form of fishing is a light spin set up. A 7’1-3” or 2-4kg rod and a little spin reel to suit.

Braid mainline is necessary when using lures, the extra sensitivity allows you to work your chosen lure and to cast a lot further than if you were to use monofilament.

My favourite lure to throw is the Bassday Sugapen 70, these lures cast a mile and have a great action that fish just love. Other successful lures include Atomic K9 Walker, OSP Bent Minnows, Storm Gomuku Poppers and the Nomad Dartwing.

However, any surface lure around the 50-80mm size would be suitable.

bass in the skinny creeks in tight structure is so much fun. As you know, I love my surface fishing, however the surface bite can be very slow around the end of spring early summer so you have to

because they are fairly cheap compared to hardbodies and spinnerbaits. A packet of weedless hooks and soft plastics will generally set you back around $15 and you get more than one in the pack. Soft plastics measuring 2.5-3” are a perfect snack for a bass, I like to use are ZMan Slim SwimZ, Brawler Baits Fat Boy Swims and the Keitech Easy Shiners and Swing Impacts.

Fishing tight structure generally means a weedless presentation. There are many videos online on how to rig a soft plastic weedless, so check a few out if needed.

Another small thing I like to do is put a small ball sinker in the loop knot of my weedless soft plastic – this allows it to sink and gives weight to cast. Another option is buying the hooks that come pre-rigged with a weight, however I tend to use a ball sinker in the loop not.

I have also seen anglers put a small piece of plastic under the chin of their soft

This bass was caught skip casting a weedless soft plastic into structure. resort to other tactics.

I wouldn’t rule surface lures out completely, but there are more effective techniques to catch bass this time of year. Soft plastics, bibbed hardbodies, spinnerbaits and chatterbaits are all good options. I tend to throw weedless soft plastics

plastic to stop it fouling up.

John Costello explains how to do this on his YouTube channel, My Lure Box. This definitely helps and allows you to skip your plastics deep into the structure without it coming off the hook.

Until next month, tight lines and screaming drags!

NOVEMBER 2018

45

Trolling in the deep HERVEY BAY

Dane Radosevic

Bring on the warmer weather, rising water temperatures and some fantastic fishing!

A timely reminder that as of midday on the 1 November the barra closed season is in place and targeting this species is off limits. Fortunately for those of us blessed to live on the Fraser Coast, there is a long list of other species to focus our efforts on while we let the barra population do their thing.

Our major river systems are looking fantastic at the moment, with great water colour and a healthy bait supply. The Mary River is home to some of the largest threadfin salmon on the east coast and it is shaping up to be another great season on this incredible sportfish.

Large aggregations of fish have started to school up throughout the system,

in the deep water around sunken rock bars, deeper holes and the main river runs. A quality sounder set up with side scan, such as a Simrad unit, will fast track the searching process, allowing you to cover greater sections of river and locate the fish. Trolling deep diving hardbodies can be a very effective method that allows you to cover ground while trying to locate the fish.

Located fish have best been targeted with soft vibes slow hopped through the schools along the bottom, with the Samaki Vibelicious and Zerek fish traps working well. Bait fishos have also been scoring their fair share of fish using live and dead baits. Targeting the drains and junctions around the islands with the last of the draining tide has been fishing the best.

Their numbers should start to increase in the shallows across the flats and in the drains as the jelly prawns

start to show. Targeting these fish in less than a foot of water and sight casting to them is about as good as you’ll get. It’s not all about the king, as there have been some good numbers of quality grunter caught, along with flathead and cod.

The red devil, the fish that will have you back into the snag before you can even strike, the jack. They are on most fishos bucket lists and are a highly sought after species amongst most lure fishers. The Burrum River has been a consistent producer of mangrove jack, as it typically is this time of year, with the usual rock bars and fallen laydowns in the upper reaches of the main river and the Gregory tributary producing fish.

Anglers fishing the last of the draining tide and targeting these structures have been rewarded. A well-presented bait fished tight into the structure has been too hard to refuse from a territorial jack, with live

A solid billfish on the leader and tagged off Fraser Island.

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mullet, prawn or a fresh slab of mullet fillet producing.

The lure fishos have been tempting some quality fish, but again it is tight quarter fishing requiring accurate casting and working your lures tight to the structure, suicide fishing as some would call it. The ZMan 4” SwimmerZ rigged to a TT Snakelockz jighead is a seasoned veteran on the jack scene, with its snag resistant hook set up allowing anglers to fish the nastiest terrain. For the more open structures, rolling or burning hardbodies is another successful method, with Luckycraft Pointers, Jackal Squirrels and Tilsan Barra being among the stand out lures.

From the western side of Fraser Island and down through the Straits, many creek mouths and drains on the dropping tide have flathead stacking up waiting

A feisty jack that smashed a slow twitched prawn imitation lure over a rock bar in the Burrum River. in ambush for a feed and slow rolling hardbodies or hopping soft plastics have been effective techniques, allowing anglers to cover ground quickly.

Try locating areas that hold good congregations of hardiheads or herring.

From Wanggoolba Creek south, the drains and flats at the entrance to most creeks will be well worth searching for grunter and threadfin salmon, especially around an agitated colour line as they wait for bait being flushed out by the tide. Don’t write off jewies this time of year, as spring and into early summer still produces quality fish from the deep water, especially around rocky areas or steep ledges such as those along Ungowa. Soft vibes or a well-presented live bait would be the ideal choice in this scenario.

Pop til ya drop! As November is your prime time to go in search of an inshore banger. Three key things must be identifiable: structure, current and bait.

If you are in a locations that has all three, then there will be GT in the vicinity, it is just a matter of timing it correctly to when they will turn up and feed. A high tide coinciding with dawn or dusk is ideal, as those low light quiet periods will often see the fish most comfortably feeding. Big queenfish can often interrupt the party, while blooping a large popper or sweeping a stickbait, but are made light work on the heavier gear. Fishing soft plastics and hoping micro jigs is another fantastic method when working the current lines and back eddies. This can produce a mixed bag from pelagic species like golden trevally, diamond trevally and queenfish to coral trout and sweetlip.

The inshore reefs for the last few seasons have been full of life, producing some fantastic fishing from the shallows. This is a bait fishos playground and

they have been accounting for some good numbers of sweetlip, blackall and tuskfish on fresh cut baits of squid, prawns, crab and pilchards. Live baiting is another very successful method that has been producing the larger species, such as cod and coral trout, along with school mackerel and the odd trevally. Working lightly weighted soft plastics or small sinking stickbaits across the shallow reef flats can provide great sport and produce some exceptional catches of sweetlip and coral trout. Blue parrot are becoming more active with the increasing water temperatures, with live crabs fished hard on the bottom around the rubbly reef, coffee rock, ledges or deeper wrecks producing fish. Let’s hope that the sharks aren’t too ferocious and ruin the fun.

Platypus Bay is starting to fire up with our early run of mac and longtail

tuna feeding on the surface in sporadic schools. The usual methods of casting small 30-40g metal slugs or ZMan 5” StreakZ in bubble gum colour and quickly retrieved is working best.

The odd late season run of snapper are still hanging around the bait balls mixed in with golden and tea-leaf trevally, which have been tempted by soft plastics like the ZMan 5” Jerk Shad in electric chicken and micro jigs. Grounds throughout Platypus Bay, out the front of Wathumba and wide of Roonies Point have been holding the better congregations of fish.

Hervey Bay is a very unique and a truly incredible fishery in many ways. It provides the opportunity to hook and land a juvenile black marlin in under a metre of water.

It would have to be one of the most exciting styles of fishing, sight casting to a solo or pack of overinquisitive and hungry

The author with a 91cm croc, it was fooled by a ZMan 5” Scented PaddlerZ in coconut ice.

blacks. With a few good early reports from ports to the North Rockhampton and 1770, fingers crossed we should experience a great run of fish. Trolling a well set out spread consisting of skirts, skipping baits and/or swimming baits along side a teaser will entice and tempt fish. The stretch of beach from Wathumba Creek North to Roonies Point will be worth trolling, however, if a day permits, jumping the bar and trolling the 16-20m mark south of the 4 mile crossing can often result in some incredible fishing.

The heavy tackle fishery off of Fraser Island fished incredibly well last season, putting this world-class blue marlin fishery on the map. This saw some very experienced boats, skippers, crews and anglers come to fish our waters. The majority of the fish were trolling up on larger skirted lures around the 200-600m mark with a few crews opting to tease the fish up before switch baiting them. Both methods produced quality fish, with a few whispers of fish exceeding 800-900lb.

Will someone land a 1000lb fish this season? Yellowfin tuna and mahimahi have been taking the smaller lures in the spread and have been quite prolific along the 200-300m mark.

Pack the heavy top water gear if venturing across the bar as it will definitely be worth a shot casting a few big poppers and stickbaits over the shallower reef systems for GTs and Spanish mackerel.

Pay particular attention for the pressure edges and fusilier schools and work these areas.

The warmer weather is triggering the barra to fire up. During the month of November and as we lead into summer the northerly winds can play havoc on the coastline making it difficult for anglers to get out, however, proving prime conditions for the dams. A quick dash up the road to Mondy is a viable option, with last season producing some exceptional numbers of fish; fingers crossed this year should see the same. The northerly blows should produce active fish in and around the southern points and Bird, SDA and the south arm of B bays. Last year the jackal squirrel was the go to lure accounting for the majority of captures, with the ZMan 4” SwimmerZ fooling a few along with the Zerek fish trap soft vibe. Side scanning and locating the fish first is important and will increase your catch rate.

Fish action is ramping up RAINBOW BEACH

Ed Falconer

We have had an early storm season but overall pretty good weather.

This warming weather will bring out some great species offshore and on the beaches.

OFFSHORE Another great run of snapper saw us having plenty of fun with these guys. Soft plastics and floating pilchards made for some easy catching.

Some quality pearl perch are also on the menu and much like with

Another great catch of snapper came onboard the Keely Rose. snapper fishing, plastics have been working the best.

Large cod have been in

Large cod are on the menu at Rainbow Beach.

big numbers but live bait is a must if you want to trick them.

Quality tuskfish have also been an easy target.

Thankfully the calm ocean and long drifts gave us a constant flow of fish, making catches a lot more common.

Cobia have been thick and with plenty of live yakkas action has been instant.

BEACH Chopper tailor are being caught around middle rock in the late afternoon.

If you want to catch one, unweighted pilchards and flasher lures have been working a treat.

GREAT SANDY STRAITS Mud crabs are on the move and I’ve had reports that there are plenty on offer now. Mangrove jack and barramundi are being caught in most creeks in the area.

Nothing would make you prouder than catching one of these fighters.

Last November had great fishing with big snapper as one of the highlights. This November is shaping up to be the same.

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Mega barra hauls at Mondy LAKE MONDURAN

Rob Howell

Constant reports of catches tallying over 10-15 barra per session in the boat are not uncommon

at Monduran these days.

There are a few contributing factors that may strengthen your chance of putting yourself amongst bite sessions like this.

Firstly, you will

increase your chances of finding feeding barra when the wind is constant and blowing from the one direction, the longer it blows from that one direction the more schooling barra feel at

Rossco with one of the 15 barra they boated at Monduran.

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home and ready to feed.

Secondly, you need to find schooled up barra.

A quality side imaging sounder is going to find fish. Scan wind affected points and bays in search of schooling barra and these sounders will find you fish in a reasonably short amount of time. Side imaging is an essential barra finding tool these days and it’s the most important contributing factor, I wouldn’t go barra fishing without one.

Thirdly, lure selection, line and leader. When it comes to lure selection it pays to talk to local guides from the area, local tackle shops and social media.

Most impoundments will have ‘go-to’ lures, lures that work extremely well at that impoundment. But, what works at one impoundment doesn’t necessarily mean it works at another. For line and leader it’s essential to have substantial mainline and leader line. Your mainline should be at least 30lb braid, although I would recommend using 40lb as a minimum for your spin reels and 50lb for your baitcasters. For leader, I like to use a supple 60-80lb mono leader for the fact that your lure has the freedom to move unrestricted due to its high flexibility and stretch, its knot tying ability is greater as well. If you like to use fluorocarbon leader you can get away with using 50-60lb.

This month should bring with it some hot barra fishing. Through the

day, barra tend to go deep making them a hard target, so our bite times usually range from late afternoon, through the night and into the early morning. The period through the middle of the day is best spent getting some rest and relaxation.

As usual windward points and bays will produce most of the bites, the northerly wind over the previous season has been the best for firing the bigger barra up, so keep a close eye on the weather and wind forecast.

The southeast wind this season has also produced good bite sessions on the 50-80cm barra, with the odd metre fish mixed in amongst them. Areas such as Rainforest, Bird, Jacks and Insane bays have been the pick of the areas to target.

LURES Soft plastic paddle-tails like the ZMan SwimmerZ and Jackall Rythym Waves have been working well, and in the hardbody range Rapala X-Rap series, Jackall Squirrel and Smash Minnow, Storm Thunder Barra, Wilson Fish Traps, Flat Shads and Live Mullets. When casting and retrieving soft plastics and hardbodies, a dead slow roll

Mike spent time researching how to fish Monduran and booked a charter with the author. is often the best method of retrieval, just make sure your lure is creating the action it’s designed to.

Short sharp twitching and then pausing your lure for five seconds or so is also another successful method commonly used.

You will also need a large landing net; there are a few different styles and types on the market these days. I like to use a large retractable silicon mesh style net. A couple reasons for this, the large silicon holes in the net make it easy to remove your lure and

hooks once the barra has been landed. Barra have a protective slime/mucus on the outside of the scales, the silicon mesh is soft and non-abrasive and will lessen the removal of this mucus, leaving the fish in better condition.

• We look forward to seeing all you keen anglers and holidaymakers for the start of barra season. For camping, accommodation, fishing charters and info please don’t hesitate to call us on (07) 4157 3881 or 0410 599 147 or email info@lakem.com.au.

You will increase your chances of finding feeding barra when the wind is constant and blowing from the one direction.

Reds are back in town BUNDABERG

Jason Medcalf topwater@bigpond.com

It’s on again, yes, the month when the big red fish start to fire up. November has traditionally been the month when I get my biggest mangrove jack.

Although I might add, I did get to tangle with a few of the big red boys in mid-October, before our first taste of rain for some time.

The rain we received in

October will be perfect for getting these hunters moving around all our local systems.

As estuary barramundi are now off limits for our keen brigade of lure fisherfolk, it’s time to focus on the Lutjanus argentimaculatus or mangrove jack. Each year in November I pen how much I love these fish and how you can improve your chances of crossing paths with them in our local area. This year I want to focus on using a more natural approach, or even a non-technology approach. I am talking about fine-tuning

your fish craft, using your eyes, ears and awareness of your natural surroundings.

I love the technology that is available now with side and down imaging sonar. All the while with an electric motor holding you on the spot while you work out what the fish are going to bite on. Now for your basic kayak fisher and your land-based fisher you need to read the signs from Mother Nature.

When I am fishing I am constantly listening for To page 49

The fish are firing up GLADSTONE

Dylan Christie shop@patstackleworld.com

The fishing at Awoonga Dam is fantastic at the moment, with huge numbers of barra being caught. Customers are regularly reporting 15-30 fish in a session, and we’ve heard of some guys getting up to 100 bites in a session with 50 fish landed!

There are a lot of fish concentrated in the main basin, and anglers are doing well fishing in heavy timber and open weed beds.

Throwing shallow diving hardbodies or surface lures is effective if you’re fishing early in the morning or late in the afternoon. In the middle of the day try a vibe style lure, soft bait or a deep diving suspending jerkbait. Lately we’ve been having good success on the Samaki Boom Baits Bomb Shad in both 4” and 5”, as well as the Samaki Vibelicious.

When it comes to shallow diving jerkbaits you can go along the lines of DUO Realis or the Strata Terror, which is From page 48

signs of hunters giving their location away. Active fish chase other fish or prawns and the best way for a baitfish or prawn to escape a predator is to jump. This generally causes a splash.

With barramundi you can hear a boof when they suck the water in as they feed, or you can sometimes hear a sharp pop from a mangrove jack as it grabs and turns instantly with its meal lodged firmly in its grasp. Bream generally make a kissing or sucking sound as they attack small fish and prawns

an excellent gar imitation.

In the estuaries we have had a bit of rain which is exciting, as it should start to stir the crabs and prawns up a little. Lately all of us in the shop have been focusing on mangrove jack, and have been rewarded with some good catches – both in terms of quality and quantity. We’ve been throwing topwater lures early in the morning and late in the afternoon into the dark.

As the sun gets higher, try switching to a 4” paddletail plastic, or a suspending jerkbait anywhere from 2-5m, depending on the area you’re fishing. Great places to start are shallow gravel bars with plenty of tidal movement or deep rocky ledges and overhanging mangrove roots.

To go with that there have been some great captures of grunter around the deeper holes on the neap tides.

It’s a little late in the season for blue salmon, but there are still a few nice fish showing up around the harbour.

The bread and butter species like bream, whiting and flathead are still biting quite well around the estuaries

and harbour, and through the systems around Lily Beach as well as Wild Cattle Creek.

In the harbour we’re seeing great catches of black jew up to around 20kg.

Anglers throwing vibes and heavily weighted soft plastic prawn imitations have been getting good numbers. You can also pick up a by-catch of golden snapper, estuary cod and other species.

We’ve had some great offshore weather recently and there have been some very mixed bags coming in.

We’re having a run of small black marlin in the area, and Spanish mackerel are still kicking around. The Spanish aren’t going off anymore, but people are still getting some nice fish at the tail end of the season.

Now that it’s starting to warm up the GTs are starting to come on the chew. Throwing poppers and stickbaits around the reefs and coastal headlands should pay dividends.

Bottom fishing has been also quite good, with anglers picking up red emperor, coral trout, red-throat, nannygai and more. Around the wrecks

and when the trevally is around in the creek you just hear pandemonium as they round up bait schools and smash through them with little subtlety. Tarpon roll on the surface as they feed and can leave a bubble trail as they let the air out they sucked in while chasing their prey. Being able to differentiate these sounds from the sound of a jumping mullet can change your angling forever.

Next, your powers of observation come into play.

On a recent kayak trip with a mate the fishing was a bit slow. There wasn’t too much

happening on the surface to give away the location of any predators, so I switched to watching the current. Tides move food and if you’re a predator, especially a big one, you dominate the places that deliver the best food.

After looking around at the moving water I looked for where smaller fish could get caught in the current and where they could be washed into areas that would be good for an ambush predator. I noticed a shallow bank of water where I could see schools of small baitfish that had a deeper drop-off, so the

The author with a big black local GT taken on a popper along a current line on the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. you can have fun on golden trevally, cobia and grunter.

NOVEMBER FORECAST Next month we’ll hopefully get more rain, which would be very beneficial for the crabs and prawns, as the system needs a good flush. We can expect inshore popping for GTs to fire up as the water temperature rises, along with mangrove jack, golden snapper, and other species in the estuary. The reef fishing water would rush across the shallows then swirl into this deep drop-off that had some nice cover in it in the shape of fallen trees. This was the perfect scenario and when I delivered my lure of choice up into the shallows the baitfish scattered, and I let it drift down with the tide into the deeper water where it was set upon. This fight was short and not so sweet as the mangrove jack disappeared deep into the cover with my Zerek prawn and it was all over.

So next time you’re on the water look, listen and learn. You will learn more with all your senses tuned in.

will be exceptional – if we get a weather window!

Best of all, Awoonga Dam will continue to fire as the weather warms, especially around the new and full moon.

• For all the latest news on what’s biting and where, drop into Pat’s Tackle World Gladstone at 23 Lord St,

Gladstone Central and chat to the friendly team.

You can also follow Pat’s Tackle World on Facebook ( w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / PatsTackleworldGladstone), Instagram (@ patstackleworld) or check out their website at www. tackleworldgladstone.com.au.

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Warming weather is heating up the waters ROCKHAMPTON

Clayton Nicholls clay94_fishing@live.com.au

With closed season for our local go to species the barramundi starting midday 1 November we need to start looking at other key species to target.

Thankfully the town reaches of the river still holds a good number of other species to be caught. Coorooman or Corio Bay are other key areas to explore while the closed season is in effect until 1 February.

FITZROY AND THE NARROWS Over the past month some great fish have been caught in our estuary systems. There are still a solid number of threadfin salmon in the river from the town reaches all the way through to the port. The number of other species being caught at the moment is on the rise with grunter and mangrove jack sitting high in there. The annual Women That Fish competition was a massive success with many large fish being caught last month. There has been a decent amount of bait around in the salt, with

Helen MacLean got champion angler and champion team in the local Women That Fish comp. Great effort. some very good prawn hauls by some of the locals. Many anglers choose to use smaller more weighted lures to entice the jacks and grunter but are

still able to cast them with their standard barra gear. Some great lures include, Lucky Craft Pointer XD78, Gulp 3” shrimp and ZMan 4” SwimmerZ. The

suspending Lucky Craft can be worked with a few twitches at the snag, left for a bit and slow rolled back, similarly the Gulp can be worked in almost the same way, however, when left they will sink and not suspend. The 4” SwimmerZ can be worked with varying lift and drop techniques to get the paddle-tail working.

RIVERS, CREEKS AND THE BEACHES The local rivers, creeks and beaches will get fished a lot more coming into the holiday season. The gutters have been holding good stocks of small yellow spot mullet and herring. These can be gathered at low tide and used for bait on the incoming high. Knowing what’s in the system at any point in time isn’t essential, but definitely helps selecting the right bait or lure to use. If there is a lot of white bait around when throwing a metal slug try a size smaller or a size larger than the size of the bait – it may just get the fishes attention. Deeper gutters and drop-offs have been fishing well and this will certainly not change through the next month. Species like cod, flathead and bream are pretty dominant at the moment, but the estuaries are full of other species to catch as well.

As the water heats up in the middle of the afternoon most species will move down into the deeper pockets of water, or shadows cast down by roots and mangroves or out into the cooler beach waters.

FRESHWATER LAGOONS The freshwater section of the river has been showing

Tracey with a great barramundi from the competition. some good signs of fish.

Alternatively, the rain has helped the creeks and waterways flow, this in turn has helped the fishing pick up a great deal in the creeks and lagoons.

The grass in some areas is now just below the surface of the water, which is a great area to work with a popper or lightly weighted plastic. My preferred lure lately has been my almost see-through lucky craft C-Cube.

CRABBING The crabbing has been getting better lately. Many people have got good hauls

and most have been full, however, some people are still getting big pots full of females. Some of the keys areas have been Coorooman Creek and the Narrows, and the main baits being used have been mullet heads, which are widely available at any good tackle store.

If the areas you are going to be placing crab pots in experience a fair bit of run, it may be worthwhile investing in some good heavy duty crab pots, as they will be less likely to get washed away in some of the big tidal currents this region gets.

Amanda Boon with a solid barra pulled from the town regions of the river in the Women That Fish comp that was held before the closed season.

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Creeks are cranking right up STANAGE BAY

Peewee Wiltshire

This month is looking to be very exciting, with plenty of fishing adventures for you all. Stanage Bay really heats up this time of year and there is something for everyone.

Stanage came alive, with the school holidays bringing crowds from all over. Most families were eager to try

the bigger fish species that should be getting around as we speak.

Although one sector of marine life may be quiet, another is always ramping up, so it always pays to bring a variety of gear to Stanage, it’s one bit of paradise where the options are endless.

Whales are still about and making their way back down the coast, so it won’t be long and they’ll be gone for the year. This is a

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Pantera II 2017 Ronnie with a bream. These fish are quite prolific at the moment. not so much.

We owe a huge thank you to Coast Guard Thirsty Sound, Capricorn Rescue Helicopter Service and the Queensland Police Service for their efforts in searching and locating an upturned vessel with two occupants in Stanage Bay waters. Both occupants were rescued, thankfully are

unhurt and no doubt have come out with a ripper of a story to share. Don’t forget to pay your membership and if you can donate to these worthwhile establishments, because without them we’d all be in a world of hurt.

Take care on the waterways and catch you next month.

Yar-Craft 1785BT 2017

Jaxon had a ball over the school holidays. their luck and knowledge at the well-known Jew Hole.

The Jew Hole is coming to life after a slow, steady start.

It’s beginning to show off some of the monsters it’s renowned for. Don’t forget your heavier lines to avoid telling the story of ‘the one that got away’.

Rough seas have put a dampener on the spirits of those hoping to get out and chase our beautiful reefies, but the creeks are still full of life with bream and salmon. Prawns have been the winning bait of choice, holiday makers have been lucky enough to catch off the bank at Porters Creek and boaties have been scoring a catch around Quail Island.

Muddies are still going through their quiet time, so are a bit trickier to locate.

Hopefully they are off breeding and doubling in size.

The first of two reef closures has now been and gone, the second will be occurring 5-9 November, so take this into consideration when planning for November. Information on the closure can be found on the Fisheries website.

Be sure to invest in heavier line and rigs to suit

blessing to some.

If you’re camped up on one of the Stanage beaches, keep an eye out for nesting turtles as they tend to nest between November and January. Please be respectful of this and give them their space.

Council are still working on the road in and are making great progress. At least half of the journey in is now pleasant, the other half

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Perhaps a mining-fitter tied this crab?

Douglas and his mulloway. The Jew Hole was living up to its name.

• Book into your Stanage Bay rental – all the rentals are set up for fishers and are budget priced – bring some camping gear with you and spend a night or two on the islands. Many fisher rentals are continually improving. Once it used to be simply the basics, however now it’s about the amount of toilets, fish-cleaning areas and parking, not to mention the closeness to the boat ramp, pub, fuel and tackle shop. Call Pee Wee on (07) 4937 3145 or email stanagebaymarine@ bigpond.com for any further queries on Stanage Bay. Until next time, enjoy the photos.

For more pics, find them on the Stanage Bay Marine & Accommodation Facebook or anywhere on the web.

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51

Time that tide to score YEPPOON

Scott Lynch ifishcq2@bigpond.com

That bit of rain during October has boosted all the local systems that usually suffer from lack of flow at this time of year.

Blue salmon have picked up in the mouths of all the local creeks after their annual

incoming tides. The old guys up here still use whiting fillet strips to catch blueys.

Now that barramundi are off the menu until 1 February there are a lot of anglers that are a bit lost. Well not completely.

We are fortunate to have some world-class impoundments within a few hours drive of here. The closest, and arguably up there with the best, is Awoonga. This incredible

you are fishing shallow areas I prefer natural colours, as close to the water colour as possible and use more twitches and pauses. If the dam is wind blown the range of colours and retrieves you’ll need are much greater, although a slow roll tends to work for me.

The bigger vibes and paddletails lend themselves to the deeper areas. You can locate the schools and work your lures at the required depth varying your retrieves, colours and style until you get the right reaction.

The anglers who specialise in dams follow the moon patterns to plan their trips.

Most will prefer the full moon for night fishing, although the new moon can produce plenty of fish too. I think that it is well worth a visit anytime you get the chance, especially during the regular barramundi closed season. I can’t think of a better way to feed the addiction than at Awoonga.

We are also lucky enough to have Lake Callide within close proximity and it has kept improving with the stocking

Harley Martin with a horse barramundi he caught in Lake Callide. and regulation to the point that it is now producing lots of quality barra regularly.

The coral reef fin fish closures are from the 5 November to 9 November, inclusive. Don’t target them, it is illegal and there are plenty of other options if the weather is that good. You can always go for mackies. The lesser mackerels are in good form right along the Cape Coast from Cape Capricorn in the south to Army Country north of us. The long period between

the river pushing fresh and a fair season has let the schools come into all the spots in the bay. We have found them at virtually any spot with a bit of structure and bait.

The anglers fishing Double Heads have turned up a few serious Spaniards among them. One of the Spanish landed from the rock recently went over 36kg. We have been taking a couple of good size doggies (Queensland school mackerel) for a fresh feed and keeping a few for big Spanish

Mitch Lester landed a nice red offshore from Yeppoon. spawning run down the coast.

If you haven’t caught one of these guys, then it is worth the effort to target them right now. We often use a tailor style pilly rig, casting into the frothy whitewater at the channel edges leading into Corio Bay. This doesn’t work in other estuaries/bays for some reason, probably the lack of small frothy surf.

They do like chrome lures, paddle-tails and stickbaits in this same area. Most of the other systems we use plastics, hardbodies and baits. Yabbies and live prawns are the pick of baits and the places you catch them are prime spots on the

place has had a big run of ups and downs over the years, with dry seasons and devastating floods overflowing the dam and losing thousands of fish (lucky though for Gladstone and Rocky anglers) down the spillway. At present, it is having one of the best years ever and there is an incredible amount of barra over 800mm.

The barra here will take a large range of lures from hardbodies, jerkbaits and sticks to vibes and paddle-tail plastics.

Colours of lures can make the difference, and conditions dictate which ones seem to have the edge on a given day.

If the dam is glass still and

A blue salmon caught on a Happy Rock Softy by Ben Weston at Corio.

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mackerel baits. There are plenty of Spanish about and should be in numbers, at least until after Christmas. The tide sizes usually dictate the better spots at any time and we try to hit reef passages and pinnacles when the tides are big and the reef edges and bait patches over the smaller tides.

Usually the weather is more a factor in fish catches over the warmer months than the availability of fish.

Generally the bigger reds and nannies come into the close patches and even as close as the islands. You don’t get the same numbers as a wide trip, however, you don’t do 80km in a little tinny either.

Over the years we have found there is a pattern to their location. The one standout is the bait grounds.

If you are where the bait schools are at daylight and position the boat right over the school, then you have the best chance of scoring a couple of serious nannygai or reds. We try to get there before daylight and get a dozen yakka or scad. Drop them straight back down with a 6/0 circle hook through the lip or behind the anal fin, depending on the run. With red emperor it is very important to keep the To page 53

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There are some dam good fishing options MACKAY

Keith Day habdays@bigpond.net.au

Wow another year has almost gone and the barra season closed 1 November and in most places that would mean the barra gear is put away for three months, but that is not the case in Mackay.

We are fortunate to have three great impoundments well stocked with barra located short distances from Mackay, with Eungella Dam being the longest trek at about 100 minutes. Kinchant and Teemburra are around 30 minutes from Mackay and all three dams are firing well, since the onset of spring and the warmer weather.

For the anglers chasing a huge monster barra, then Kinchant Dam is the place to be. Around the full moon the car park gets full as anglers from near and far arrive to try to land a trophy barra. Where once a barra from the dams over a metre long would generate plenty of comment, nowadays unless the fish is over 1.3m, it won’t get the same amount of attention.

Mind you, any barra over a metre is a really worthy catch and will give any angler a solid workout.

So, if you are determined to catch a really big barra, look at working around the new moon and I suggest checking the solunar tables for peak bite periods, as they are generally fairly close to the mark, provided the conditions are right. Nights around the full moon sees plenty of boat traffic, but look for a quieter corner or break in the weeds and fish it hard. During the day the dam is popular with ski boats and jet skis, so after dark is preferred.

Kinchant at the moment has no structure, so the barra hot spots are around ‘weed islands’ and along points of weed beds. Any inlets or channel in the weeds is also a spot worth trying out.

Just on dusk and shortly after, use surface lures/flies.

Lively Lures Ziggy, Reidy’s From page 52

bait as close to the bottom as possible. Their big lips are designed to scoop stuff off the bottom and they rarely take the top hook on the paternoster unless it is a large school. Nannies on the other hand, will grab the top hook more than the bottom one.

When fishing the bait grounds, the tide isn’t as important as the time and boat position. If you can’t find the bait schools, don’t bother even stopping. This time of year the grounds off Manifold and the Pinnacles

J Walker, and Tango Dancers are my favourite topwater lures and for the softies, I like ZMan pop frogs in the largest size. For the flyfishers, Gurglers, foam head poppers, DK dancers and tarpon toads will all work.

For subsurface presentations the choices are unlimited, from hardbodies, vibes, paddle-tails and curly tails in all manner of shapes, sizes and colours. Check with local tackle outlets to find out what is the hot lure at the moment. A few favourites include the perennials like gold bombers, Reidy’s B52s, RMGs and Halcos along with a host of smaller makes from lure builders across Australia.

Plastics are all the rage, and Squidgies, Reidys, Storm, ZMan etc all make good lures and don’t be too shy about the sizes. The barra will hammer paddletails in the 150mm size and curly tails.

Flyfishers look to big deceivers, bombers, pink things, clousers, and more.

I have just finished tying up some articulated flies that I am keen to try out on the dam barra, and while they have a lovely action in a swimming pool, I have yet to put them in front of a barra.

The same lures and flies work equally well in Teemburra and Eungella dams, but the difference is that both have extensive strands of timber and plenty of lay down stuff as well.

Plenty of barra are caught in these dams in the open waters and the trick is to find a prominent point either in a bay or the dam where there is some deep water adjacent, and work lures along the banks or off the ends of the points. Those with side scan sounders will see plenty of fish movement as the barra come out of the depths and into the shallow areas (less than 5m) to feed.

When this coincides with a peak period and the weather is favourable, the chances are that you will be in for a bonanza, but the hot bite does not usually last all that long.

If, like me, you prefer

bashing the snags, there is no end to them in both dams.

In Teemburra most of the timber is on the western and northern sides of the dam, and there are plenty of bays, points and little gullies, all with standing and laying down timber. I like to work the heavy timber areas with either surface lures or shallow hardbodies and the action can be fast and furious to keep the fish out of the timber.

Eungella’s timber is up towards the southeastern sector of the dam and there is plenty of weed growth around the dam perimeters.

Lilies are abundant further up the dam in Broken River and they are always worth inspecting. The same lures and flies will do the job here, too.

While chasing barra in the dams, don’t be surprised to run into one of my favourite fish, the sooty grunter. All three dams are stocked by MAFSA bred sooties. They will happily smack barra size lures and even heavier barra scale tackle. This fish will give you a hard fight.

While a lot of the fishing over the next couple of months will be targeting barra in the dams, there are still plenty of other species available in the saltwater creeks and estuaries. One of the more common and a top table fish is the old flathead and these are common in all our creeks and estuaries, particularly where there are sand flats exposed at low tide. A quick walk in these areas at low tide will soon tell you if they are around.

Good spots to try are on any sand flats in the NFZ, the Pioneer River, Reliance and Constant creeks and to the south the extensive sand flats in Sarina Inlet.

Another species that is prevalent over the summer is the saltwater grunter, which is another fine eating fish and will respond to different baits, lures and flies. Grunters are exciting to catch, they don’t muck about and smash the bait or lure at top speed, but as they are usually on flats they can be worn down without too much difficulty.

can produce a good feed of nannygai at times. Anytime is good to target them, as long as there is a little bit of run.

The fish group in the pressure wave of the structure and compete for any food coming through with the current. I always thought that the eddy would hold the most fish, but a few fishing trips have shown that not to always be the case. Many times chasing nannies we have got onto the big grunter on a good day and other times we can’t get away from the big trevally that sometimes hang over the same ground.

The beaches have been on the improve with summer coming on. Whiting and dart have turned up along Farnborough Beach, from Barwells Creek up to Corio and Three Rivers Beach. We have been catching them on small chromies and baits.

Beachworms and yabbies are the pick as a rule and you can even catch them yourself on the way up the beach.

One of the local beach fishers has landed a couple of big permit in recent times while chasing whiting and dart. That would be a gear tester on 6lb line.

Look for grunter around sand and mud flats at the top of the tide and anywhere there is a gravel bottom will be a good spot to try as they forage for small crabs.

On those really hot, humid still days, the locals in the know will be out hunting the mangrove jack in our mangrove creeks and adjacent estuaries. Jacks, like sooties in the fresh, hang out in the snags and rocks and rarely will be caught way out in the open. Rock bars in the creeks are top spots for jacks and anywhere there is cover nearby as well as baitfish or prawns is worth trying for jacks. Live baits drifted into snags will catch plenty of jacks, and for the lure or fly angler it is a case of get it right in there or miss out. Shallow diving hardbodies and vibes all work well and a hint of red on the lure does not hurt.

Best flies include Deceivers, Oversize Streamers and Prawn patterns.

Offshore fishing is very wind dependant and reef fishing is subject to closures so check before heading out. Pelagics are prominent with plenty of Spaniards still around, but they are generally further offshore at this time of year.

Close in and within reach of a 4m tinnie, there is plenty of action with schools of smaller mackerel and tuna working bait balls right through our area. At the northern end of our waters, check out Lonely (Low) Rock out from Murray Creek and anywhere you find a few tinnies in one area will usually produce results. Birds working are a dead giveaway for bait schools and the predators won’t be far away.

Close to the harbour there will be plenty of action with the mackerel, tuna and trevally all getting stuck into the small baitfish.

Small plastics, jigheads tied off with fly materials, vibes, metal lures and small minnows will all work on these predators. Small profile, flashy flies that match the small baitfish will also attract plenty of attention.

Mackay Area Fish Stocking Association Inc. (MAFSA) have been very busy releasing barra into Eungella and Teemburra dams, despite having had an $18,000 reduction in SIP funds for the three dams stocked by MAFSA, forced on the Association by

the changes instigated by Queensland Fisheries.

The ironic sub-plot to this situation is that MAFSA members are voluntarily assisting in the construction of artificial fish habitat to be placed in Kinchant Dam to assist anglers in locating and hopefully catching more fish. This is a joint project between Mackay Regional Council and Queensland Fisheries. Yes, the very same Queensland Government Department that has decided MAFSA should get fewer funds from the SIP scheme to stock the dam.

To say the Association members and the anglers who fish these three dams are less than impressed is a huge understatement, and moves are afoot to make sure this situation is discussed at the state wide stocking meeting. From what I have heard quite a few other groups in the north are similarly unimpressed.

So that’s a roundup of what anglers can expect during November. As always, we have plenty of options available here, whether you like deepwater handlining, lure or flyfishing, or soaking a bait in an estuary.

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l Events Room l Bird Feeding l Jumping Pillows l Pools & Water Park Complex l Outdoor Movies l Bettongs l Wine Tasting l Tennis Court l Open Fires l Self Drive 4WD Trips tion Major Annual Fishing Competi l Camp Oven Dinner er emb Nov in d ken on the 2nd wee l Morning Tea l Challenging nine hole golf course l Plenty of Red Claw n Creek 5 kms from our carava Situated on the Three Moon attraction to our tourists. park Lake Cania is a very big n d dams in Qld, and has bee It is one of the top 4 stocke ga. ato Sar and ly Bel ow Bass, Yell stocked with fish including .. its. s hold n atio Cania Fish Stocking Associ 07 4167 8188

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info@caniagorge.com.au NOVEMBER 2018

53

Wet a line in the Whitsundays WHITSUNDAYS

Mick Underwood

That warmer weather is here, and what a cracker time of year it is to go fishing. With the winter bite waning and the summer bite picking up there is a fish out there to be caught for everyone.

The last few weeks have been fairly blustery in general, which has limited most anglers fishing efforts at their favourite inshore spots. The few good days that we have had, when we’ve been able to punch out a bit wider, most people haven’t been disappointed as some nice catches have been coming home. The deeper reef and rubble patches have been providing some good black jew action and mixed in with these bad boys has been the odd nannygai and golden snapper. While chasing these bigger reef dwellers we’ve been catching plenty of hussars that we’ve immediately been filleting and sending back down to the bottom as big fresh strip baits. This little ploy has kept bait fishers grinning from ear to ear all day long. Lure fishos haven’t been left out of the game either, as micro jigs and chatterbaits have been claiming their fair share of fish as well.

Back inshore and up the creeks it’s been noticeable how much bait is hanging around and combined with the recent increase in water temperatures the fishing action has picked up, with the ever-popular mangrove jack leading the charge.

The inshore reef fishing scene has been a patchy affair, but this should start to become more consistent as we move further into the summer season.

November traditionally brings with it long runs of calm and balmy days which means options aplenty for all of us. Up in the estuaries the barramundi will obviously be off limits, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t get out there and

A nice black jew that fell to a micro jig. smash a jack or two. These feisty little gutter brawlers aren’t only a blast to catch, they’re pretty damned tasty as well. One of my favourite ploys with these guys is to anchor up on a likely looking spot, then berley up with plenty of freshly chopped up pillies.

It doesn’t take long for this to stir up any predatory fish in the area and it can also help to entice any mangrove jacks to sneak out from their snaggy lairs.

Once they’re out in the open they’re a hell of a lot easier to catch.

The fringing reefs that encase our inner islands and mainland headlands will start to fire better this month and I expect that coral trout will be on everyone’s menus.

The fringing reefs around Saddleback Island, Georges Point and Gloucester island are nice and close to

NOVEMBER 2018

Bait isn’t the only way to nail a tasty trout or two. Tihan will attest to that with this one that he nailed in a couple of metres of water. and/or erratic movements as this will help turn the pelagics on. If you haven’t had a go at this style of

If the bait schools move inshore then there will be plenty of pelagic action for everyone to enjoy. any predatory fish that maybe in the vicinity. Try to match your lure size to the size of the bait and work the entire water column from the bottom to the surface to ascertain where the best bites are coming from.

Whatever lure you select, once it’s in the water make it move with a bit of pace

fishing before don’t be shy, have a go, you’ll find it’s really addictive.

On any runs of nice calm days over the next few weeks I expect that I’ll hear stories of people having a ball and catching everything red out at the shoals. Small and large mouth nannygai and red

emperor will be on the chew. A good specimen of any of these species is sure to give you a good work over and the end results are delicious. Out in this area of the world, I love to fish during the day and indulge in various forms of jigging but it sure is nice also to sit out there on a nice calm moonlit night with a couple of mates and simply soak a bait.

Whatever your angling endeavours are over the next month from up the creeks to out in the deep blue, good luck to you all and I’ll see you out there somewhere.

• Reel Addiction Sport Fishing Charters specialises in light tackle fishing for all tropical sportfishing species on fly, lures and bait. Reel Addiction operates from the beautiful Cape Gloucester Beach Resort, 40 minutes’ drive north of Airlie Beach.

Combined fishing charter and accommodation packages are available.

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Simon Young, a regular patron on Reel Addiction, was pretty happy to get in on the recent jewie bite.

Calm days have been rare the last few weeks, but when we’ve had them, fish like this have been commonplace.

54

there will be plenty of light tackle pelagic fun on offer.

Tangling with big golden trevally and queenfish up in the shallows with light gear is sure to get you dancing around the boat. When the bait schools come in they can turn up nearly anywhere, but good places to start your hunt are from Gloucester Passage down to Sunset Beach. Once you’ve located your bait school it’s time to get into the action. For this style of fishing I prefer lures as opposed to bait and casting or trolling, so as not to upset the bait schools and

home and are well known to produce plenty of tasty coral trout and sweetlip. It’s that time of year for me where I make sure that all my hardbody lure trays are well stocked and that all the trebles are new and sharp.

It’s one of my personal favourites, to go chasing big inshore coral trout with lures and light spin gear, it’s piles of fun and highly productive.

I have my fingers crossed that we’ll get some schools of bait move inshore this month and if it does

As the water continues to warm up so will the shallow reef trout activity.

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Quiet lead up to Burdekin barra closed season AYR

Steve Farmer

With the barramundi closed season looming, many Burdekin anglers made a last-ditch effort to score a fish or two before the 1 November closure. However, despite the creeks being overrun by rod-bristling tinnies and crews of keen fishers, reports of barramundi captures during September and October were relatively small in numbers and the fish taken were mainly of a pretty ordinary size.

Many anglers blamed the poor fishing on the lack of rain throughout the year and no early-season storms that fire up the big fish.

As always, live prawns were the number one bait, but usually only produced fish either undersized or just barely legal.

Of course, the closure is now in full force and anglers will have to wait until the 1 February opening day, or buy

Bream catches have been exceptionally good throughout the Burdekin. an impoundment licence and head for one of the stocked freshwater dams where barra fishing is permitted.

Remember that during the closed season it is illegal to target barra for catch and release and any accidental captures must be released quickly and carefully.

One winter species that is still fishing well in both numbers and size is bream.

Good catches have been reported from across the district with Plantation and Ocean creeks fishing

particularly well, possibly because they are handy, easily accessed creeks that get the most fishing pressure from Burdekin anglers. Best baits were peeled prawns and small slabs of mullet fished on a light rig with minimal sinker weight.

One thing for successful anglers to keep in mind is that this species has a minimum size limit of 25cm and a bag limit of 30. This is an ‘in possession’ bag limit and includes any you might have in the freezer at home or in camp. That means if you catch

25 bream one day and don’t consume any that night you can only keep 5 bream if you fish again the following day.

Another traditionally winter species that hasn’t been fishing so well lately in Burdekin creeks is the flathead.

My daughter Aimee and I found the fish scarce at Phillips Camp recently, landing only a couple of small fish. However, many of our favourite lizard lairs were covered by a thin layer of mud, possibly making them less appealing to the flathead.

However, I wouldn’t write the lizards off yet. I’ve enjoyed good flathead spinning well into December in previous years and hopefully that’ll happen again.

NOVEMBER FORECAST Mangrove jack are one of the north’s better-known summer species and they’ve been running true to form over the past month or so. Jack captures have been increasing steadily throughout September and October and should continue to do so into the warmer months, making them

a preferred target species for many keen anglers.

The mangrove jack is considerate enough to accommodate most anglers’ preferences, always keen to snap up baits of either live or dead prawns, small mullet or herring (fished either on the bottom or under a float), as well as hard and softbodied lures.

The single most important skill to have when hunting jacks is the ability to cast accurately – the more accurate the better. That’s because the closer you can lob either your bait or lure to a likely looking snag, the more likely you are to score a strike. Getting a jack out is the next very-immediate challenge, and that’s where a realistic choice of tackle comes into it. I use 10kg gear and personally wouldn’t fish this sort of country with anything under 8kg; anything less than that invites immediate annihilation. These fish just love the sticks!

Estuary anglers who prefer sportfish might keep an

eye out for schools of salmon moving up the creeks on the making tide. The schools aren’t as big or as common as they once were, but the blue salmon is still a summer stalwart in many northern districts.

Preferred baits are small mullet and herring (either live or dead), which can be cast unweighted into the schools for best results. Lures such as small (around 10cm or less) minnows, metal slugs, bibless crankbaits and softbodies also work well on this predatory fish.

Sandpaper-like jaws make a heavy leader or even a wire trace a necessity when targeting salmon to avoid being ‘rubbed off’.

Once hooked salmon will turn on a hard, fast fight but, fortunately, won’t zero in on the nearest bit of structure.

The salmon’s table qualities aren’t great, but can be maximised by immediately bleeding and icing down the catch and eating it as fresh as possible.

Weather warming, fish swarming HINCHINBROOK

been quite a good month after a slow start to spring.

Some early northwesterlies did slow things a little at times, which is a pain when that happens, but overall we cannot complain.

October has also brought an early run of good baitfish, with swarms of mullet and greenback herring everywhere too. Some schools just seem to go on and on and provide the backbone for our inshore predators existence.

Northern bluefin, grey and

Ryan Moody info@ryanmoodyfishing.com

During the past month we have seen some reasonable fishing inside the northern end of the channel, including big GTs on the flats, as well as a few large queenies while casting for barra before the closed season. It has definitely warmed up early this year and that would explain why October has

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spotted mackerels, Spaniards, queenies and more have been making the most of it and they are easy to find, all you have to do is look for the small white terns diving into the schools.

Although Hinchinbrook Channel is mostly mangrove waterway, it is amazing the amount and type of pelagic fish you will find in there as well.

Golden snapper numbers have been on the improve as their metabolism starts to get into gear as the waters warm. I certainly do not mind

E

Supersport

59 HUNDRED

the barra closed seasons as targeting golden snapper and threadies is a whole bunch of fun. Threadfin fight harder than any barra and really are a stunning fish to look at. Once they do arrive they are easy targets with soft vibes and plastics accounting for dozens of them. They will take a big variety of lures as they are not too fussy Now that we are approaching summer it can get very warm out there in the daytime. But many fishers try their luck at night and this is when many species forage more and as a result become very active using the twilight hours to their advantage.

Golden snapper have always been a popular target around inshore headlands at night during this time of year and use their foraging ability to their advantage.

Many anglers swear by

Scarlets are a popular target for fishers during the evening hours this time of year. using a squid light to catch squid, as it is a very good live bait but I have found the larger oceanic herrings that come to the lights are just as good and easier to catch. If you use a smaller type of bait jig under the squid light you can catch them easily or cast the net in the creeks before you head out. Mud herring also make a great bait and are usually plentiful in our waters at this time of year.

Offshore, the reef will also fish better at night during the warmer months as is always

the case. Dead still days out there can see the fishing shut down entirely and that’s certainly no fun. Something else to keep an eye out for are triple tail, otherwise known as jumping cod.

They love to hang around floating objects and pylons.

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Westo with a nice barra from October, caught while deep trolling.

Target the snag strewn shallows TOWNSVILLE

Dave Hodge

Spring is a pretty cool time to be a fisher in North Queensland, and things are changing quite quickly, with very little pattern from day to day. That doesn’t mean it has been hard to find fish though, as the jacks and barra are changing their dietary habits and it’s just a matter of finding where they are on a particular day, then choosing the right lure to catch them. This is undoubtedly made much easier with a good sounder, if it is equipped with side scan it is going to make it much easier to find.

In 1.5m of water the other day I chased a school of barra around for an hour in a shallow bay where they were following a school of bait in almost a figure of 8.

That is what it is all about.

It is what I love doing the most, and that’s casting

snags, and when the winds under 10 knots, go out in the bay chasing choppers, trout or grunter.

An average scenario for us is to launch at one of the many creeks in the local Townsville area, and

offering had to be. We had a good season on barra, but it is time to give them a rest as the closed season started

Having colour options is important. Same spot on a different day and a different colour did the job. Being willing to change to the conditions is important to crack each day’s codes.

Mick Rennie with a brace of jacks that just couldn’t help but smash the Prongs worked off flooding timber on a rising tide.

This barra, along with a few of his mates, were spotted in less than a metre of water before the closed season. This allowed a very precise presentation with the 5” Paddle Prawn and 1/4oz head. The colour made a difference in the murky water.

then look for somewhere where there aren’t many, if any boats and then begin looking for fish. It’s this search for solitude that often encourages us to push further upstream and away from the weekend crowds, and if the tides are right, into some of the tiniest drains and creeks that there are. While this often takes us away from where the bigger fish are most prevalent, it does offer some consolation in the fact that we can go the whole day without seeing another boat. Since the advent, and ease of acquiring a side-scan sounder, there aren’t any such things as secret spots in the creeks and bays these days.

During October barra were falling to many options.

An imitation prawn lure was the only real option when targeting these guys. But, the warmer the water got, the more options they would take and the bigger your

midday 1 November and continues through to midday 1 February.

JACKS ON THE PROWL While some fish are

speed at which you work them that can be surprising, with a pretty quick retrieve being best most of the time.

These flats areas can be towards river mouths, out in the open well away from any substantial creek or river, or they could be right up the

system. So, being there ready to work your way up with the tide over a predetermined piece of bank is essential.

Back to Google Earth, and if you notice that there are deep holes nearby those flats that you intend on working as the tide makes, then these

The upper reaches of a small creek offer a pretty hectic scenario if your timing is right. Around 20 or so barra of similar size to this were caught in a fairly brief session before the closed season started 1 November.

Ryan Tully with a lovely golden snapper, taken on a 4” Atomic Prong worked deep on a 3/4oz head. While the black of the moon is considered best for these hard fighters, they still have to eat, and on the lead up to the full, the shallows are more productive.

happy to hunt the barren flats, void of any definitive structure, the jacks tend to be found more on snag strewn shallows that the tide makes as they follow the bait to their perceived sanctuary of the mangrove line. The timing and lure choice is critical with this part when hunting jacks on the flats, and some pretty reasonable fish can be hooked in ridiculously shallow water.

The most exciting, and often most effective technique, is to throw surface presentations such as the Weedless Frogs, smaller 60mm Rooster Poppers, or Bills Bug Fizzers in the 75mm size. It’s the

top end of a river or creek.

One of the best ways to find them is to look on Google Earth and take notice of areas that look like they have sand spits, laying down timber, or shallow margins that could dry on the low tides. Then it’s a matter of having the time and inclination to actually explore them and work the tides out for yourself.

It’s important to remember that if your tide chart says there will be a low tide at around midday, it will often be an hour and a half or maybe even more, before the water reaches the upper end of a river or

are often a great option to drop Vibes, deeper weighted plastics or deep divers while you wait in anticipation for the flats to flood.

It’s these holes and deeper sections that often hold the bigger fish during low tide, as the bigger fish drop into them, knowing that the bait will have nowhere else to go until the tide begins to run-in again, and can be a great place to narrow the search window.

This transitional time of year is a really intriguing time to be a lure fisher, and can be exceptionally rewarding for a well thought out game plan.

NOVEMBER 2018

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Work around the changes CAIRNS

Garry Smith garrysmith@fishingmonthly.com.au

November usually signals the build-up to the wet, but as everything weather-wise has been late this year, it’s anyone’s guess. The clouds usually start to build on the mountains behind Cairns every evening and the searing heat has everyone hoping the rain will start.

It’s like everything goes on hold, and the fishing can be likewise. The fish, as well as the anglers, are hanging on, waiting for the rain to begin. Some years there are plenty of storms during the build-up, which kicks the fishing along, and occasionally there is an early dump of rain that runs the rivers red, but mostly it’s just hot and hotter, with the fishing the opposite.

The key to fishing this month is to look for and work around any changes, which will trigger the fish into feeding. It can be as simple as a change in tide or wind or the arrival of rain.

You just need something to spark some life into the fish, which are adjusting to the significant increase in temperature, just like

the anglers. The other approach is to go in search of conditions that minimise the effect of increased air temperature, which translates into increased water temperatures. Fish the deep water, in the estuaries, along the coast and out at the reef – the deeper the water, the less impact from the hot weather.

That being said, the fishing in November can at times be electric, but on the whole it is a bit inconsistent.

Humans and fish struggle to adjust to the heat. Fish early, late and overnight for comfort and the best action. On overnighters, the action will come on moonrise, moonset and the change of tide. At the reef it is quite common to get a bite either before midnight or just before dawn. It’s a rare trip for the fish to bite throughout the night.

If things have been quiet before midnight, it’s a good time to sack down for a few hours shut eye and rise at about 4:00am ready for the pre-dawn and dawn bite.

The ideal reef trip, storms permitting, is to head out mid-afternoon, fish for trout and Spanish mackerel wherever you can find some current hitting a reef, until dark, then head

out into 40m+ water to chase reds overnight. Return to a trout bommie just after dawn for a final crack before heading to port. Remember the second and final coral reef fin fish closure for the year is from 5-9 November.

Focus your efforts on good-looking areas that are holding bait and be patient, wait for the change of tide to spark some action. Generally the icebox will contain a good variety of fish, rather than big numbers of any particular species. Trout will still dominate up shallow, especially either side of the closure, while largemouth nannygai will be the main player in the deep water.

The heavy tackle season will be in full swing for the well healed, along with the odd small boat fisho who loves a real challenge.

The small black marlin and sailfish season wasn’t up to recent years, so here’s hoping the big girls make up for it out wide. There will be plenty of action on light tackle, with yellowfin tuna, wahoo, mahimahi, sailfish and Spanish mackerel around to keep the sportsfishos smiling.

Closer inshore the isolated rocks, bommies and wrecks will be worth targeting for largemouth

nannygai, and golden snapper can be found closer to shore. Live bait and jigging vibes, jerk shads and micro-jigs are the most consistent producers in these locations. To jig you need a concentration of bait and fish, which is most likely around significant bottom structure. Jigging in open rubble country can use up a lot of energy for little return.

With barra off the menu for the next three months, golden snapper, grunter, salmon and mangrove jack will be the main target species along the headlands, on the flats and in the estuaries. Golden snapper are best targeted on dawn, dusk and overnight, especially at this time of year. The deeper the water the better, though they do move up shallow at times, especially at night. Live baits like sardines, mud herring, mullet, prawns and squid are top of the menu but lures will also produce a few fish.

Grunter fishing is less effort and usually more productive, as long as you follow a few basic principles. The bait needs to be as fresh as possible, preferably caught on the way to the location, fish as light as possible and work

David Whyte caught this magnificent 60cm passionfruit trout on a reef south of Cairns. around the top of the tide over weed, grit and rubble areas. The flats out in front of Cairns Hospital is a popular location, especially on the large morning high tides in the lead up to the new and full moons. Stay out wide enough to be in at least 3m of water and follow the tide in, if the fish go off the bite.

Salmon will be appearing along the Northern Beaches on the high tides, especially with the northerly winds. They are a good target species for land-based anglers who are happy to sit and wait for a bite. Fresh mullet, sardines and prawns are

great baits to get started with. Luring is a bit more challenging but electric fun once they’re hooked.

Mangrove jack are a better option up in the creeks, around the low tide, as more structure is exposed and the fish are forced out of the mangroves.

Heat is a real issue in the small creeks this month, so only fish dawn and dusk and don’t forget the insect repellent.

For those still wanting a barra fix, Tinaroo Dam will be worth a visit around the full moon, not only for barra but also for a break from the heat and humidity along the coast.

Red, gold and salmon catches CAIRNS

Dan Kaggelis dkaggelis@gmail.com

With barramundi off the target list thanks to the 1 November closure, anglers in the Trinity Net Free Zone will be turning their rods towards other species this month. The three main target species will be mangrove jack, threadfin salmon and golden snapper.

The good news is that mangrove jack have been

chewing hard over the last month or so and anglers have been reporting not only good numbers, but big fish as well in all systems. The Cairns Inlet has been providing plenty of red fun, especially for those throwing paddle-tail and prawn style lures into snags on the run-out tide. Some of the more successful lures include the ZMan 3” MinnowZ in pearl as well as YUM crawfish.

Soft plastics thrown deep into snags on weedless hooks have been really producing the goods. Hardbody lures, in particular suspending lures,

Cracked ya tinny?

like the Jackal Squirrel and Lucky Craft Pointers, have also been producing some red-hot jack action. The same action has been found in the Barron as well as Half Moon Creek area, with plenty of jacks on the prowl. With the warmer water these fish won’t be shy, so be ready for a strike the moment that lure hits the water.

When the water and tide begin to peak out one of the better options is to cast unweighted weedless surface frogs deep into the mangroves and work them back at pace.

Jacks love a paddling frog this time of year and the ability to skip up amongst the snags puts you right in the zone for some action. My two favourites

would have to be the ZMan frogs in white and YUM frogs also go really well. Start with a 4” frog and if you aren’t having any luck on the frogs, then scale them down to the 3” size, as this can sometimes be a deciding factor. Just make sure your drag is tight, as being this close to the mangroves and snags does not give you too much room to fight with, so it’s go hard or go home.

Bait fishers have also been finding plenty of jacks, especially those who are willing to cast the net for fresh bait. Fresh herring is a go to bait this time of year and jacks tend to prefer them over a live mullet.

The other species that will love a fresh herring will be the

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NOVEMBER 2018

Now that the barra closed season is in place everyone will be targeting these guys.

Golden snapper have been turning up in the NFZ, and will be more prolific in the warmer months. golden snapper and this year has been a bumper year for them since the nets have been removed. There are plenty of wrecks in the Cairns Inlet that hold these fish and it is often a case of fresh bait and a bit of patience to get into them. Golden snapper can grow up to 80cm in the Inlet, but are usually caught around 45-60cm in size. These fish can also be taken on plastics and vibes as well, and are best targeted this way around the neap tides when you can fish the deeper bends and wrecks without too much current.

The last species on the list is the threadfin salmon and these are best targeted around creeks mouths, especially the Barron and Thomatis creek mouths. If the weather is right, fishing the outside gutters and headlands around these mouths is always a

great idea for these fish. They are worth targeting as well off the beach.

Some good news from the NFZ planning side of things, the Cairns Recreational Fishing Strategy has been endorsed

by Council and released and things are already moving quickly. Check it out here: https://www. cairns.qld.gov.au/__data/ assets/pdf_file/0005/255776/ Cairns-Fishing-StrategyFINAL-14082018_ web-file.pdf This includes boat ramp upgrades, CCTV as well as more money for stocking and competitions. That’s right, it looks as though we will be having a tagged fish comp coming to the NFZ similar to the NT campaign. Stay tuned as it is going to be a big winner for our area.

Heavy and light tackle options PORT DOUGLAS

Lynton Heffer www.fishingportdouglas.com.au

There is a lot of action in the far north with something on offer in all angling departments. Firstly, the big black marlin season is in full swing right from up on the Ribbon Reefs adjacent to Lizard Island right down to the Jenny Louise Shoals down south near Cairns. The smaller models between the 200-300lb range started to gather in numbers along the shelf from mid September, and more recently the big girls arrived to breed as well.

Reports are saying they are right up there close to the 1000lb mark.

It has not only been the heavy tackle that has been getting a work out, but the light tackle game fishing has been equally impressive.

Using stand up gear it is worthwhile trailing a selection of hard body and skirted lures

for the likes of yellowfin tuna, northern bluefin tuna, Spanish mackerel, wahoo and mahimahi. Even right up on the pinnacles and edges of the shelf sailfish are actively getting involved. Weather conditions normally flatten right out in November, so this is a reality for the trailer boat brigade to get out wide and do some big game fishing.

Inside the reef itself the fishing has been ticking over nicely with a real mixed bag of fish to be caught off the bottom.

The best fishing has been occurring in the days leading into the moons and several days afterwards, especially on the new moon where the fish have been spawning. The fishing has been a bit patchy on the extreme neaps and also right on the full moon.

We have one more set of reef closures coming this month between 5-9 November around that new moon, so no reef fishing can take place. On the productive days the different varieties of fish coming back

to the docks have included plump sized coral trout, quite a few large mouth nannygai around 8kg, robust red emperor up to 8kg and oodles of spangled emperor mostly around the 4-5kg range. A few out of the box species have included baldy bream, cattle dog cod, reef mangrove jack, barramundi cod (released) and red throat emperor. Locals fishing at night have been doing exceptionally well on the nannygai schools.

Closer to home the rivers and creeks are hot work but during the low light periods we are seeing some nice mangrove jack on the move along the banks and in numbers, and the deeper holes are producing golden snapper as well. There’s a normal run of trevally and mid-sized queenfish pushing in with the incoming tides. Barra are now off the menu with their closures in effect now from 1 November right through to 1 February. The middle parts of the day will get harder to fish

as air temperatures go through the roof, so early morning and late afternoon and going into dark will see the action at its best inshore.

As usual there is a large contingency of big game boats from all over the country fishing the entire length of these waters, bringing in a lot of valuable money to the local economy. This coming month sees the 9th annual running of the Port Douglas Marlin Challenge, which is one of only two dedicated heavy tackle tournaments, the other being Lizard Island, which was conducted in October. It always attracts a strong field of top class vessels and crew, is well known for its very social atmosphere and is conducted over four days from 9-12 November. For more details visit www.portdouglas marlinchallenge.com.

There’s something on offer no matter what your preference and it’s a great time to be out amongst it in the tropics.

A local charter releasing an estimated 250lb black marlin to kick start.

Hoping for early wet weather LUCINDA

Jeff Wilton jeffwilton83@hotmail.com

The end of the year is close now and once again it is a bit of a smack in the face with the reality that another year has just about passed by.

The big news is that the barramundi closed season has commenced and they are off the target list until midday 1 February 2019.

There is also a coral reef fin fish closure on 5-9 November, which means all reef fish are off limits.

There has been some consistent fishing lately here around Hinchinbrook with lots of lucky anglers getting into some chrome barra before the closed season. The weather has been dry and there isn’t much excitement in the form of rainfall on the horizon. But even more annoying has been the consistent wind that just won’t let up for very long,

or if it does, I’m working so it doesn’t matter. So, let’s get ready for the heat and humidity to ramp up and start keeping a watchful eye on the Coral Sea for any interesting developments. Keep your fingers crossed for an early wet season this year, as we need rain bad.

HINCHINBROOK CHANNEL Barra closed season began from midday 1 Novemer. Just to be clear, it means that it is illegal to target barra and any accidental captures must be unhooked as quickly as possible and released without stress on the fish.

So, with barra off limits it is the perfect time to hone your skills on the mighty mangrove jack.

I love this time of year, as it means I’m normally pushing right up top of the creeks looking for heavy snags and skinny water.

Skipping plastics deep into structure and gripping the rod tight as you expect to get hammered at any stage is adrenalin fuelled fishing.

Molly-Rose made sure she got one last barra for the year.

I have many setups that I use when chasing jacks: the first being a light to mid range spin outfit. A rod in the 4-6kg class and a reel to match, spooled with 15-20lb braid will normally have a small profile plastic such as a ZMan 3” MinnowZ rigged on a snag-proof jighead. The other outfit will be a bait cast setup with similar rating.

I normally use 30-40lb

get snagged, but by slowly pausing when structure is felt you can normally roll your plastic through and just avoid ripping the hook into the snag.

With the warmer water pushing through the channel the run of big golden grunter should improve. There have already been some impressive captures with one lucky angler reporting 8 fish

Toni got plenty of barra this year. This was her last for the 2018 season. leader and this is more than sufficient. If a jack is going to destroy you, it won’t matter what leader you’re using.

The only benefit of larger leaders is to attempt locking up and trying to rip them out of their homes when they have stitched you up.

For those wanting to use soft plastics I would suggest tracking down some TT Snakelockz jigheads. These jig heads are snag-proof and allow simple rigging of your favourite plastic, with this style of rig you can feel confident casting closer to snags without getting hooked up as much. When I say they are a snag-proof jighead, they will still on occasion

all above 65cm in just over half an hour. These fish fell to fresh sardine and squid baits fished on dark as the tide started to push in. There is no secret that the first half of the sugar loader jetty is a hotspot and it is normal to see several boats sitting there when the conditions are right. It is best to chase grunter in this location on the smaller tides, a difference of about 1-1.5m is perfect, as it allows enough run to get fish active and moving around.

JETTY, ISLANDS AND REEF The weather has been very uncooperative over the last month, with those persistent trade winds hanging in there

The hunt will be on for jacks over the next few months. from the south. I haven’t heard too many reports recently, but on the few occasions we got out we had the sounder light up with fish everywhere, but struggled to get many bites on baits and plastics/jigs. First light always seemed to produce a few fish before they shut down quickly and we spent a few frustrating hours going through tackle boxes searching for something they wanted to eat. The good news for some is that the mighty cobia are back terrorising bait schools over the rubble, wrecks and reef passes. Cobia are plenty of fun as they respond to most techniques and once hooked they fight hard and their ‘never give up’ attitude is somewhat annoying, especially when you’re using light to mid range gear. Keep an eye out for them when out fishing the reef edges, as they always seem to come in for a look at the boat especially when there are fish being caught. They are not fussy and normally a bait thrown in their directions should get eaten.

They jetty has produced some good golden snapper

fishing for those that are happy to get some live squid and settle in for a long night. The last report I heard was that the early hours of the morning have been the stand out. Be prepared for very little action, but if they decide to get active it can be full on – live or fresh baits are crucial for quality fish.

This hot weather should also get the local resident GT fired up and I plan on spending lots of early morning sessions drifting along those pylons working poppers and stickbaits for them. It is best to not get too attached with these lures, as they normally have a very short life span when you hook up. Battles along the jetty are full on and it’s make or break fishing at its finest. GT are big, powerful fish and will test every component of your fishing gear plus your skills. The hardest part is avoiding the pylons on the hit and first run, but when these fish are powerful enough to tow the boat towards them when you’re on spot-lock with the electric motor, you’re fighting a losing battle.

NOVEMBER 2018

59

Warmer weather brings the bite COOKTOWN

Paul Prokopuk

November means the barramundi get a rest from anglers right through until 1 February due to

encroaching on this beautiful town a lot of other ocean and river species will be on their spawning run as well. If you’re lucky you may get in the odd camping trip, but as November marks the official start of

of our seasonal visitors pack up and head south for cooler climates. However, the stalwarts who stick around know that these seasonal changes signify the beginning of some awesome summer fishing.

Ramon Samanes with a nice barra caught trolling a deep diver. the closed season for this species. The barramundi will be spawning at river mouths and headlands as the weather builds up in the Cape.

As the oppressive heat of late spring begins

big large mouth nannygai catches are coming in at this stage and will continue to be caught in December.

You have to get out into the paddock, away from reef structures and get lucky by finding a ‘bump’ or a ‘wonky hole’ on a flat sea floor if you want to catch these big red monsters. A good way to do this is to study the bottom closely with a quality sounder while trolling for pelagics.

Reef jacks, Spangled emperor and cobia have been welcomed by-catch when chasing these red fish at night. Coral trout catches have been coming in thick from a large number of boats who ventured out during the break in the wind. Remember this month there is another coral reef fin fish closure from 5-9 November.

For those fishing the rivers and estuaries in the region, barra have been on the menu with good fish falling victim to live bait and lures. Paddle-tail soft plastics such as Samaki Boom Baits have doing the

Lexie Prokopuk with her first barra, caught flicking a Bomber lure. job as well as soft plastic prawns worked along deeper snags. As for live bait, mullet has been the trick

cyclone season be prepared for some hot and humid days and the odd storm that may drop a lot of rain real fast, which can leave you stuck until it dries out again. Over the next couple of months we see the last

The author with a Spanish mackerel caught trolling a Rapala X Rap deep diver.

Connor O’Brien with one of many tasty bucks caught in the region.

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in the salt and Cherubin in the fresh. The headlands and mouths of the rivers on the building tides have been successful places to look for a run of barramundi and grunter. Working baits or shallow diving lures has shown some success over the past month. It is still worth taking some pots with you on your river missions, as there are plenty of mud crabs around.

Once again this year, Lakefield National Park (LNP) fishing over October was a very hard bite to predict. On one day the barra were biting hard and the next day we couldn’t raise anything.

Working the morning and late afternoons have been successful for lures and soft plastics, while during the day is slow it is worth putting some live bait out to tempt the barra to bite.

Over the past month there have been a few opportunities to get out onto the reef. The reports have indicated some quality size fish being caught. Very

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Trent Kirk with a decent-sized barra.

Elements that make up a successful fishing trip CAPE YORK

Tim O’Reilly wildrivercompany@gmail.com

As the year nears its end and Cape York warms to a near melting point, the key to a good fishing session is maximising

TIDE No other variable affects the fishing the way sun and lunar cycles affect the movement of water around the globe. If I had a dollar for every time I have heard ‘no run, no fun’ thrown around. Sometimes this is an excuse for a poor session,

Fish travel in and out of these gutters and over the top of the shallow reefs. your time on the water. It is simply too hot to stay out all day and keep your energy and anticipation levels at maximum performance.

There are four key attributes that will help dictate these shorter sharper fishing sessions up in the Cape and November can turn on fantastic fishing if these factors all come together.

TIME OF DAY Most fishers know that the fishing comes alive just as those first rays of light sparkle across the horizon. That light triggers many marine and terrestrial organisms into action. Around the same time, many of the night brigade will be slinking off to hide from the vicious characters who come out to play in the day.

This timeframe should

as they escape with the receding tide. The key is being prepared to change locations and tactics as tidal influences alter the fishing scenario in front of you.

TRANSITION OF FISH How many times have you marvelled at a sudden change in a fishing session with ‘where did they all come from!’ or ‘where did they all go’. No matter how inexperienced or unprepared an angler may be, if their line is in the water, they have a chance of that magical capture, particularly late in the year. If the fishing is hot, make haste while the going is good.

Fish do come on and off the bite, sometimes quite unpredictably. But, on many occasions the sudden loss of the bite will simply be fish transitioning to a new location or repositioning

A cracking golden snapper caught on a dropping tide close to shore. tides, imagine fish moving around much more or at least adjusting to find comfortable holding locations while currents and rivers swirl around them. This lends itself very well to blue water fishers and those who are trolling a spread of lures around to pinpoint feeding locations.

TEMPERATURE Temperature is most often governed by seasonal fluctuations. A thermocline exists in a stratified body of water (such as a lake or ocean), separating warmer surface water from colder deep water. Fish will often move between these two layers to either feed or

simply be more comfortable at different times. A sounder is once again the best indication of where life is at its most comfortable and with today’s array of gadgetry at hand, cunning anglers can identify individual species with a clear picture of the structure they are sitting around.

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A lovely passionfruit trout caught on the turn of the tide. but what really puts it into context is the intensity of the bite when the tide begins to make or recede around the high or low.

themselves adjacent to structure.

During neap (smaller) tides, try and imagine fish settling into predictable

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ER NO TIMB NO ROT A windless November morning on the wide reefs. not be so rigidly adhered to, with the few hours following dawn and the few hours preceding dusk being equally as productive.

Bite times depend on much more than just this loose equation, however, throughout the course of an entire day, concentrating efforts in these two time bands will give you the best chance.

Especially in the estuaries, it pays to have a line in the water for that first hour or so of the making tide, beginning around the mouth and moving upstream as the tide pushes in. Why? Predators require this movement in tide to secure themselves an easy feed. On the other end of the spectrum, these same predators will ambush prey

locations and moving around less, catering your techniques to suit.

Areas such as reef flats, shallow gutters and sandy depressions can fish well for all manner of species.

With more consistent water levels, fish will transition less and gather in areas adjacent to suitable structure.

During larger (spring)

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61

No nonsense November TOOWOOMBA

Jason Ehrlich fishability1@bigpond.com

It’s another prime month to enjoy freshwater fishing.

The bass may lose a little more condition, but they are still willing to play the game. Golden perch numbers will definitely be on the increase. Murray cod will be targets in the lake now that their breeding

is all but over. Barra will become easier targets in most of the lakes with the warming and more stable water temperature. It’s a time of year when we are spoilt for choice.

Quite a few of the lakes have experienced falling water levels over the last year. One may think that with less water the fish would be easier to find and catch. Dropping levels don’t necessarily mean this

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND CRESSBROOK CLOSEST TOWN: CROWS NEST Cressbrook bass have undergone quite a few changes over the past few months. Leading into spring, the fish were very unpredictable. Some days they would bite and others they were near impossible to find. It wasn’t until last month that they seemed to find a spot to call home, school up and

chew their heads off. For a while, fish were holding off the first point out from the campground, but they moved across the lake and slightly further up along the northern shoreline. These fish stacked on the first point after the bay opposite and north of the campground and can continue right along the straight bank, running all the way up to the yellow buoy just before the Eagles Nest rock wall. There is no

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is the case. Falling levels mean their environment is constantly changing. Weed beds die off, sometimes faster than they can grow.

As levels drop fish need to retreat back and find new homes. It’s always worth monitoring lake water levels prior to a fishing trip. It gives you a head start, which can give you a bit of an idea on how to structure your plan of attack. Until next month, buckled rods.

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14 31

Weipa

17

28

34

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Toowoomba

BRISBANE

IMPOUNDMENT DAM

50cm tip length.

Like a lot of the other bony bream lakes, spoons dominate catches when the fish are chewing. When it is tough, they will still produce, but it is also when I experiment more with other offerings to see if there is something else they prefer.

Blades, tail spinners and soft plastics are all good lures to try. As we move into these warmer months, spinnerbaits can also be a good offering. When the fish are deep you’ll need to fish them on light line around 4-8lb to keep them down deep enough. The smaller profiled baits around 1/2oz

Gold Coast

22

24 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

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guarantee they will still be here and chewing this month, but I’d be making it one of my first ports of call.

We hit the lake late one afternoon and had less than three hours to try our luck.

Once the fish were found, I opened up my account with five bass in five casts. After that it was a little tougher, but between a mate and I we boated over 25 good bass in 2.5 hours of fishing. What was impressive was the size of the fish. All but three were over 40cm long and half the others were right around the

Ian Ryan caught this cracking Cressbrook bass and Carter thought he would see what it tasted like. The bass were chewing well last month, so hopefully the bite continues.

Gympie

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25

Cairns 1

26

19

33

20

Townsville 2

3 4

Proserpine 6 Mackay

5

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Rockhampton

Emerald 29 7

10

Highlighted dams are covered in this issue

Gladstone

30 8

Bundaberg 9

11

Maryborough

Roma

and 5/8oz are ideal.

For all your fishing supplies and the latest reports on Cressbrook and the surrounding dams, call in to see Fish’n’Bits on Alderly Street. They have a great range of lures and fishing gear. The team can sort you out with the right gear and give you some tips on where to find them.

Just remember there is a speed limit of 8 knots and a restricted area at Cressbrook Dam. Check out the signage to ensure you stay out of trouble and abide by the rules. The gate hours for the boat ramps and day use area will be extended this month to 6am-8pm.

BRISBANE

SOMERSET CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY The big bass we have seen over the last few months will start to thin out. They will still be quality fish, but the fat conditions will disappear as they take on their summer shape. These fish will have copped a lot of pressure over the last month or so. This could cause them to be tougher to catch, but in typical Somerset fashion they will chew when they feel like it. They are very hard to predict. Early mornings To page 63

WATER STORAGE LEVELS Dam............................ % Full           

DAMS Atkinson Awoonga Bjelke-Petersen Boondooma Borumba Burdekin Falls Callide Cania Clarendon Cooby Coolmunda

AUG SEPT OCT 5 5 5 89 88 87 18 17 16 33 31 34 99 97 100 88 82 77 69 66 65 92 90 89 1 0 0 42 0 0 39 36 29

Dam............................ % Full           

Copeton Cressbrook Dyer/Bill Gunn Eungella Fairbairn Glenlyon Hinze Julius Kinchant Koombooloomba Leslie Macdonald

25 23 21 52 49 48 4 4 3 97 96 93 21 20 19 48 46 44 94 92 92 88 84 81 91 82 74 50 34 30 8 8 8 99 98 114

Dam............................ % Full          

Maroon Monduran/Fred Haigh Moogerah North Pine/Samsonvale Peter Faust/Proserpine Pindari Somerset Teemburra Tinaroo Toonumbar Wivenhoe Wuruma

95 93 92 96 94 94 79 77 74 83 80 80 68 65 63 58 55 47 78 77 78 96 92 89 87 82 76 96 91 98 72 70 69 95 94 99

For fortnightly updates 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 18/10/18

(All levels correct at time of going to press. Dam levels can change at any time, so please check with local authorities to ensure safe boating and fishing.)

62

NOVEMBER 2018

From page 62

and late afternoons are the best times to fish. The midday period will start to get hotter and it will be harder to tempt them.

The schooling fish can scatter a bit more making trolling a good option.

Deep diving hardbodies are great provided they can reach the fish. On 4-8lb braided line, lures like the Blitz Baga, Little Rippa and Halco Poltergeist Crazy Deep will dive to 10m or more. It’s important to place them in front of the fish. Watch the sounder closely and monitor their movements throughout the day. In another month we will start to see a lot more suspended fish rather than bottom huggers.

Schools will still be found around the Pelican Point and Bay 13 area.

The fish that were up at Kirkleigh and Queen Street might scatter. As things warm up the fish can work

bed and working in the timber north of Kirkleigh numbers will pick up. Select a lure suited to the depth you are fishing. Goldens are likely to be holding close to the bottom.

Somerset Tackle has their store based at the area above the day use boat ramp. The store is open over holidays and otherwise from Friday to Sunday. Orders can also be made online. They have an excellent range of gear suited to fishing for bass and golden perch.

WIVENHOE CLOSEST TOWNS: FERNVALE, ESK Bass numbers are increasing in the deeper schools. There have been plenty of big fish captures with healthy looking fish to around 3kg landed over the last month. This action should continue for another couple months. The trick is to find the schools in the vast area Wivenhoe offers.

Cressbrook has suprised a lot of anglers with the size of fish on offer. their way further down the lake. There was already an increase in schooling fish around the point at The Spit last month. Success when lure casting depends a lot on finding good shows of fish first. This isn’t always an easy task and can sometimes take a couple of hours and on the tougher days even more.

When you do find the fish try casting spoons, blades and tail spinners at them.

Soft plastic may also pull a few and spinnerbaits will start to perform well too.

Trolling tail spinners has been very slow so far this year. It is still worth a shot as the fish will change their feeding habits as the lake warms even more.

When trolling these we run the Jets tail spinners about 40-50m behind the boat and travel at 1.8-2.2km/h. Using 4-8lb line keeps them down nice and deep where the fish are most likely to be.

Golden perch will be plentiful this month and quite a few will fall for bass lures. When trolling the edges of the old creek

Some of the best places to look will be the flats out in front of Billies Bay. The river drop-off and flats to the north of here are also worth inspecting. Down towards the buoyed off area are a couple of humps that also hold good numbers of bass, and at times huge schools of golden perch and catfish. I cannot stress the importance of running the Insight Social Maps of this lake when fishing it.

The detailed contours make narrowing down your search so much easier.

Trolling extra deep divers is a great way to pick up big bass, goldens and monster catfish. The Hot Bite Deep Penetrator is hard to find but Somerset Tackle may still have some in stock. Some of the extra deep Japanese hardbodies or the JDK Rippa, available through Fish ‘N’ Bits Toowoomba, may also achieve the required depth when fishing 4-6lb braid.

I like to run hardbodies down at least 10m deep. At times you may need to get them down to 12m. Let the fish make this depth-based

decision for you.

When schools of fish are found, try casting into them. Soft plastics have been working very well.

The usual offerings of blades, tail spinners, spoons and Mask Vibes will also turn their heads. These lures may actually start to out perform plastics as the fork-tailed catfish get more ravenous and quickly snatch up slower presentations.

MOOGERAH CLOSEST TOWNS: RATHDOWNEY, BOONAH The bass have been found in the main basin section of the lake for the past few months.

It’s good to see an increase in the number of golden perch being caught too. As the lake temperature warms, the fish should spread out more and concentrations will also be found in the timber.

If the fish scatter, try trolling medium diving hardbodies or TN60 Jackalls around the trees – casting will also work.

If the fish are high in the water column, opt for lipless crankbait and spinnerbaits.

When they are found deeper, spoons, tail spinners, blades and soft plastics should do the trick.

DYER CLOSEST TOWNS: GATTON, LAIDLEY The small lake with little water still continues to produce bass and golden perch. The fish are all being caught from the deeper area that is to the left of the boat ramp. Fishing can be very good from the bank at this lake, as the deeper section is right beside the shoreline. Walking around the small bay to the left of the ramp you will see the well-worn bank that leads to around 100m of deeper water.

Kayaks can be carried from the car park down to the water. The same area is best to target the bass and golden perch.

Early mornings and late afternoons will become the best time to chase these fish. Trolling shallow diving lures and TN60 Jackalls is a good way to score a mixed bag of fish.

They can be fussy due to the amount of fishing pressure. Casting lures is also a good idea with spoons, blades and lipless crankbaits as great options.

As it warms up a bit more, spinnerbaits will also be worth chucking at the fish.

Bait fishers will do best with live shrimp, if they can get their hand on them.

Frozen saltwater yabbies, prawns and worms are okay as a backup, but won’t produce the same numbers.

If you need any fishing supplies or advice on the lake, call in to see the team at Gatton Home Brew and Fishing Supplies. They have a good selection of lures suited to the

Somerset mega bass will be harder to find this month. Those big fat spring fish will start to thin out and take on their summer shape. freshwater fishing scene and get frequent reports to keep them up to date with what’s going on.

NORTH PINE (LAKE SAMSONVALE) CLOSEST TOWN: BRISBANE, LAWNTON, PETRIE There is still no set date for the opening of the kayak area at North Pine.

The new area will allow access to a portion of the lake where schooling bass should be encountered.

Keep you eyes on the SEQ Water website and Facebook pages for updates as it should be opening very soon.

As for the fishing, the points at the lower end of

the lake around the public access areas will be worth walking out to and casting lures. The fish will be out deeper, so use long casts to reach them. Heavier lures that can be tossed a long way are definitely the go. North Pine fish love to eat chrome spoons and these are ideal for hopping or winding through them.

Lures like the Hot Bite G2, Halco Twisty, Nories Wasabi and Palms Slow Blatt are ideal.

You can stock up with all the right gear for the job just down the road at Tackle World Lawnton.

They have all the right gear for nailing some of North Pine’s monster bass.

SUNSHINE COAST REGION MACDONALD CLOSEST TOWNS: TEWANTIN, NOOSA Bass Bay and Three Ways have been producing the most fish. Chasebaits 2.25” Curly Bait and Entice 2.5” Curly Tails have been the pick of the soft plastics. Most anglers are rigging these on a 1/8oz jighead. Best sessions are likely to be in the early morning and late afternoon.

Trolling along the deep drop-offs has been working well for schooled bass while using a variety of different depth diving hardbodied lures.

• Davos in Noosaville is just a short drive away and they

carry all the right lures to use on toga and bass.

BORUMBA CLOSEST TOWNS: IMBIL, NOOSA Fishing the left arm of the dam (toward the end of the arm) and around the boat ramp area has been the best. Saratoga and bass are being caught on spinnerbaits, surface lures and hardbodied diving lures. Some of the top performing lures have been the Jackson IGA jig, OSP Dunk, Jackall Pompadour and River 2 Sea Chasebaits Bobbin Frog.

Smaller Bassman spinnerbaits (rigged with small curly tail plastics)

KURWONGBAH CLOSEST TOWN: BRISBANE, LAWNTON, PETRIE The kayak fishing at Lake Kurwongbah will continue to be good this month, but the warmer weather will cause an increase in other waterbased activities. Keep this in mind if planning a trip and study the rules regarding the designated usage areas.

Early in the day will be the time to hit the edges.

Spinnerbaits, blades and lipless crankbaits are great for working tight to the weed edge. A surface lure may also be worth a shot very early in the day with bass and even saratoga as possibilities.

During the brighter parts of the day, opt for casting lures to the deeper weed edges and out on the flats where schooling fish are found. These fish can be fooled with soft plastics, blades, tail spinners and spoons. It can also pay to troll a lure behind the kayak while moving between spots.

Access to the lake is off Torrens Road at Mick Hanfling Park. Please note there are designated areas as the lake has a rowing course and ski areas.

• You can track down all your fishing supplies and a bit of inside information at Tackle World Lawnton. The store has a huge range of gear with plenty catering to the needs of freshwater fishers. cast into weed edges and worked back slowly should produce. Small plastics in the 2.5-3” size will work well in the basin and timbered areas. ZMan TRD HogZ and 2.5” GrubZ are the go to.

The Diawa Double Clutch minnows have just come back in and have been a dynamite hardbodied lure for all freshwater species in the smaller sizes.

• Davos at Noosaville has all the gear you’ll need to tackle the fish at Borumba and Lake MacDonald. The store caters well for fresh and saltwater anglers. They can be found in the Homemaker Centre on the corner of Mary and Thomas streets.

Gary’s Marine Centre

3201 6232

217 Pine Mountain Road, BRASSALL NOVEMBER 2018

63

DARLING DOWNS GRANITE BELT REGION COOBY CLOSET TOWNS: HIGHFIELDS, TOOWOOMBA The northern arm of the lake seems to be where the best action is. Trolling and casting lipless crankbaits along the weed edges is the way to fool a few golden perch.

Early morning and late afternoon are the best times to try your luck. Try to keep lures nice and tight to the weed edge when the day is bright.

When the light fades, more fish can be caught outside the weed cruising more open areas. Reports of cod have been few and far between, but don’t be surprised if you encounter one or two smaller models while trolling for goldens.

In the deeper parts of the lake, jigging ZX40 blades will score plenty of fish. The trick is to find the areas holding the best numbers.

Golden perch don’t show as well as bass on the sounder and are often displayed as faint lines. If you think you’ve found a few, it’s worth

dropping a blade to see if they will bite.

You can pick up all your bait fishing supplies and some quality locally made and designed lures at Craig’s Home Hardware in Highfields. Cooby is an electric motor dam only and ideal for kayaks. The gate hours are 6am-8pm.

LESLIE CLOSEST TOWN: WARWICK The dam has been fishing well for golden perch and there have been quite a few cod caught by those putting in the time.

Golden are often active around structure and can be lured out with blades and soft vibes. The soft vibes also tend to interest the cod a little more with their bigger profiles.

Trolling will pick up this month. Try working an assortment of lures to pinpoint the best depth.

It’s a good idea to explore water depths of 3-7m.

Spinnerbait trolling seems to be the best way to encounter better numbers of Murray cod. They take quite a bit of work to find and fool, but those putting in the time are catching.

Some of the better fish have been over a metre long, but

expect the majority to be 55-80cm long.

Along with getting a fishing report, stock up on all your gear while at Warwick Outdoor and Sports at 115 Palmerin Street Warwick. For a small store, it carries a great range at a very competitive price. Warwick is only a 10 minute drive from the dam and you can pick up any supplies you might need.

COOLMUNDA CLOSEST TOWN: INGLEWOOD Now is the time to hit Coolmunda for golden perch and Murray cod.

Goldens tend to fire up with the warmer water. It has been some time since they really turned it on, so hopefully this summer will be a good one.

Goldens can be caught by hopping blades out in front of the rock wall, close to the dam wall. Working the edges of the old creek beds with the same lure will also be worth a go.

Trolling medium divers that dive 4-7m along these same edges will account for goldens and cod.

Casting spinnerbaits along the rock wall, the deeper parts of the southern timber and to structure lining the drop-off in the main basin is the way to target the lake’s cod. This

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Golden perch will be more prolific this month. They tend to get more active and chase lures in the warmer months.

WIDE BAY AND SOUTH BURNETT REGION BOONDOOMA CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSTON, KINGAROY Boondooma will fish quite well this month. The fish are spreading out through the lake, so it may take a bit longer to find them in good numbers. Out from the dam wall, The Narrows, the middle reaches and Pelican Point can all hold fish at times. Trolling becomes a more effective way to target fish when they are so spread out. Deep diving lures from the Smak range are ideal.

When good numbers of fish are found, try ice jigs, soft plastics, blades and spoons. Trolling tail spinners at around 2km/h is also a good option when the fish are scattered through the area.

The schools will be smaller, so spend some time searching for them. The fish down in the Junction to Pelican Point area can be hard to find, but the area has produced in the afternoons.

Bait fishers can stay close to home and try their luck on the rocky points. It is a bit of a boat ride, but most prefer to make the run up to the Boyne Timber where they can catch a mixed bag of bass and golden perch.

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 including an excellent range of proven fishing tackle. For campsites, cabins and bunkhouse rooms call (07) 4168 9694.

For the latest information jump onto Facebook and check out Matthew Mott Sport Fishing for Motty’s latest fishing reports.

BJELKE CLOSEST TOWNS: MURGON, GOOMERI Despite low water levels, the dam is fishing very well.

Bjelke always seems to fire more the closer we get to the end of the year. Most of the action is taking place at the bottom end of the dam around the boat ramps where the water is deeper.

Early in the morning is the time to hit the edges.

Keep moving and casting, as the fish have been spread out. Golden perch and bass will take small spinnerbaits, TN50 and TN60 Jackalls, blades and soft plastics.

There haven’t been too many monsters mixed in with these edge fish, but this could change over the coming month.

During the day, target fish on the edges of the creek bed between the boat ramps.

Search the surrounding flats in 5-7m of water. Here you will find bass and golden perch (some fish of better quality too). Soft plastics and blade baits are a very good option when casting to these fish. Keep the lures close to the bottom by dropping them back between retrieves or hops. The Slider Grub or Gulp Grubs in 3” sizes are perfect for the job and try rigging them on 3/8-1/2oz jigheads. There are many blade baits to try, but the new Smak Fireblades, PML and Little Max are proven models.

The smaller sizes around 1/4-3/8oz are best for hopping

is usually a good month to fish for them and they will continue to bite well right through to the end of the year.

The early mornings and late arvos are the peak times, but cod can be caught throughout the day if you are determined enough and persist.

The Coolmunda Caravan Park is only around 1km away 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 sleep.

It offers camping sites, cabins, caravan facilities, tennis courts, a swimming pool, BBQ shelter and a camp kitchen. The park now has two new wheelchair friendly 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, give the park a call on (07) 4652 4171. and winding through the fish in deeper water. The 1/4oz would be my preferred model for flicking to the edges.

The warmer water temperature causes the fish to scatter a bit more around the creek bed. This makes trolling a good option.

Medium diving lures are perfect for plucking out a mixed bag of bass and golden perch. Smaller profiled spinnerbaits that weigh in at 1/2oz or 5/8oz are also good for trolling.

Just control the boat speed and amount of line out to have them working their magic at the right depth.

Bank fishers can also have a piece of the action.

Bjelke is a great dam for trying your luck with baits and lures from the edges.

The section below the park in the day use area is definitely worth a shot. Try your luck early and late in the day when there is less boat activity.

For help catching Bjelke and Boondooma fish, call into Bass 2 Barra. The store stocks an awesome range of gear suited to chasing our freshwater fish and the team have all the knowledge to guide you on how to use it. You’ll find the stores at 119 Youngman Street Kingaroy. Matthew Mott also runs fishing charters on the dams and you can reach him through the store for bookings and enquiries on (07) 4162 7555.

The Yallakool kiosk is all setup 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. Give them a call for accommodation and camping bookings on (07) 4168 4746.

coming, this should be the month the lake fires best.

Fish will be found around the points up in the timber early in the day.

Topwater lures, shallow hardbodies and soft plastics will fool the fish here.

As the day goes on, drop back into the deeper water.

Here barra can be caught from the tops of the trees lining the old creek beds.

Any shallow humps on the

edges of these creeks are prime spots to find the barra in good numbers.

If you luck upon such an area, hard and soft vibes hopped and rolled through the fish are hard to beat.

The night fishing on Faust Point and other healthy weed points will pick up this month.

Swimbaits and soft plastics rolled repetitively through these areas will result in bent rods and peeling drags. A side imaging sounder will

lures and soft plastics on the outside of the weed edges. Some fish are sure to be still holding up deeper in the weed where weedless soft plastics and flies are the only option.

With the warming water temperatures, the surface action should also pick up. The barra will be all over walk the dog topwater lures and weedless rigged soft plastic frogs. Between these and a mix of weighted soft plastics and suspending hardbodies, you can’t go wrong.

The average size of the fish is close to 70cm long. Mixed in will be smaller and bigger fish

with the better models in the 90cm+ class.

Justin Nye from Gladstone Fly and Sportfishing runs fishing charters on the lake. He caters to the needs of the angler and can do fly or conventional tackle trips to target the lake’s barramundi.

Justin reports the size of the fish is increasing, with the average fish now around 75cm with plenty of bigger 80-90cm models to boost the average. He has successfully guided clients onto fish through the winter months, so will have a good understanding of their movements throughout spring. You can contact him on 0429 223 550 or visit the website gladstoneflyands portfishing.com.au.

points seems to be the go.

On a recent trip when the weather was unfavourable, we found hopping soft vibes like the Jackall Transam and Berkley Shimma Shad was the best way to entice a bite. We would mark fish on points, along timbered edges and outside shallow weed beds using the side image on the sounder. Once

these fish were found, we persisted with hopping the lures through them. If the bottom is ridiculously snaggy, try hopping the lure vertically.

The size of the barra being caught is awesome with many 1m+ fish about.

Teemburra fish are cranky and put on a good show as they peel line and weave you through the timber. Be prepared for a good fight once you hook one.

WHITSUNDAY REGION PROSERPINE CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSERPINE, AIRLIE BEACH The dam had a slow start to the spring barra season. The action was good when the water temperatures were up and stable, but quickly deteriorated when the weather did the same and lowered lake temperatures.

With warmer weather CAPRICORN REGION AWOONGA CLOSEST TOWNS: BENARABY, GLADSTONE I’ve been predicting it for a while and finally those predictions are now true. The dam has fired right up with excellent catches of barramundi coming from all over the place. Fish encounters are now very common with some of the better sessions producing double figures. The bays off the main basin with healthy lily and weed growth are holding heaps of barra.

Last month, good numbers of fish were being caught on hardbody MACKAY REGION TEEMBURRA CLOSEST TOWNS: PINNACLE, MACKAY This gem of a barra lake has been a favourite with locals over the last couple of months. The barra have been on fire taking topwater presentations as well as plastics and hardbodies.

Plucking fish from the weed edges and timbered

reveal if the fish are present.

Constant weather patterns where the wind blows the same direction day after day results in the fish repeating the same ritual feeding patterns. Changes in wind direction or weather can throw a spanner in the works. If the fish don’t show up at your number one spot make sure you have a backup plan.

Out in the deeper water of the main basin, the barra will start to be caught more on trolled lures. Trolling

is a great way to explore this open water looking for concentrations of bait and fish. Deep diving lures like the RMG Poltergeist and Halco Scorpion Crazy Deep are good options. If good numbers of fish are found, you can switch to casting big soft plastics (like the Big Willy or pre-rigged Berkley Powerbait Ripple Shad), hopping vibes or even working big spoons, which is a technique that is sure to take off more this year.

• For all your fishing supplies or a guided trip on the lake call Lindsay at Barra World on (07) 4945 4641. Lindsay’s barra tours can be busy during peak times, so book ahead. You won’t be disappointed as he often delivers the goods and always shares a wealth of knowledge The store is right on the highway in Proserpine and specializes in barra fishing tackle. You can also keep up to date by visiting their Barra World Facebook page.

Awoonga Dam is on fire. There are heaps of barra like this model about, and mixed in are some larger 80-90cm fish. We found the Powerbait Bubble Shiner soft plastics awesome on our trip.

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Teemburra Dam has been fishing well for the past month. The barra are cranky and go nuts when hooked. This makes for exciting times around the timber.

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Gearing up for the summer slog SOMERSET DAM

Matthew Taylor

As daylight hours lengthen and the temperature begins to rise, anglers may face more issues than increasing concentrations of buzzing flies and biting mozzies.

The changing conditions also present challenges to locating and catching bass.

A few key tips will ensure that you stay on the hunt for quality fish.

The onset of heat is typically associated with several changes in the bass bite at Somerset Dam. The most significant of which is the depth in which fish can be found. In winter and early spring you can find bass holding in depths more than 30ft, they tend to hold in much shallower water when the temperature increases. To find the depth that the fish are most comfortable, use your sounder to find the depth of the thermocline, which is the layer of water that has a greater temperature gradient to that of the water above and below it. Chances are that that’s where most of the fish will be holding.

On days when dissolved oxygen levels and water temperatures are at a

comfortable point for the fish, you’ll be able to catch them using normal techniques. If not, try some of the following alternatives.

During the hotter months a significant change occurs in relation to how bass can be targeted and caught. It is typical for people to make the mistake that they need to downsize their lure presentation and provide

it, and how you can put it into practice.

Typically, higher water temperatures result in lower levels of dissolved oxygen in the water. This means that fish exert more energy when ‘breathing’ to stay alive. Unlike humans, the body temperature of fish also adjusts to match the temperature of the water around them, meaning that

Lee Parkhouse with a great example of a late afternoon bass, which has been the prime bite time. a finessed approach. This could not be further from the truth. Anglers commonly use the term ‘reaction bite’ to describe the typical way bass can be caught over late spring and summer. To explain this terminology, let me first delve into the science behind

hotter water forces them to use more energy in sustaining body temperature. This results in high metabolic rates, which means fish need to eat more to survive. As the fish have only a small amount of energy to hunt down food, they would prefer to have one

large meal than waste energy hunting for many small ones.

This means that you need to present something that is worth them eating, a realistic big and bulky bait. Skirted jigs or large spoons are both great options.

Alternatively, you will need to make them react.

Burning lures, meaning to wind them quickly, is a good way to do so, as they don’t have time to decide whether it’s a worthwhile meal or not, enticing them to react out of instinct. The other key way to entice a reaction bite is through using vibrating lures. Blades, spinnerbaits and chatterbaits are all ideal, though you can add beetlespins to most lures to produce the same effect.

The reason vibration is so productive is because it works off both the reaction bite and their lack of energy, as they can feel vibrations from a long way away and don’t have to move fast and exert lots of energy to eat. It also triggers their instinct to feed as it imitates injured bait that would give off commotion.

Not your typically coloured golden perch.

Terry Allwood caught this fish while casting a lipless crankbait to the edge.

Unfortunately, as the fish are no longer in any stage of spawning, you will find that fish concentrations are much smaller and that they are widely spread. This opens a door of opportunity for trollers, who can cover more area with their lures than anglers who opt to cast.

Kris George with a massive bass. Fish of this size can still be caught throughout the hotter months, however expect their weight to decrease.

Toga party! Keeghan Painter with a cracking by-catch saratoga.

While speaking about spinnerbaits and chatterbaits, please note that while they both work in clear and dirty water at a slow roll, generally burning them in clear water works best as the fish can find them unrealistic otherwise. I recommend that you add a soft plastic trailer to each so that fish come back for a second go if they don’t hook up initially.

I strongly recommend this technique, as it will only be a matter of time before something decides to bite your lure. Try using a combination of hardbodied lures and 5/8oz spinnerbaits, along with light braided line to keep your lure in the strike zone.

This month you will find that the fish will begin moving to the higher reaches of the lake. Early in the

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month there will be schools at locations such as Poly Pipe Point, the Hump, Beams Creek and Pelican Point. By the end of the month schools will be found from Pelican Point to the timbered area above Kirkleigh.

Lake Somerset is renowned for not only great fishing, but also as a great water-skiing and jet ski venue. Hence, the boating traffic and pressure is often immense, which can cause the fish to shut down completely. On these days, while I’m certainly no expert on the topic, flyfishing will be your best bet.

If bass aren’t your thing, or you just can’t tempt them, try your luck in the timber.

There have been several unusual captures recently, with a few saratoga over 70cm landed. As they are subsurface feeders using large surface lures at dawn and dusk, while rolling spinnerbaits under the surface will be a great option through the day. With big saratoga, bass and yellowbelly on offer, the options and opportunities are endless.

Until next time, happy fishing.

To stay up to date with the fishing at Lake Somerset, make sure to check me out on Instagram, @matthew____ taylor, and Facebook, Matthew Taylor Fishing.

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Barra Bash a great success!

LAKE TINAROO

Warwick Lyndon

On the weekend of 21-23 September, well over 400 registered anglers descended on the mighty Lake Tinaroo for the annual Tinaroo Barra Bash competition. With prizes on offer for several different categories, the competition was hotly contested, although mateship and enjoyment were higher on the priority list for many who came from far and wide to not only fish, but also to enjoy the social aspects of the event.

Unfortunately, a rampant southeasterly change blew in on the Friday and made conditions very tough for most anglers.

Despite the wind and sudden drop in temperature, the event energised the entire community and it was great to see so many locals and visitors getting into the spirit of the Barra Bash and all that it entails. The competition check-in saw a crowd of excited anglers gather on the Friday afternoon, before first lines in at 6pm. This year, anglers were presented with Barra Bash measuring mats at the briefing and all fish entered in the tournament were required to be clearly photographed with a mystery token, uploaded to the Track My Fish app and then released. Careful fish handling was a major focus for this event and ensured the survival of these beautiful creatures.

Throughout the weekend, anglers toiled hard to try and catch Tinaroo’s elusive barramundi, as well as the other species residing in the lake, including sooty grunter, mangrove jack, red claw crayfish and unfortunately, the ever

present catfish and tilapia.

There was a large focus on getting families involved in the Barra Bash and many took up the opportunity to aid in the eradication of these pest species throughout the tournament.

Youngster Ashton Rosenthall did an amazing job of relieving the dam of 29 catfish, and took out the category win, while Casey Smallwood caught the most tilapia. There were also specific categories for the juniors including junior male and female barramundi (claimed by Ashley Holm,

with a piece of steak and a worm while fishing for sooty grunter! Overall champion angler again went to local gun Ben Tunsted, who for the third year running blew the competition away, landing an amazing twelve barramundi for a total length of 9.63m.

This is an outstanding effort for one angler to accomplish in a weekend, but shows what can be achieved through hard work, attention to detail and time on the water. Not content with claiming the major barra prize, Ben also won the overall sooty grunter

Overall champion angler Ben Tunsted took out the win for a third straight year.

121cm and Charlotte Moller, 104cm) and biggest red claw crayfish (Jai Field, 30cm).

The random draw prizes for junior entrants was a great initiative, and I’m sure it will encourage many youngsters to continue their passion for fishing.

This year Jarvis Evers took out the Adult Male Barramundi category with a whopping fish of 130cm, and Val Haigh won the Adult Female Barramundi prize with a hefty 109.5cm fish. Amazingly, Val caught this fish on a 6kg line and a very small hook, baited

Val Haigh won the Women’s Barra category.

category with a cracking 49cm fish.

An amazing aspect of this competition is all of the random draw and mystery length prizes given out to entrants, and many of those who attended the presentation scored a free copy of this magazine. Part of the presentation on the Sunday included a release of approximately 200 juvenile barramundi, and allowed the public to witness a small part of the stocking process. The crowd was also treated to a presentation by Karim de Ridder, a highly decorated tournament barra fisher. It was a great opportunity for the crowd of avid anglers to hear from one of Australia’s best, and to get a few tips on how to progress their own fishing. One lucky punter even walked away with the lucky draw prize of $10,000 cash, just for entering the Bash and being present on the Sunday afternoon.

The Tableland Fish Stocking Society, major partner Tableland Hardware, local businesses and all of the anglers who support the Barra Bash should be commended on the work that they continue to do to make this annual event

Michael Trimble won the $10,000 cash prize just for entering. a great success. The TFSS stock several species into the dam to ensure that Tinaroo continues to be a fantastic fishing destination for families and serious sportfishers.

For full results and more information about the Barra Bash and fishing on Lake Tinaroo, make sure you visit www. tinaroobarrabash.com.au.

For those heading to the lake this month – the good news is much like the weather, the fishing is heating up, and trophy barramundi are there for the taking. Most fish have been caught wherever bait is located, which usually means a wind-blown point or bay with some sort of structure

(weed, timber or rock) close by. Fishing flesh baits, soft plastics, hardbodied lures, vibes and swimbaits in these areas is usually the best way to get barra to bite, although if the fish are up shallow – don’t rule out surface lures.

While the strike to hook up ratio is not amazing, the visual aspect of a 1m+ fish bow waving behind your surface lure certainly is! If your heart is strong enough to cope with this much excitement, give it a go next time the barra are feeding in the shallows.

If you want to keep up with more of my FNQ adventures, you can like Wazza’s Fishing Page on Facebook or Wazza’s Fishing on YouTube.

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Following the exciting announcements and new releases at the Australian Lure and Fly Expo in Ipswich this year, Barambah Lures’ Matt Fraser is proud to launch his new range of flathead and barramundi specific jigheads.

With every component purpose-built for iconic Australian native sportfish, they’re definitely worth a look for any keen lure anglers out there.

Matt has been making jigheads for over 15 years, and in that time has managed to refine the small details of his jigheads, down to the hook, resulting in a tool that will catch anglers more fish.

Being two of Australia’s most popular sportfishing targets, it just makes

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The keepers will keep even the most supple plastics hard up against the head without the use of superglue, and the range of colours, sizes, and weights means that there’s a Barambah jighead for every angling scenario on these two iconic species.

In the flathead range you’ll find a chartreuse

glow-in-the-dark bottom, a hot pink, and a natural baitfish colour, which you can buy in packs of just one colour, or an assortment.

The methodically sculpted head shape makes the plastic always ride true, while also sporting an irresistible minnow shape, and not a shapeless chunk of lead. The flathead specific heads are available in a 4/0 hook size with 1/4, 3/8 and 12oz weights, and a 6/0 hook size in 3/8, 5/8

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and 1/0oz weights.

In the barramundi range, you’ll find four hook sizes, and two different weights for each model.

There’s a 6/0 in 1/4 and 38oz, a 7/0 in 3/8 and 1/2oz, and 8/0 in 1/2 and 3/4oz, and 9/0 in 5/8 and 3/4oz.

There’s also an eyelet on the bottom for attaching a stinger, and anyone who fishes for barra regularly knows how important it is to maximise your hook up potential when fishing for this hard-mouthed battler, with the ability to reject lures like no other fish.

For more information on these new jigheads, and for updates about Barambah Lures, visit the Facebook page at ‘Barambah Lures’, or jump on over to www. barambahlures.com. au. - FMG

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67

Monduran Dam hotting up BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

Few fish excite me as much as barramundi do. I just love everything about fishing for them, whether I’m casting a fly in an estuary or river up north, or heading to

reckon it’s just one of life’s pleasures to be on the water at birdsong when the air is cool and still.

This month has seen the closure of the East Coast barra season, so it’s off to the dams for some action. There are at least a half dozen major impoundments where you can still enjoy barra fishing along

is tingling, Peter Faust is firing, Teemburra is top gun and Kinchant’s a killer. And Awoonga? Just plain awesome.

So how about Monduran Dam, that deceptively massive body of water just five hours’ drive north of Brisbane? Don’t tell me it’s Lake Misery or other such codswallop! I visited there last month and

flats, islands and channels, which make a pristine habitat for barramundi (Lates Calcarifer).

The interesting thing about this lake is that barra can be found anywhere, depending upon wind direction and strength. Like other barra lakes, when the breeze seems to be blowing continually from one direction it’s a fair bet that areas at the leeward of that blow will be great places to start those casts. Confidence plays a bit part in barra fishing in my book.

Monduran is one of those lakes that offer a huge number of opportunities, as there is always a point, flat, or shallow area that invites a cast, regardless of wind direction or other elements.

Barra up to a metre appear to be common, with many fish in the 75-90cm being taken regularly.

As always, the best places to fish appear to be near timber and weed beds.

There are kilometres of weed

There are some really good bass in Lake Monduran.

Monduran Dam’s cabins make a handy base for non-camping anglers. one of the renowned barra impoundments. I’m an early riser by nature and I

the eastern seaboard. We really are spoilt for choice.

Word is that Tinaroo

had some great days on the water. If you know how to catch barra, you’ll have no problem at Mondy. One angler I know got 6 from 12 in a session, and if that’s not good barra fishing I’ll eat a boiled barra frog for breakfast!

MONDY NEAR FULL In October, the big lake is around 96% full, which means that the callistemon trees all around top water mark are bursting with crimson flowers.

While a near maximum water level ensures that many snags are covered, this doesn’t hinder the fishing. It has an overall area of 5340ha underwater, with several thousand hectares of standing timber, along with numerous side arms,

One happy angler! Judy with her first barra, and it came from Monduran Dam.

The main drawcard of Lake Monduran is the barra fishing. The author looks pretty happy with this fish.

Camping remains one of the easiest ways of enjoying a fishing holiday at Lake Monduran.

As it’s been raining recently, you will find lots of green grass on your next visit!

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NOVEMBER 2018

A lily bed just out of a timbered bay is one of many very fishy locations in Lake Monduran.

beds in Mondy that give the fish shelter and places to rest up or quietly stalk those resident bony bream.

CAMPING AT THE LAKE Camping at the Lake Monduran Holiday Park is as good as ever. Amenities are well-maintained and up-todate. There’s a vast amount of area from which to select an unpowered site, with lots of shady trees for camping in hot weather. There are 42 powered sites on hand as well, and a general friendly atmosphere among staff.

Rob and Kelly Howell and their team go out of their way to ensure visiting anglers and holiday-makers enjoy their stay, and this generates a great atmosphere all round. In fact, talking to other anglers it was fascinating to discover the wealth of knowledge we each individually hold in relation to

the pursuit of barramundi.

During our stay I noted a few changes to the launching facilities. The smaller boat ramp (under the four

area for dogs. Campers just need to advise staff. Likewise, four-stroke generators are also permitted, but the office staff will need to know.

unusual coloured barra plus three other tagged silver barra for prizes.

First off we have a big golden barra as top dog.

Monduran Holiday Park’s kitchens have BBQ and stovetops, refrigerators, microwave cookers, toasters, an endless supply of hot water, and a lot of table space. How’s that for service!

jet motor.

Fourth prize is again for a silver barra, and this time the prize is a Humminbird Mega Helix 10 S1 sounder from Humminbird and Bundaberg Tackle World.

Fifth prize is another silver barra, with Wilson Fishing providing a massive $3000 worth of fishing gear.

The challenge is open from 1 November 2018 through to midnight on 31 January 2019, and it’s absolutely free.

Registration for the unique competition is via lakem.com. au/goldenbarra. Terms and

Barra love to cruise around a prominent point in a bay. holiday cabins attached to the park), has now levelled and smoothed the adjacent vehicle parking area, which meant that there are now two ramps for launching at busy times.

The holiday houses, along with the cabins, are available as accommodation for non-campers. Pets are permitted in both powered and unpowered sites, and there’s an adjoining off leash

THE GOLDEN BARRA COMP As the weather warms we can expect the catch rates to be on the up and up, but there is an added attraction. During this year’s East Coast closed season, Monduran offers a very unique competition for anglers – rather than looking for the largest barra to weigh in or best bag for the boat, this challenge is all about colour! Anglers will be searching for a pair of very

Landing this fish will see the lucky angler scoring $15,000 cash from Bundaberg Toyota.

If the fish is taken on a Rapala lure, an additional $5000 worth of Rapala gear comes home as well. What a prize for such a rare fish!

Second prize is for a white fish – an albino. It scores the captor a hefty $9000 boat, motor, and trailer package courtesy of Polycraft Boats, Bundaberg Marineland

There are endless hectares of standing timber, so you can test your rod skills when a metre-plus barra is thrashing at the end of the line. and Oceanic Trailers. And if Whitey comes to the net on a Rapala lure there’s $2500 worth of Rapala gear going home as well.

Third prize is for a silver barra, and this time Viking Kayaks are throwing in a $3599 Viking Profish Kayak GT complete with a Bixpy

conditions are at www.lakem. com.au, but if you need further info why not contact Lake Monduran Holiday Park for a refresher?

One Revolutionary Ride!

The Crossfire range is the most versatile boat yet.

Designed for 80% fishing and 20% fun meaning the entire family will be happy out on the water.

The Crossfire comes in multiple configurations with a side console as standard but can be fitted with a second twin console.

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2294 Sandgate Rd BOONDALL Ph 07 3265 8028 info@nsmarine.com.au

264 Nicklin Way WARANA Ph 07 5493 9376 mail@northcoastboating.com.au

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WHITE WATER MARINE

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WYNNUM MARINE

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165 Paradise St SOUTH MACKAY Ph: 07 4952 2436 admin@phoenixpowersports.com.au

BUCCANEERS

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ADRIANS MARINE CENTRE

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CURTIS COAST MARINE

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LAGUNA BOATING CENTRE

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PHOENIX POWERSPORTS

www.phoenixpowersports.com.au NOVEMBER 2018

69

2019 Hyundai Santa Fe BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

The Hyundai Santa Fe is the flagship of their passenger car line-up, and their 2019 model has some serious updates including new styling, features,

eye catching and stylish.

It is highlighted by a high shoulder that runs from the top of the DLR right back to the tail light in one sweep.

Effortlessly blended with the neat roof top spoiler means the Santa Fe is a real head turner.

There are some significant interior styling

The Active model has cloth seats with plenty of room in the middle row.

Front seating in the Sante Fe was comfortable and very supportive. comfort and technology.

There is a choice of either petrol or diesel engine for the mid-sized SUV buyers, with a whole array of infotainment and safety features. An all-wheel-drive system is standard right across Santa Fe’s three models – the Active, Elite and top shelf Highlander.

FOURTH GENERATION SANTA FE Right from the first glance, the fourth generation 2019 Santa Fe can be differentiated from last year’s model, with styling changes to the exterior and interior of the 7-seater.

A series of new lines and folds along the body’s slightly larger exterior is

changes for 2019 as well.

The dash has been redesigned with a wide lower section on the left sweeping across to the driver’s instrument housing, with the touch screen and infotainment placed in the centre. This is indeed something new, but it certainly works well.

Interior storage is well organised with a massive compartment between the front seats and lots of storage everywhere it would be needed.

ACTIVE MODEL I reviewed the base model Santa Fe Active, which is well equipped with very useful features. It has 7” touch screen, Apple Car Play, Android Auto, reversing camera with guidelines, air con with rear seat controls, auto headlights, roof rails and 17” alloy wheels. Two fast charging USB ports will also be appreciated, along with an AUX port and 12V outlet under the dash.

There are cloth seats in the Active, and they were very comfortable on longer trips.

The advanced safety equipment is standard across the entire Santa Fe range.

This includes lane departure warning, blind spot warning system, rear cross traffic alert, lane keeping assistance via a gentle guidance on the steering wheel, plus active cruise control. The blind spot warning system will actively steer you back into your lane if the system senses another

A whole new dash layout with modern styling and a large degree of practicality.

5

IS HERE!

Every Saturday 4.30pm on NOVEMBER 2018

vehicle is coming up the side.

DIESEL ENGINE The Active is available with a choice of engines.

There’s a 2.4L petrol fourcylinder outputting 130kW, 241Nm of torque linked to a 6-speed auto, and a 2.2L diesel powered by a Euro 5 compatible common rail turbo oil burner. My guess is that many drivers will opt for the 2.2L diesel as it is no slouch off the mark, yet still returns great fuel economy.

The 2.2L diesel unit features twin overhead cams, four valves per cylinder plus a variable vane turbo for efficiency. This is impressive technical stuff but behind the steering wheel, the output of 147kW of power plus 440Nm of torque simply means that

Easily identified controls were an improved feature of the Sante Fe’s dash layout.

SEASON

70

The 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe has new styling and features.

the Active was smooth and powerful from the get go. An 8-speed gearbox seamlessly controls ratios with a remarkably frugal fuel economy of around 7L per 100km achieved on a mix of highway and city driving.

NEW SUSPENSION Thanks to Hyundai test trials of 27 different front

suspension arrangements and 22 rear suspension set-ups, the Santa Fe sports a highly tuned suspension, involving well specced Macpherson struts up front and a multi link system at the rear. The system offers a slightly firm ride yet it seems to be able to absorb any amount of rough going without intrusion into the passenger comfort. The

OUTDOOR & FISHING SHOW

Listen on 5am-6am Every Saturday

Santa Fe felt both sharp in the handling department but quite composed on rough surfaces, which is a combination that’s not easy to achieve.

The driving modes within the Hyundai All Wheel Drive HTRAC system are button touch.

It is available with Sport setting that ensures that 50% of drive is going to the rear wheels as well as the front pair. Comfort setting sees 35% drive at the rear, while Eco uses front wheel drive to minimize drive train loss elsewhere. Four Drive Lock is also available on command. In normal driving mode, if it detects a wheel slipping it will

That’s one mighty small fish I caught, a whole lot less attractive than the Sante Fe beside the upper Brisbane.

Four Wheel Drive Lock is on hand when needed.

engage all four wheel drive instantaneously.

SUMMING UP The new 2019 Santa Fe is a massive leap forward for Hyundai. All variants are well set up with driver aids and infotainment programs, along with a punchy yet frugal engine. It offers ample driving comfort and a prime ride so it’s a perfect fit for a mid-sized SUV. The Sante Fe is in a market niche with the likes of the Mazda CX8 and Skoda Kodiaq, which are also very good cars. However, the Santa Fe does have extra room in the third row seats, compared to the others, and it also has very easy access – one touch will tip the centre

row backrest forward.

Cargo space is 547L with all the seats up, and 1625L with the third row folded down and out of the way.

Towing specifications are 750 unbraked and 2000kg braked trailer. It comes with a full sized spare as standard.

Would the Sante Fe go off road? Well, there is 185mm ground clearance and four wheel lock, and it performed well in loose, steep, sandy ground in the upper Brisbane River where I had been fishing. Forest trails and the like should be no problem.

The factory warranty is for unlimited kilometres over five years and the cost is $46,700.

The picture says it all – cruising on the highway at 100km/h and with Eco mode engaged. The fuel consumption was a frugal 6.7L per 100km.

The fishy similarities of the ones that got away BRISBANE

The Sheik of the Creek

It’s curious, but the fish that bust me off are like former girlfriends; it’s the ones you don’t catch that end up sinking into your consciousness and make you wonder what might have been.

Maybe I’m alone in this. Maybe other people don’t get preoccupied with the endless directions things might have taken, which is a bit dramatic I know, given that an ex-partner is in many ways quite different to a missed fish, but to me the issues are linked.

In both situations I would argue, you’re spending time on pointless speculation. It didn’t happen, and you have to just get on with what is going on.

But maybe in both cases these mental meanderings are meant to inspire you to improve your catch rate, so to speak. Take last weekend’s CQ trip. I caught some good reefies, and a good jack, but I lost three fish that would have turned a good trip into a great one, and that stings. It’s the misses that haunt me, not the captures. In all ways.

We’d run into something that’s rarer than something that’s very, very rare on our Dudd’s trips; an almost windless day to head onto the reefs. So, we were enjoying not being thrown around the boat like a superball in an empty rubbish truck, but getting little joy into the icebox. Never mind that there were five lines in belonging to me, Skipper and

Boobies, it was the little rod and reel that hooked what must have been either a very large fish, or an Odin class submarine. The result, after the braid cut my finger to the bone, was never in doubt, and ended with that almost imperceptible ping that all anglers know.

The other two misses I had were very similar in that both were mangrove jack.

In most jack misses you’re woken from daydreaming with a savage smash on a rod in a rod holder, but both times involved I actually saw the jack, and didn’t actually hook up. On the first occasion I was bored with waiting for a mugging from a jack on a livey, so I was chucking a soft plastic at some rocks across the creek. I’d been doing that for somewhere

between ten minutes and two months when the plastic kept touching the rocks as I brought it back to the boat.

Funny, I thought, that hasn’t happened previously. As I brought the lure up to the side of the boat, I caught sight of a good 50cm+ jack ready to monster the lure. My normal reaction in this situation is to jerk the jerk bait, like a jerk, but I managed to avoid

that, and dropped it back a little, and I saw the monster take the lure in its mouth and steam for the safety of the bottom. Somehow, he’d locked onto the plastic, but not the hook. When I pulled the plastic back up, it had four lovely little crescents cut out of it, like that tim tam I’d taken from Doughers once. Another five hours of chucking got me nowhere.

The last miss was in another hole shortly after moving; just a flash, as a jack about the size of a bag of dog biscuits had a real crack at another version of the soft plastic I was flinging. My memory relives the red flash as it turns just under the boat and takes a nasty swipe at the lure. By this stage I knew it wasn’t going to happen, not overnight or at all. Not that sort of day.

In the days since the trip, and I’m sure into the weeks ahead, I’ll go over what I did wrong, and what I’m going to do next time to improve my strike rate.

It probably won’t help, but it gives my mind something to fantasise about. And fish misses and lost hook ups are a safer subject than miss misses and lost hook ups to obsess about.

NOVEMBER 2018

71

BLACK MAGIC

MASTER CLASS

/

W I T H PA U L L E N N O N

Black Magic bottom bashing When it comes to putting food on the table, good old fashion bottom bouncing is still pretty hard to beat. It’s probably safe to say that drifting around with a paternoster rig has accounted for more snapper, flathead, nannygai, morwong, pearl perch and a host of other tasty species than any other method of fishing out there.

While simple and

sinkers and fishing virtually underneath the boat in waters less the 15m is not too far short of a waste of time.

The most effective depths for bottom bashing are from 40-200m as boat presence to bottom feeding fish is not usually an issue.

Breaking it down further inside this window of ideal depths, each species will have its own ideal range and bottom territory it prefers.

For instance, flathead will

Work out which way the wind and current are going then move in the opposite direction until you’re just off the reef to give you maximum drift coverage back over it.

Plot your start point on your GPS and as soon as you finish your drift go back and

sinker you should be using, which should be the lightest possible that easily finds the bottom. A sea anchor can also be a handy tool to slow your drift down, especially on days with a lot of current or wind.

While bottom fishing

The Black Magic Snapper Snatcher rig can out-fish other rigs 5-1.

Snapper are going to love the new Black Magic Snapper Snacks. extremely effective, it still needs to be done in the right way and in the right areas to have success. Probably the biggest mistake anglers make with this style of fishing is trying to do it in waters that are way too shallow and more suited to anchoring up and casting lightly-weighted baits away from the boat.

Fish, especially snapper, are very wary and will quickly spook in shallow water when there’s a boat drifting over the top of them. This is why drifting around with big

be found over sandy muddy bottoms in 40-80m of water while fish like long-fin perch prefer the deeper reefs around 100-200m.

Then you have snapper and morwong that cover the whole range up to 200m of water and other fish that cross over in between like pearl perch and nannygai.

This is why bottom fishing when done right can produce a real mixed bag of species.

Getting your drift right is a really important factor that will greatly increase your catch.

An armful of long-fin perch.

72

NOVEMBER 2018

Long-fin perch are the coral trout of the south. The new Black Magic snapper snacks work a treat for them. move a short distance away either side to give yourself a different line to go over new territory.

If, however, you find a patch of fish on the first drift, be sure to mark it on your GPS and then try to do a re-run over it. Drift speed as well as water depth will dictate what size

gear can be either overhead or spin set up, the most important thing is braided line, as the zero stretch makes bite detection and setting of hooks instant. Braid also cuts through the water much better then mono, which is a big advantage when fishing in this manner especially in the deeper water or when you have current. I use Black Magic rainbow braid in 30 or 50lb as it’s colour coded every 10m. The best benefit of this is you can count your colours going down knowing exactly where in the water column you are and this can be particularly handy if you mark a patch of fish say in 70-100m of water.

The paternoster rig is by far the best way to set up for bottom fishing and is just basically a 2m piece of mono leader with a loop on the bottom for a sinker and two short lengths of line off the sides about 60cm apart.

While you can easily tie these yourself, Black Magic tackle has a range of pre-made flasher rigs that are hugely popular and lethal for this type of fishing.

My first experience with these was fishing with

a paternoster rig I had tied next to a mate using a Black Magic Snapper Snatcher rig and was pulling in snapper at a rate of five to my one.

Ever since that day I’ve used the premade flasher rigs and never looked back.

Another reason they work so well is you can bait them up and when you do unknowingly lose your bait, or after a missed bite, the flasher rig alone will usually still get nailed, meaning you never waste your time in the water.

The Black Magic range is always growing with a huge expanse of colours and sizes, now with 1/0 to 8/0 available in suicide

and circle hook patterns.

Personally, I prefer the ones rigged on the KL circle hooks as the fish tend to hook themselves with a slow lift on the rod all that’s needed.

I’ve also been testing a new product by Black Magic, which is going to be deadly.

While they are the same concept these don’t use the flasher type material but rather thin small plastic and this gives more movement than traditional flasher rigs teasing shutdown fish into a bite.

These went on the market in October, so keep your eyes peeled.

You are better off trying to target snapper in deeper waters.

ONE MILLION REASONS TO GO FISHING IN THE NT MILLION DOLLAR FI$H IS BACK FOR SEASON 4

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The Million Dollar Fish is all about experiencing the best of the Northern Territory in summer, barra fishing and, hopefully, catching yourself $1M. Running from the 1 October 2018 through to the 31 March 2019, you have the chance to catch one of the specially tagged barramundi that have been secretly released in locations across the spectacular Top End. These range from the tropical waters around Darwin and the Tiwi Islands, to the mammoth rivers and scenic billabongs of Kakadu and Katherine, and the Arnhem Land Coast which is transected by remote tropical tidal rivers.

Since its inception, $310,000 has been won with the elusive $1M fish yet to be caught (which is good news for you). This year, the odds of catching the $1M barra have never been better with five chances to bag the million. But there’s a catch – only the first $1M tagged fish will count to win the big prize. If the $1M fish is not caught within

the competition timeframe, all five fish will remain fishing spots of Arnhem Land or the intertidal waters active in a bonus round from 1 April – 30 September of the Tiwi and Vernon Islands. Prime barra fishing 2019, so get up to the Top End now before that $1M spots include the wide Victoria and Daly rivers as finds itself on the end of someone else’s line! well as the network of winding waterways found in There will also be 100 fish worth a hearty the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park and $10,000 each and a special new category of 20 the Mary River wetlands. The Top End’s spectacular fish, worth $5,000 where the bounty is shared natural design means it offers a variety of worldbetween the angler and class fishing options, so one of three Territoryyou definitely won’t be Visit based charities. The short of fishing hot spots www.holidaysofaustralia.com. throughout its picturesque charities include the Cancer Council NT, landscapes. As you cast au/milliondollarfish Junior Indigenous your line out into the water and stay, play and fish Guide Program and the with the aim of reeling in Star Ball Darwin. one of the specially tagged in the Top End! But why the Top barra you may also find End? Well, this is an unrivalled fishing destination yourself on the other end of the line to a collection with huge tidal rivers, scenic inland billabongs and of different fish, including giant trevally, queenfish, mangrove-lined estuaries, as well as a scattering Spanish mackerel, black jewfish, golden snapper, of remote islands along hundreds of kilometres of coral trout, marlin and sailfish. unspoilt coastline. These pristine coastal waters are There are plenty of well-serviced tourist where some of the best tropical sport fishing action facilities to be accessed in the Top End along with in the world takes place. Those seeking something expert fishing guides, accommodation, and services different can venture through to the crowd-free such as fuel, food, repairs and supplies. Every

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It is totally FREE to take part in the Million Dollar Fish competition, all you need to do is register at www.milliondollarfish.com.au before you head out to snap up one of the tagged barra.

And to make this great fishing opportunity even better, Holidays of Australia and the World (the official travel partner of the Million Dollar Fish Season 4) have already done the hard work for you and organised your Top End fishing adventure.

With a range of exclusive packages including accommodation, transfers and your fishing charter/s, you can spend your time focussing on snagging the winning fish! If you are after a more personalised fishing experience, there are also packages that include just your accommodation, as well as singular fishing charter packages suited for different lengths of time hunting the moneygiving fish.

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Terms & Conditions: Fares are per person in AUD based on twin share. Inclusive of all discounts, taxes, fees & port expenses if applicable which are subject to change. Prices correct as at 10.10.18. Subject to availability. Airfares, hotels & transfers are additional unless otherwise stated. Cancellation charges apply. ^Discount offer available until 23 December 2018. *Only the first Million Dollar tagged Barramundi caught and verified by Tourism NT earns $1M. ** Terms & conditions apply. Visit milliondollarfish.com.au for more information. For full terms & conditions contact Holidays of Australia and the World. E&OE - HA0692.

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73

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75

Cooking

In a flurry for some curry BRISBANE

Lynn Bain

This fish curry is influenced by recipes from India and Thailand.

Most of the ingredients in this recipe are commonly used by both countries, however, coconut milk leans the dish towards a Thai theme. Indian curries may use coconut milk, but Indian dishes are more likely to use a stock/broth as the main liquid.

To go more along the Thai path, there’d be a splash of fish sauce in the recipe. You could add 20ml (an Australian tablespoon) of fish sauce to this recipe if you desire. Add the fish sauce at the same time as the coconut milk.

I first had fish curry in the late 1980s at an Indian restaurant in Brisbane. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the fish curry, but I gave it a go. At the first bite I was hooked and I instantly knew what I was going to do with some of the Moreton Bay sourced spotted mackerel that I’d caught high-speed spinning the previous weekend.

Handy Hint: I’ve used white fleshed reef fish in this recipe. Years ago I used to make this dish with spotted mackerel. You could try using a freshwater fish such as golden perch.

Another option is to use (orange fleshed) salmon, or even a 50/50 ratio of white fleshed fish and salmon.

You could also offer a 50/50 ratio of peeled green prawns and reef fish flesh.

3

Continue to cook the spices until they are fragrant with characteristic aromas. Stir gently with the back of a tablespoon.

Ingredients • 1kg white fish flesh (reef fish or spotted mackerel) • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped • 1cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped • 1cm piece fresh turmeric or 1 teaspoon dried (optional) • 1 brown onion, roughly chopped • 1 teaspoon either whole or ground coriander seeds • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin seeds • 1 red chilli, finely chopped (seeds left in) • 400g coconut milk • A handful chives, roughly chopped • 2 handfuls of fresh coriander

76

Cut the fish fillets into large cubes/ pieces, about 2-3cm in size. To poach the fish, add the fish pieces carefully to the barely simmering liquid in the frypan. Continue to simmer, turning the fish pieces over carefully, until the fish is nearly cooked through.

NOVEMBER 2018

Add 1-2 tablespoon of cooking oil to a frypan heated to a medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chives and chilli. Stirfry for a few minutes until softened.

2

Add the coriander seeds to the onion mixture in the pan. Then add the cumin seeds.

4

5

7

8

Pour the coconut milk into the pan containing the spicy onion mixture and stir well to combine.

6

1

Sprinkle the fresh coriander over the fish, retaining a little of the coriander for garnishing at the end.

Gently stir the fresh coriander through the fish curry.

Reduce the heat under the frypan to a very gentle simmer. Add the optional tumeric.

The completed fish curry garnished with fresh coriander.

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NOVEMBER 2018

77

New and old techniques dominate 2018 Classic There is always something to learn from talking to the winners of the Gold Coast Sportfishing Club’s Flathead Classic. This year’s tournament winner was decided by a single fish, but what is interesting is the variation in techniques.

catch a fish to take home a new boat. It has grown into a massive event that has close to 700 anglers fishing and enjoying the amazing flathead fishing that the Gold Coast offers.

WINNERS I don’t know how he does

Adam Barnes used traditional techniques and hard work to claim second place.

The weather couldn’t have been kinder to the competitors during the three-day event. It’s always fantastic to see the good weather as not every team is competing for the win.

Many teams take the competiveness out of it and see it as a chance to get on the water with the kids or mates and learn more about the art of catching flathead.

The best thing about the event is that over $300,000 in prizes were given away, including 3 boat and motor packages – any entrant can win, you don’t have to even

it but Danny Sands is the club president and fishes the event with his brother George and Uncle Kevin. Kevin Sands is from Tasmania and travels up to fish the event with Team Sands every year.

This is impressive enough, but Kevin is 77 years old and still manages to hold his own against competitors 50 years his junior. Danny fishes all day and gets to the comp site to manage the massive event with his dedicated committee that do an amazing job. Danny won the event three years ago but this year belonged to his brother George.

This fish was landed by working small plastics in the shallows.

78

NOVEMBER 2018

George and the rest of Team Sands targeted shallow water between Jumpinpin and Tipplers Passage. That certainly isn’t anything new but how the fish were targeted is. After experimenting with large 9” soft plastics in the shallows, similar to the technique made popular by Chris Metcalfe, George found that the technique had a very poor hook-up ratio. George’s solution was to replace the big plastic with barramundi style lures and the hook-up ratio improved greatly.

The preferred lures were 130-150mm long and either suspending or slowly floating to the surface.

George sourced some Japanese lures from Tackle House. Even the most obsessed tackle junkie wouldn’t know these lures too well but basically, they are long and thin with a typical small bib found in shallow running barramundi lures.

The small bib allows these lures to roll and dance when twitched, which is what stirs up the barra and apparently the flathead as well.

George’s pick for colour is white with a green or chartreuse back. These massive lures were thrown with standard flathead spin gear. George prefers to stick to 4lb mainline with a 14lb leader. Leader that is a hard fluorocarbon such as Rock FC worked best because it minimised the line wrapping the lure when being twitched.

George’s tip for flathead anglers is to find stingrays working the flats. George mentioned that when he sees stingrays pumping and working up the sand and mud, the flathead are also up on the flats feeding.

SECOND Coming in second behind George Sands was Adam Barnes. Adam has been fishing the Classic for the past 5 years and works incredibly hard on his flathead fishing. Adam fishes in a two-man team with Cory McLachlan. Adam and Cory are more traditional, throwing soft plastics in shallow water.

Adam pre-fished the Classic for two months leading up to the event. He worked hard to determine the flow of water, colour of the water and direction of the current to determine when the flathead will feed in a particular area.

For Adam, it was all about reading the water and having

George Sands landed some massive flathead in the shallows on 150mm hardbody lures. confidence in the areas he fished.

Adam and Cory also fished between Jumpinpin and Tippler’s Passage but focused their efforts on weed edges. Casting soft plastics in the shallows and working out the retrieve that the flathead respond to was the secret.

Adam was using a slow retrieve that had the plastic swimming just a few inches off the bottom before allowing it to sink again. The trick for Adam was using small jerks and nothing erratic.

Preferred plastics were the ZMan 3” minnows as well as shrimp imitations of a similar size. Adam mixed his colours up a little – with white and pink being one that performed well but so did root beer so a fair mix. Adam used a little S Factor scent as well and believes that assists unscented plastics to entice a bite.

Adam also uses threadline spinning tackle but unlike George who uses very light braid, Adam fishes with up

to 20lb main line and leaders up to 20lb. Adam mentioned that modern PE braided line is as thin as the old 6lb braid but if he happens to hook up to a jewie he can still land it on the flathead gear. Because Adam and Cory only fish the shallows, the heaviest jighead they use is 3/8oz and often use a 1/4oz head.

Adam’s tip for flathead anglers is to learn to read the flow of the water over the shallows. Adam contributes his success to understanding how the flow effects the feeding of the flathead. Even if they went an hour without a bite, Adam remained confident that the fish would move up and start feeding as the water flow and colour improved.

This was often rewarded with multiple 80cm+ fish in a short period of time.

Last year’s event saw first place go to deep jigging techniques while 2016 was dominated by shallow water trolling and massive plastics

worked in ankle deep water.

It goes to show that there is no right or wrong way to catch flathead. Finding the fish is one thing but working out how to catch them is another all together. Adam would often fish areas where he would see other anglers worked over, only to find that the lures, colours and techniques he used would catch fish where other anglers would fail.

This hit home while talking to George Sands who fished the same area as our team did. Day one had team QFM neck and neck with Team Sands and myself a good distance in front of George for points. But the fishing got tough and on day two and three I couldn’t buy a fish while George’s skill and techniques piled on the points.

Next year will probably see another technique take out the win but as Adam and Cory proved this year, there is no substitute for proven techniques matched with good old fashioned hard work.

TOP TEN TEAMS

TOP TEN FEMALE

TOP TEN SENIORS

TOP TEN JUNIORS

1 Team Viper Strike 2 Team Sands 3 Team On Strike 4 The Mad Hueys Heritage 5 Dead Fishy 6 Zerek Lures 7 No Fish 8 Dawson Swainskis 9 McArthy 10 WET DREAMZ

1 Melinda Henderson 2 Kellie Reid 3 Megan Savas 4 Nicky Young 5 Kimberly Curtis-Pozar 6 Brooke Frecklington 7 Rocky Edwards 8 Emily Curr 9 Bec Clark 10 Jessica Rayner

1 George Sands 2 Adam Barnes 3 Michael Angus 4 Cory McLachlan 5 Christian Cross 6 Jason Swain 7 Michael Green 8 Brad Job 9 Stuart Grice 10 Matt Kair

1 Hayden Swain 2 Drayzen Allen 3 Cooper Ferris 4 Reuben White 5 Brock McDonald 6 Dominic Cerasa 7 Keiran Harris 8 Hayden Limpus 9 Tanner Trotter 10 Jaimee Horner

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NOVEMBER 2018

79

Nelson slows down claim victory

STORM

Improving his 2017 BASS Pro event result on this massive North Coast arena by a place, NSW’s Mike Nelson fished a black jig in deeper water to emphatically claim victory in the Bassman Spinnerbaits round of the Rapala BASS Pro Series.

With his weights improving every session, he was always going to be hard to beat, with top-ranked Basser and river rat Kris Hikson the only angler to get within 4kg of Nelson’s weight. Nelson posted a weight of 3.26kg for session one, 4.47kg for session two, and 4.56kg for session three.

Fishing a beetle-spin rigged Z-Man Slim Swimz in the first session, Nelson targeted shallow, active fish on structure, but saw bigger fish deeper that weren’t receptive to the reaction presentation.

That’s when he stepped it up a gear and fished a black Pro’s Factory Motion jig in black (with a Gulp Crabby trailer) deep and slow to extract a string of better quality fish.

“Those deeper fish were definitely not rising to grab a reaction bait, so I did what I had to do to get them in the boat,” Nelson said.

And from that point, he never looked back.

Mike Nelson secured his maiden ABT BASS Pro win fishing jigs slowly in deeper structure.

Pros Factory Motion Jig

15-25‘

Pitch jig close to submerged structure Short hop to keep on the bottom

Allow to jig to sit on bottom for up to 30 seconds – gently shake the rod tip to make skirt ‘wae’

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

80

NOVEMBER 2018

Scan the QR code to see how Mike Nelson works jigs in deep water.

Scan the QR code to see Jason martin’s winning interview.

Targeting bass from 15-25ft deep in both the South Passage and in the Coldstream River, Nelson emphasised that the speed he needed to fish these baits was slow – dead slow.

“You’d sink down the lure and literally just shake the line. Sometimes it’d take the fish up to 30 seconds to eat it after you felt the first tap. It really was a game of patience,” Nelson said.

He fished the jig on a 13 Fishing OMEN baitcast

rod paired with a 13 Fishing Inception reel that was spooled with 10lb Sunline Braid and 12lb Gamma leader.

“That leader is amazing in tight structure. It really cops a beating,” Mike continued, “it helped me land plenty of fish in nasty situations.”

Indeed, you can watch the video of Nelson’s final session highlights on the QR Code supplied hereby. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to slow-fish a jig, then Mike’s technique is a must-watch.

Hickson runs and guns into second place

Almost always lurking somewhere in the top of the ladder is Kris Hickson, and he kept true to form this time round with a second place finish.

As is typical for the Taree BREAM and BASS angler, when asked about his tournament, it was a case of a lot of running and gunning and of using half the lures in his box. Kris Hickson is a fast, junk fishing extraordinaire, and he seems to have a sixth sense about where to stop and what to throw.

He couldn’t match Mike Nelson’s deep structure jig fishing ability – even with a kicker fish of over 1.5kg in the first session. Kris managed bags of 3.63kg in session one, 3.33kg in session two, and 3.52kg in session three.

When asked to refine the boatload of tackle to a couple of techniques, Hickson settled on ZMan Finesse FrogZ, 2.5” Slim SwimZ by the same manufacturer, and a Duel Moe-B hard bait.

“Early each morning, I’d fish those 2.5” ZMan FrogZ on a 2/0 ChinlockZ hook and get some topwater action. There’s nothing like a topwater bite first thing in the morning and it added a few fish to the well,” Hickson said.

“I fished the stretch between Ulmarra and Maclean each day and I reckon I hit every single boat, wharf and good looking bit of bank there,” Kris continued.

Kris’ kicker fish in session one (the second biggest of the event at 1.54kg) ate a Duel Moe-B fished in a drain.

He also pulled a couple of fish off the ferry cables

BASS PR O at Lawrence with a Samaki forktailed Vibelicious in whitebait colour.

In one of the sessions, he filled his bag from a grassy bank with the bloodworm coloured Slim SwimZ. His favourite tool for the tournament was a prototype TD Zero rod (6’9”, 2-5kg) matched with a 2500 sized LT Daiwa, 8lb J-Braid Grand and 8lb J-Thread leader.

Hickson did his reputation as an adaptable Basser no damage at all on the weekend, maintaining his healthy lead of the Bass Cat BASS Pro Rankings.

He’s ranked number one in the country!

Martin tops non-boater field Jason Martin is another Manning River river rat who excels in casting plastics at Australian bass.

Paired with Kris Hickson on the first day, there was every chance that the pair would do some damage.

The prediction came true-Jason managed some impressive limits, scoring bags of 3.63kg in session one, 3.33kg for session two, and 1.79kg for session three.

Martin’s gear was a Daiwa TD Sol rod teamed with a Daiwa Exceler reel spooled with 8lb Daiwa J-Braid and 8lb fluorocarbon leader.

He fished an assortment of plastics on 1/8oz jigheads.

Emphasising Martin’s river prowess is the fact that he’s won both of the river rounds in 2018 at the back of the boat. He took out the first BASS Pro event of the season on the Hawkesbury River earlier in the season.

Martin’s most tense moment for the event?

Well, he’s pretty laid back,

GARMIN BIG BASS

Jason Martin was stoked to grab another river round win. so we think nothing fazes him, but only having a single bass in the livewell at 2pm in Session 2 would have raised the heart rate a little.

Fast forward 20 minutes and it proved that there was little to worry about, with the bag filled by 2:20pm on a 200m stretch of

grassy bank.

You can watch Martin’s Winner’s Interview by scanning the QR code hereby.

BOATER RESULTS Place Angler 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fish

Weight (kg)

Prize

Mike Nelson 12/12 12.29kg $2,500 Kristoffer Hickson 12/12 10.52kg $1,350 Craig Simmons 10/12 8.24kg $900 + $250 Evinrude Bonus Mark Lennox 11/12 7.73kg 7.73kg $800 Troy Hardaker 9/12 7.66kg $700 Joseph Urquhart 11/12 7.52kg $600 Adrian Melchior 11/12 7.44kg Rick Gough 11/12 7.21kg Keeghan Painter 9/12 6.80kg Terry Allwood 9/12 6.67kg

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

Local Anthony Duff took out the $500 Garmin Big Bass, with his 1.67kg brute.

It ate a ZipBait Skinny Pop in Aussie Prawn colour that he fished on a Pagotto custom rod made from a St Croix blank, matched to a Daiwa 2500 Certate Custom reel, 6lb Sunline Super PE and Sunline 10lb mono leader.

WINNING TACKLE Rod: Duffrods 3-5kg rod Reel: Daiwa Battler 2500 reel Line: Unitika 8lb braid Leader: FC Rock 8lb leader Lure: Yamba Pro Prawn blade

NON-BOATER RESULTS Place Angler 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fish

Weight (kg)

Prize

Jason Martin 10/12 8.75kg Prize Pack Peter Morgan 10/12 8.28kg Prize Pack Tom Deer 11/12 8.10kg Prize Pack Andrew Lollback 8/10 7.73kg Prize Pack Damien Krantz 11/12 7.50kg Prize Pack Matthew Cameron 11/12 7.24kg Prize Pack Shane Matthews 11/12 7.10kg Prize Pack Brendan Pieschel 9/12 6.43kg Prize Pack Aaran Kiloh 8/12 6.41kg Prize Pack Trent Blake 8/12 5.90kg Prize Pack

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au NOVEMBER 2018

81

Falkenhagen forks out A-game

STORM

Shaun Falkenhagen has taken out the 2018 Rapala Bass Pro Grand Final on Lake Somerset with an overall bag of 12/12 at 14.97kg, walking away with a cheque for $10,000.

Shaun struggled in the first session early on, spending an hour or so sounding around looking for a good concentration of fish. Once he found the fish he caught his limit quite quickly and weighed them in as soon as the weigh-in window opened. He weighed in a combined limit with Jim Hickson of 4.46kg, which had them sitting in second place to Matt Johnson and Nick price with a bag limit of 7.08kg.

Session two was very kind to Shaun and Jim, and saw them catching their limit of four fish for the session, with a total weight of 6.16kg, bumping them into first place for the second session.

The third session on the Sunday was Shaun’s most productive day catching, where he caught seven fish.

The weight was down from day one’s bags, however Shaun and his day two

Shaun Falkenhagen had his family there to support him.

Shaun Falkenhagen was all smiles with his Grand Final victory at Lake Somerset.

non-boater Mitchell Rose achieved a limit of 4.35kg, which was enough to secure victory in the 2018 Rapala Bass Pro Grand Final.

Shaun was fishing a bay with a depth of 40-50ft. His technique would vary with the fishes’ mood. If they were sitting on the bottom he would sink his lure to the bottom and give it a few twitches and it would get eaten fairly quickly. But if the fish were suspended he would have to count his lure down to roughly where he could see them sitting on his depth sounder. With the suspended fish he would slow roll his lure through the school, often getting a few taps. Once he got these taps he would speed his retrieve up, triggering the fish to eat his lure properly.

His go-to lure was a Slider Grub in the John Deer colour with a 5/8oz jighead fished on a 702 Edge Rod with a Daiwa Certate reel.

BOATER RESULTS Place Angler

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

82

NOVEMBER 2018

Scan the QR code to see the day 1 highlights.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fish

Weight (kg)

Prize

Shaun Falkenhagen 12/12 14.97kg $10,000 Matt Johnson 9/12 12.74kg Miller Rod Stephen Kanowski 9/12 12.04kg Miller Rod + $1,100 (Big Bass) Kristoffer Hickson 9/12 9.87kg Prize Pack Wally Fahey 6/12 9.67kg Prize Pack Graham Ford 7/12 7.89kg Jordan Stoddart 12/12 7.39kg Tim Morgan 7/12 7.38kg Kris Banks 8/12 6.27kg Joseph Urquhart 8/12 6.27kg

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

Johnson takes second Matt Johnson came in second with 9/12 fish for 12.74kg. Matt weighed the biggest bag for the tournament in session one with four bass tipping the scales at 7.08kg. He and his non-boater left for the second session very chuffed with themselves.

Unfortunately, that was the best bag Matt could put together for the tournament.

The second session for Matt was a grind, with him and his non-boater only bringing two bass to the scales for 2.3kg. Day two was quite tough as well, only yielding three bass, however it was enough to secure second place.

Matt was fishing the same areas as Shaun on flats with depths varying between 40-50 feet. The fish were there for Matt, however he struggled to convert many of the bites.

Matt Johnson fished the same areas as Falkenhagen and came in second place.

BASS PR O GF

Warren Howe took out first place for the Non-Boaters.

Howe good John Deere Slider

Jighead retrieve

Jighead retrieve

Spoon retrieve Snap

40-50 feet

Snap

Warren Howe had something of a Stephen Bradbury tournament experience. He got his Grand Final entry via count back from declined non-boater entries and ended up taking out the 2018 Rapala Bass Pro Grand Final in the Non-Boater division, bringing in 10/12 for 13.99kg.

He was followed by Jim Hickson who had 8/12 for 10.62kg. Warren fished day one with Kris Hickson and day two with Steve Kanowski. His first session only saw him weighing

two legal bass, with his second and third session being better, as he was able to secure a limit in each. Warren was changing between throwing a Slider on a 5/8oz jighead and a G2 Gang Banger Spoon.

Throwing them on a Daiwa Steez 702 Thunderstorm rod and a Daiwa 2508 Steez spin reel, he was able to fish the Sliders with ease.

Both Howe and Hickson took home the awesome Rapala product prize pack with enough tackle to see them through the 2019 BASS Pro season, valued at approximately $4,000!

Killer cracks tournament Big Bass Scan the QR code to see the day 2 highlights.

Stephen ‘Killer’ Kanowski took out Big BASS, bringing in a fish in session two that weighed in at 2.74kg.

Steve located an active school of fish in the second session, and catching a nice fish straight away had him quite confident in the flat he was fishing. Only a couple of

casts later he hooked the fish and soon realised it was much bigger than he first expected.

This fish was the biggest bass for that session and held that position for the rest of the tournament, securing the big bass prize of $1100. This healthy 2.74kg fish was caught slow rolling a plum chartreuse

Slider with a gold 5/8oz Smak jighead.

JUNIORS The Grand Final Juniors (under 18-yearolds) got a special mention

at the presentation, with Mitchell Rose and Angus Meyndershagen both finishing in the top ten non-boaters. In addition to their non-boater prize packs

the pair each took home a special Junior Anglers Prize – a big thanks to Rapala and Manning River Marine for looking after our tournament’s junior anglers.

NON-BOATER RESULTS Place Angler 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fish

Weight (kg)

Prize

Warren Howe 10/12 13.99kg Prize Pack James Hickson 8/12 10.62kg Prize Pack Mark Parriott 12/12 9.52kg Tonic Sunglasses + Prize Pack Nick Price 6/12 9.38kg Hobie Sunglasses + Prize Pack Angus Meyndershagen 8/12 9.10kg Hobie Sunglasses + Prize Pack Raffi Demirjian 5/12 7.72kg Samaki Rod + Prize Pack John Francis 6/12 7.06kg Prize Pack Dylan Byron 9/12 7.03kg Prize Pack James Browning 8/12 6.76kg Prize Pack Mitchell Rose 6/12 5.28kg Prize Pack

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au NOVEMBER 2018

83

Family Fishing Festival meant fun for all Fishers travelled from near and far to attend this year’s event. There were a total of 175 competitors that tried their hardest to catch some good fish. Many, despite their efforts, came back empty handed, however, there were 80 legal size fish entered. One boat alone tagged over 30 mangrove jack over the competition, all of various sizes. So, there were fish out there to catch, some just weren’t so lucky.

This year the festival tried out a few new things,

this included plenty of free activities for the whole family. The Mullet Throw was a blast with many people chuffed to throw a frozen mullet. There were a few squirmy faces, but lots of laughs and wild throws.

The festival offered free camping on site. This ended up being a popular option as it was not far to walk from the activities, and meant guests could leave at their leisure on Sunday.

This year, thanks to InfoFish, the festival had their

Thanks to Bundaberg Marineland, they were able to raffle off in their major draw a small tinny and trailer for the first time ever. Such a great milestone in the history of the competition. Josh from Burpengary is now the proud owner.

The junior competitors were able to enter any legal size fish, and the first and second prize for the longest length of fish caught went to Lillianne at 1665mm and Layton at 1070mm. This made it more fun for the

One of the happy competitors at this year’s event.

Josh from Burpengary with a new tinny and trailer that he won, thanks to Bundaberg Marineland. including changing the fishing times to be from midday Thursday until midday Saturday. This meant they could have the festival all Saturday afternoon,

own app. They are a purely catch, snap and release competition. This app made the compilation of fish picture entries much simpler for the organisers.

kids as well.

Keep an eye out for next year’s comp, as it’s bound to be bigger and better!

Mullet Throw is one of the most popular activities on offer at Baffle Creek Family Fishing Festival.

Redcliffe Kayaking Tournament The Redcliffe Kayaking Cartel is a group that was formed on Facebook for like-minded individuals to get together and share in their love of kayak fishing.

They are all about sharing their successes, new spots, and meeting up to have a yak together.

Last month this group held their first fishing competition with the help of some local sponsors who donated prizes: Anaconda

Morayfield, Everest Campers and Rodzilla.

The entry fee was a moderate $15, which went to the cash prizes for biggest snapper and biggest fish.

This system saw the winner of biggest snapper take home $390.

The weather held up on the day. This competition saw 39 like-minded kayak fishers come together for a beautiful day of fishing in Redcliffe. – Dave McInnes

All the anglers and kayaks ready to start the competition off right.

84

NOVEMBER 2018

It was perfect weather for a day of kayak fishing.

Sporty’s QTS is heating up in the final rounds Round 4 of the Queensland Teams Series (QTS), sponsored by Sporty’s Fishing, was run on the Gold Coast over the first weekend in October.

With a forecast for heavy rain, 24 anglers made the

rain stayed away for most of the day.

Finishing in 3rd place with 2.21kg was team Bonzo, Gary Middleton. We caught up with Gary to see how he went. With only one fish in the well at 10:00am, Gary

finally found some fish that were biting on Zipbaits and Berkley Crabbies, He caught plenty of fish, but struggled to land the big fish, getting busted five times.

Finishing in 2nd place with 2.31kg was last rounds

Winners are grinners. Great effort by Stuart Robinson taking out first place.

Teams getting ready for tournament fun. effort to battle the elements as they all headed off from the Budds Beach boat ramp. Thankfully, the heavy

thought all hope was lost. He managed to get his bag and then a few upgrades. Gary fished the Nerang River and

winner team John Siggs. This time fishing with his son, John and Matthew fished in the main river from Cronin

Island to the Bundall Bridge, using Cranka Crabs and Berkley plastics. He said it was definitely a tough day, as they only caught about a dozen fish.

Finishing in 1st place with a 2.64kg bag was Stuart Robinson fishing as team Ranger. Stuart started his day hitting the pontoons

around the Isle of Capri boat ramp, skipping in some Ecogearaquas. He had a small bag by 7:30am and headed up past the Casino to find some upgrades. He tried a few different things, but they couldn’t resist the Aqua.

He caught plenty of fish and managed to find a couple of decent upgrades.

Stuart also took out big bream with a 0.77kg fish.

On 10 November will be the QTS final round for the year, run from the Gold Coast. Look for Queensland Team Series on Facebook and get along to this great 100% payback social tournament series.

Everyone is welcome.

RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Team Name Ranger Nitro Marine Bonzo TFH Sunstate Hobie Fishing Monthly Crackatinnie/Diztek Russ and Grant Interflow Neckemall

Fish 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 4/5 3/5 3/5

Weight (kg) 2.64 2.31 2.21 2.16 2.14 2.11 1.96 1.53 1.38 1.37

Payout $345 $260 $172 $86

Happy competitors from round 4 of the QTS.

TOURNAMENT CALENDAR

Brought to you by

2018

NOVEMBER

Nov-Feb 19

Golden Barra Comp

Monduran

9-11 Nov

Berkley Urunga Sport Fishing Flathead

Urunga Sailing Club

19 Nov

ABT BARRA Tour Round 1

Kinchant Dam (evening event)

20 Nov

ABT BARRA Tour Round 2

Teemburra Dam (evening event)

21 Nov

ABT BARRA Tour Round 3

Peter Faust (Night Championship)

23-24 Nov

ABT BARRA Tour Round 4

Peter Faust (evening event)

30 Nov-2 Dec

ABT BREAM Series Grand Final

Marlo

www.lakem.com.au/goldenbarra/Lake

www.urungasportfishing.com.au

abt.org.au

abt.org.au

abt.org.au

abt.org.au

abt.org.au

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.

NOVEMBER 2018

85

WHAT’S NEW FISHING SAMAKI BIG GRIP DIGITAL SCALE

1

NEW SUGAPEN COLOURS

4

The Samaki Big Grip Digital Scale has so many features that it’s hard to name them all.

For starters, the ergonomic big grip handle is ideal for weighing big fish, with the scale catering up to 50kg or 100lb. It’s very comfortable to hold in the hand while you ready your catch for the weighing process.

The casing is completely waterproof and holds a 100cm measuring tape for you to document your catch with ease. The Samaki Big Grip Digital Scale also has a backlit LED screen to give you readings in low light environments, plus a built-in thermometer in both Celsius and Fahrenheit.

For more information and stockists just visit the Samaki website, or you can follow them on Instagram (@samakifishing) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/samakifishing). www.samaki.com.au

The Sugapen is one of the most popular surface lures on the market today, and it comes in sizes that cater for both estuary and offshore fishing.

Now the range has recently been expanded to include sizes from 58mm through to 120mm, which gives the lure enormous versatility. Bassday has also expanded the colour range, and now two new variations have been added.

The current Sugapen colours remain, with the two completely new Australia-only additions being a red tiger-striped clear and gold tiger-striped clear with a pink head.

For more information on this and other new releases from Bassday, visit their website or look them up on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BassdayAus. www.bassday.com.au

SUFIX 131 G-CORE

HALCO MAX 220

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The new Sufix 131 G-CORE is a 12-carrier braided line with an additional GORE Performance Fiber.These 13 fibres combine to guarantee a strong construction with no weak points, delivering reliability during casting, strikes and fighting action.

The single strand of GORE Performance Fiber is surrounded by 12 precision braided HMPE fibres, and this results in a super-round line that is smoother, quieter and casts more accurately and further than other lines.

Sufix 131’s non-hollow construction does not absorb water, thus preventing the line from getting heavier and reducing casting distance.

Its solid structure also avoids conventional braid flattening, while the Gore centre fibre also protects the line from internal fraying.

This new line is currently available in 4lb to 50lb in 150 yard neon chartreuse spools, and 10lb to 100lb in 300 yard neon chartreuse.

Keep an eye out for it in leading tackle stores. www.rapala.com.au/sufix

DAIWA HRF SONIC SPEED 9.1R-TW

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Dressed in red and ready to tear up the water, Daiwa releases its fastest HRF baitcaster ever, the HRF Sonic Speed 9.1R-TW. The super car of the HRF line-up features the designs, strength and performance that has made the HRF famous, with the revolutionary T-Wing System (TWS), Hyper Digigear, Super Metal body, Magforce Z, Magseal, Speed Shaft and corrosion resistant ball bearings (CRBB) combining to make this reel a must-have for saltwater baitcaster fans.

Stopping power is at your fingertips with Daiwa’s UTD, giving you the muscle to stop fish in their tracks, while a 100mm swept handle and large EVA knobs offer added comfort and ultimate handle control.

Loaded with features and with a spec sheet to impress, the new super-charged HRF Sonic Speed 9.1R-TW is a baitcaster that’s designed to amaze its users and is impossible to forget. www.daiwafishing.com.au 86

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PRODUCT PRODUCT GUIDE GUIDE 2 1

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If you love the sound of a reel screaming in agony as line pours off the spool, then Halco Tackle has developed the perfect lure for you in the Max 220.

Halco has developed an ultra tough, sinking, bibless minnow that will get the attention of any XOS Wahoo and Mackerel, huge Tuna and other massive predators that lurk out in the deep blue.

Capable of being trolled at very high speed (up to 20kt) like its smaller brothers, the lure features heavily reinforced side walls to resist punctures by the toothy brigade and able to withstand the incredible crushing pressure inflicted by the jaws of its intended victims.

Halco rounded out the package by included their legendary ultra tough 7xx fish rings and Mustad 9/0 inline singles for great hook sets and the ultimate in holding potential.

The lure is 220mm long, weighs 175g, and is designed for heavy trolling and jigging applications.

If you are into fishing for the brutes of the ocean, look for the all new Max 220 at all good tackle outlets. www.halcotackle.com

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BLACK MAGIC PINK 6 SHOCK LEADER Pink leader has been popular for some time, given that it is seen as less visible in certain water conditions. Although fluorocarbon options are common, Black Magic’s Pink Shock Leader is produced as a copolymer trace. This provides great value for money but still gives robust performance under stress.

It retains the high performance in abrasion resistance and knot strength seen in Black Magic tough and supple trace. It’s coloured pink to provide less visibility, particularly when water conditions are a little murkier, and provides a more affordable option to anglers than fluorocarbon. Current breaking strains are 20lb, 40lb, 60lb, 80lb and 100lb. www.blackmagictackle.com

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING DAIWA ELIMINATOR

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Stunning in looks and flawless in design and performance, the new Eliminator delivers anglers one of their newest and most durable and reliable light to offshore tackle reels for some time.

Designed to excel and built to perform, the Eliminator integrates many of Daiwa’s most innovative designs and technologies including Real Four, Digigear and Air Rotor, and blends them with proven designs and features to create a reel that has few peers.

It features Daiwa’s famous ABS spool design, with the reverse taper spool enabling greater line control and increased casting distance.

Daiwa’s ATD gives the Eliminator fingertip drag control and unrelenting stopping power.

The Eliminator will never see you under gunned in the heat of battle.

Dark in looks yet bright and bold in design and performance, the new Eliminator spin reel opens the door to a new age in light and offshore tackle durability and reliability. www.daiwafishing.com.au

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WILSON PLATINUM FISHING CHAIR

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The new Wilson Platinum Fishing Chair is rated to 150kg and built with a wider base to ensure anyone can comfortably sit in it. This folding chair also has some clever additions for anglers.

For starters there is a rod holder that can be easily attached to the left hand side of the chair on the legs, setting your rod at an easy angle. If you plan on getting up from your chair, the designers have included a peg for the leg to ensure the chair is secured to the ground, and a massive strike won’t tip the chair over.

There is also a drink holder and a lined cooler bag in the arms, and a small bottle opener attached to the arm on a lanyard. On the right arm there is also a mobile phone holder pouch, to ensure your phone doesn’t get damaged when the action heats up.

The comfy and strong Platinum Fishing Chair is available now in your choice of blue or purple. www.wilsonfishing.com

MAPSO SAJA #3

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Mapso lures in recent years have become the go-to lures for the serious trout angler.

Mapso is the Lukris house brand, which is known for their innovative ability and superior quality, and they offer 100% perfect spinning action every time. Lukris have been responsible for producing some of the world’s best known and most trusted brands.

Now Lukris have released a couple of new colours in their popular Saja range of spinners in all four sizes. They have also released a larger Size 3 model that is 60mm long, weighs 7g and comes in twin packs. These will certainly be great for anglers wanting a bigger spinner for lake shore fishing, and anglers wanting a heavier lure for further casting distance. The new Size 3 size will also be suitable for a number of other species, including yellowbelly,

silver perch and bass. It is available in all 14 colours.

To find out more visit the Juro Oz Pro Tackle website, or for the latest news and catch photos check them out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JuroOzProTackle. www.jurofishing.com

MARIA RERISE

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Maria have an extensive range of floating and sinking stickbaits, but the new Rerise adds another dimension to the line-up.

This new concept lure measures 130mm long, weighs 70g and can search deep areas normal minnows can’t reach. It sinks at one second per metre, allowing the angler to fish any level of the water column with the appeal of a tuned Japanese stickbait. The heavy weight enables lets you drop the lure to the bottom, and the swimming action imitates a wound baitfish, resulting in explosive strikes.

Fitted with Owner ST-66 trebles and a strong wire through construction, the Rerise is ready to battle any pelagic you can target. It is available now in eight colours. www.ejtodd.com.au

HOBIE PET PFD

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Why leave your pet at home while you enjoy a day on the water? You can now take your fur friend with you safely and in Hobie style, with the Hobie Pet PFD. Features include added flotation as a swim assist, grab handles, adjustable fit, leash attachment, side pockets, grab handles and soft foam undercarriage support. Happy days for furry friends!

The Hobie Pet PFD is available in the following sizing: XS (12lb, 8’-12’ collar, 13’17’ body girth); S (12lb-24lb, 10’-14’ collar, 15’-21’ body girth); M (24lb-60lb, 13’-19’ collar, 18’-30’ body girth); L (60lb-90lb, 18’26’ collar, 24’-36’ body girth); XL (90lb-120lb, 22’-30’ collar, 30’-42’ body girth).

Price: SRP $59 www.hobie.com

SHIMANO CATANA FD

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The Catana has been revamped for 2018 and is perfect for anglers who are looking for a high quality reel at a reasonable cost.

There are four reels in the re-launched Catana range, from 1000-4000 size, with the C2500, 3000, and 4000 HG having high retrieve ratios from 5.8-6.2:1 thanks to the presence of zinc DC gears.

Perfect for freshwater, estuary and light offshore applications, the larger reels are capable of producing up to 8.5kg of drag power, so for relatively small reels this new range really packs a punch!

The AR-C spool lip design increases casting distance, controls the development of wind knots, and creates less slap on the stripping guide. What more could you want from a spinning reel?

They come with two SUS ball bearings, plus one roller bearing, so it’s smooth sailing all the way with these value packed reels. www.shimanofish.com.au

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au NOVEMBER 2018

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING ZEREK TANGO SHAD 13 1M DIVER The Zerek 50mm Tango Shad 1m diver comes in floating only, and is ideal for all manner of estuary and freshwater fishing situations.

There are 10 colours in the range, covering both natural and attractor patterns, including UV colours for maximum attraction.

The 50mm Floating Tango Shad 1m diver has been an amazing success story in testing on a host of estuary and freshwater species.

From flathead to bream and trout to redfin, this floating lure tested incredibly with some amazing captures.

Attractor colours for dirty water, natural colours for clear water and UV colours to take advantage of the latest theories on fish’s vision see these lures cover every conceivable situation in terms of water conditions.

To see the full range of colours, as well as other models in the Tango Shad series, visit the Wilson Fishing website. www.wilsonfishing.com

OKUMA KOMODO SS

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The Okuma Komodo SS features stainless steel main gear, pinion gear and drive shafts, along with a multi-disc, high output Carbonite drag system, giving it a level of power and durability that is the best in its class. Drag output levels include 11kg maximum drag on the 350 size and 14kg maximum drag on the larger 450 size.

The high quality build includes ALC: rigid diecast frame and sideplates with CRC (Corrosion-Resistant Coating process) and A6061-T6 machined aluminium anodized spool. A micro-click drag star allows precise drag settings, and Japanese ABEC-5 spool bearings and 6-pin Velocity Control casting system allow long, smooth casts. The 350 size is fitted with 6HPB+1RB SS bearings, while the 450 size boasts 7HPB+1RB. Other features include a synchronized levelwind, optimized for braid; zirconium line guide inserts for use with braid; dual antireverse and an on/off clicker.

This big fish stopper is available in a 350 and 450 size in both a left and right hand model and a 350 size in a Power Handle version. A Power Handle is also available separately for the 450 size.

Price: SRP $379-$399 www.okuma.com.au

OKUMA CERROS SPIN PODS

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Designed in Australia to suit Australian species and techniques, the Cerros family of spin rods from Okuma are built on quality 30T Toray carbon blanks and are finished with SeaGuide Hero Hi-Grade 316 stainless steel, anti-tangle guides and Fuji reel seats.

There are five 7’ models in the range, L, ML, M, H and XH, covering everything from bream and bass to snapper, barra and pelagic species. Cerros rods feature a stylish design, classic two-tone anodized metal components and crisp actions, and they are also excellent value for money. This new rod range is perfect for those anglers wanting to get into lure fishing, and are also deadly in the hands of experienced lure fishers.

A selection of Cerros baitcast models are also available. For more information on the Cerros range and on other new releases, visit the Okuma website or like them on Facebook 88

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PRODUCT GUIDE

at www.facebook.com/okuma.australia.

Price: SRP $119.90 www.okuma.com.au

WILDFISH SMOKER DUST

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The Wildfish Smoker dust and chips are perfect for hot smoking fish, poultry and other meats. They are the perfect addition to the Wildfish range of smokers.

There are five flavours available: apple, hickory, peach, sheoak and wine.

The wine flavour comes in a 200g bag of wood chips. All the other flavours are sawdust, and are available in 500g bags.

The Wildfish Smoker cooker is constructed from long life stainless steel. It contains two smoking racks, a stainless steel drip tray and is supported on an elevated stand which houses two spirit burners for even cooking.

Wildfish products are distributed by JM Gillies. For more information on the smokers and other products in the Wildfish range, visit the JM Gillies website. You can also find them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/jm.gillies) and Instagram (@jm.gillies) www.jmgillies.com.au

GULP TWIN TAIL

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New for 2018 is the Berkley Gulp Twin Tail.

The Twin Tail has more moves than a bowl of worms! A minnow profile with a set of twin tails that flutter and swim at any speed. Based on the crazy legs jerkshad, the designers have downsized this deadly concept to bite-sized 3” and 4” models.

With 400X more scent dispersion that a plastic bait the Twin Tail is packed with Gulp scent to trigger more strikes.

These new soft baits are currently available in either colours, including both natural and hivis variations, so you can match the hatch and the conditions.

For more information, or to find your nearest stockiest, head over to the Berkley Australia website. For all the latest news, catch photos, videos, tips and tricks, check them out on Facebook at www.facebook. com/BerkleyFishingANZ. berkley-fishing.com.au

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STRIKE PRO GUPPIE 18 NEW COLOURS Strike Pro has released two new colours in its popular Guppie swimbait lures and spare tails. There are three crltails and one Paddletail in five colours to match the Guppie lures.

The TrueGlide Guppie has been the gold standard for handmade wood glide baits throughout Europe and the USA The paint schemes incorporate using paint or glitter on the inside shell of the bait, in addition to painting the outside shell, layering paint between topcoats for a 3-D effect. It also prolongs the colour of the bait fish after fish.

Strike Pro has even replicated the 3-D eyes that TrueGlide are famous for. The Guppies body profile allows the lure to produce an amazing body roll and it slides from side to side in outstanding fashion. The Guppie also features an innovative cork screw at the tail of the bait allowing the angler to fish with either a curtail or paddletail soft plastic tail, creating the ultimate swim bait!

The Guppie is a very effective lure that is deadly on barramundi, mulloway, murray cod and pelagic species. www.jurofishing.com

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING

Field-testing Daiwa J-Braid Grand: it’s a J-Braid Grand life!

Last year I was lucky enough to be sent a Daiwa Tatula baitcasting rod and reel combo to have a play with, and inside the box was a spool of the original J-Braid x4 line to fill it with.

For a 4-ply braid which was certainly at the lower end of retail pricing in tackle stores, I was very impressed.

Some 18 months later I’m still using that same spool of line. I have had some torrid battles with threadfin salmon that have put me in and around any number of artificial and natural structures, but the braid has held up beautifully.

With that in mind, you can understand my excitement in June this year when we opened an AusPost express bag with four

TESTED

I normally leave the spooling up to the tackle store I buy line from, because they’ve usually got a machine and it’s faster, packs it on tighter and leaves me more time to spend far too much on lures. However, spooling the two reels myself actually gave me a really nice feel of the lines before I’d even wet them.

The first thing I noticed from both weight classes was that the new J-Braid Grand is a much smoother profile than both the original 4-ply and 8-ply versions, and also very soft and supple. It had little to no memory coming off the spool, and didn’t lose colour as it ran through my fingers that were keeping tension as it filled the reels. If you’ve ever done this job you’ll know you can end up looking

Squid have great eyes but the 10lb J-Thread Fluorocarbon did the trick and was near impossible for this tiger to see.

Not bad for your first thready. The 30lb J-Braid Grand and J-Thread Leader combo held up well in some very tight country. spools of the new Japanese made Daiwa J-Braid Grand in multi-colour, and an equal amount of J-Thread fluorocarbon leader.

I took two spools of braid – 10lb and 30lb – and two spools of leader to match, and headed home to fill some reels and plan my testing missions.

The 30lb went on an old Luvias DA Custom 3000 (yes, the one with the tribal tattoos on the side), and the 10lb was wound onto my Emeraldas MX 2508.

The heavier set-up would come with me when chasing threadfin on the Brisbane River, and the lighter pairing would be on hand for any estuary fishing that was on the cards.

like you’ve had a fight with a packet of Sharpies.

Once both reels were full to capacity it was time to tie a couple of FG knots and a rod length or so of the J-Thread fluorocarbon leader.

The bride and I were lucky enough to have a babysitter that night, so we went out for a kid-free dinner and then hit the river for some thready action. The braid cast both light and heavy lures very well, with no signs of wind knots or colour fading, and it wasn’t long before the first of five nice fish were hooked and trying their best to rub through the J-Braid and J-Thread on some pylons.

The line held up incredibly well on both wooden and metal structures. The fluorocarbon was scuffed and tattered by the end of the night, but didn’t even look like breaking or rubbing through. I am a notoriously terrible knot tier, but I managed to re-tie new leaders with ease, even with a heavier line class than I normally use.

With the heavier combo proving itself so well, I was pretty pumped to get out and try the 10lb versions as soon as possible. Over the last few months they’ve been put to the test on bream, bass and squid.

With this set-up the lures I’ve used and the situations I’ve used them has been a lot more varied than with the 30lb combo so while the strength and durability has certainly still been tested, it’s more about performance when casting lures for long periods of time in both fresh and saltwater arenas with topwater, diving and sinking hardbodied lures, squid jigs and soft plastics.

In every situation it has performed like a braid and leader combo that you’d expect to pay twice as much for. Cast after cast it peeled off the reel with no memory, no wind knots and once I was connected to a fish or squid, performed very well under stress.

J-Braid Grand is available in both multicolour and island blue in weights from 6lb through to 80lb in 150 yard and 300yd spools with RRP’s starting from only $39.99.

J-Thread fluorocarbon leader comes in spools of 100m for the 4lb to 20lb classes and 50m spools for 30lb to 80lb and RRPs from $22.99.

If you’re after a high quality Japanese designed and manufactured braided line or fluorocarbon leader without breaking the bank, I would highly recommend asking your local tackle store for J-Braid Grand and J-Thread. - Rupe

Another victim of the J-Thread leader.

Even on a bright sunny day the line was undetectable.

Having used the old J-Braid for a long time (and enjoyed it) meant it was easy for the author to see just how superior this new version is.

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News

Monitoring the inland SUNTAG

Stefan Sawynok

Early in December there is a meeting to work out the monitoring for the inland fisheries – this is an area that hasn’t had much focus in all the conversations in the sustainable fishing strategy but now it is. As it happens, Suntag and stocking group tagging has continued throughout the years and has one of the only long term datasets on impoundments.

Figure 1 gives a good scope of the fish tagged or reported over time either as recaptures or catch and release. It’s a pretty clear demonstration that fishers

occurred. If you feel the desire to get out and fish any of the areas that don’t have a lot of data – feel free to get involved with Suntag and help expand monitoring across the state.

BARRAMUNDI

Location Number Reported/Tagged Fitzroy River Fresh Lake Awoonga Lake Callide Lake Lenthall Lake Monduran Lake Moondarra Lake Morris Lake Proserpine Lake Tinaroo Pioneer River Yaamba

SARATOGA Location Number Reported/Tagged Bingegang 1 Blackwater 64 Connors River 2 Dawson River Baralaba 1 Imbil 5 Isaac River 7 Lake Cania 3 Lake Kurwongbah 3 Lake Samsonvale 21 Nerang River 1 take monitoring seriously.

Monitoring started in the early 1980s and continues through to today. Around 6500 fish have been tagged/ reported since 1 July 2017 and that doesn’t include another 1000 or so reported through competitions in impoundments, which makes the dataset one of the largest non-government managed freshwater datasets globally.

It’s exciting to see fishers being so positive and proactive in recording data. The following tables summarise the areas and species where reporting has

Over the past month I have been involved with two events that to me show that not only is there life in the multispecies format but it’s time for sportfishers to get excited once more. Each of the events had

RETURNING TO MULTISPECIES EVENTS Back in the days of peak ANSA multispecies events were the norm with line class and the points system offering maximum choice tactically for any competition. To a large degree braid lines and a general fatigue with the ANSA rules, combined with new event formats reduced the multispecies events to ‘community’ events. Over the past 20 years though the multispecies events have given way to mono species, where a single species is the focus.

6 415 41 19 398 20 28 4 35 1091 3 a different format, the SCF Research & Sustainability Event provided a ‘best two’ model but offered 26 species categories and allowed fishers to target as many categories as they liked. The 4lb Club event, held in Cardwell showed of the skills of light gear, favoured a points system based on length,

[Figure 1] Bass tagged/reported over time. with key species providing greater points and bonus points for targeting the widest set of species on the list.

The young men running these event need to be credited with developing not only a high octane format, but ensuring that they make as minimal an impact on the fishery as possible in the process.

Both of these events attracted a ‘hot’ group of young fishos and the results speak for

GOLDEN PERCH Location Number Reported/Tagged Blackwater Chinchilla Emerald Gympie Imbil Lake Barambah Lake Boondooma Lake Cania Lake Cressbrook Lake Glenlyon Lake Kurwongbah Lake Maroon Lake Moogerah Lake Samsonvale Lake Somerset Lake Wivenhoe Mooloolah River Nerang River

6 2 3 2 14 11 11 4 1 132 2 8 54 22 3 44 6 1 themselves. The numbers of fish were insane, the fishers had a great time, absolutely no sleep was had and there were bleary eyes at the end.

AUSTRALIAN BASS Location Number Reported/Tagged Beaudesert 1 Caboolture 1 Gympie 2 Imbil 233 Ipswich 3 Lake Barambah 147 Lake Baroon 169 Lake Boondooma 119 Lake Cania 334 Lake Cressbrook 30 Lake Gregory 29 Lake Kurwongbah 442 Lake Lenthall 1 Lake Maroon 214 Lake Monduran 1 Lake Moogerah 223 Lake Samsonvale 1296 Lake Somerset 240 Lake Wivenhoe 240 Maroochy River 4 Mary River 13 Mooloolah River 24 Moreton Bay 40 Munduberra 1 Myrtle Creek 6 Nerang River 184 Noosa River 1 Rathodwney 19 Tiaro 5 Upper Noosa 6 Over the past 20 years the mono-species events have had a lot of success, but haven’t contributed as much to monitoring of the fishery as they could have which is a big missed opportunity.

The couple of events we have been involved in had not only

SOOTY GRUNTER Location Number Reported/Tagged Bingegang 1 Blackwater 49 Connors River 2 Dawson River Baralaba 1 Imbil 4 Isaac River 5 Lake Cania 3 Lake Kurwongbah 1 Lake Samsonvale 1 Nerang River 1

[Figure 2] Catches by hour at the Sunshine Coast event.

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Speaking as the guy processing the catches, which were coming in faster than I could review – I haven’t had a more exciting time and the next one can’t come soon enough.

collected catch data but as they are photo based are being used to assess fish condition, injuries and even parasites.

As a fishing community, we are presented with the opportunity to have our cake and eat it. These fishing events are not just good for the fishers, they are good for the fish. That is not to denigrate the good work conducted by many events over the years, but I think it’s important to recognise the next generation heading in the right direction from the start.

SOMETHING GOOD IS HAPPENING ON THE SUNSHINE COAST Around a year ago, Dean Jackson contacted me with a ‘great idea’ to create an event on the sunshine coast that was

MURRAY COD Location Number Reported/Tagged Bonshaw 1 Lake Glenlyon 59

News focused on data collection.

Making data collection sexy is a challenge and Dean did have his head in a sewage pipe at the time, so I had doubts. Over the following 12 months Dean jumped over every hurdle imaginable to deliver what was one of

the best events I have been involved with. Dean took a huge risk financially and delivered.

The proof is in the pudding. Check out the SCF Wrap up page on the SCF Australia website and the interviews with the boys who

HINCHINBROOK EVENT DATA Species ARCHERFISH BARRACUDA BARRAMUNDI BARRED JAVELIN BIGEYE TREVALLY BLACK JEWFISH BLACK TREVALLY BLACKSPOTTED ROCKCOD BLUE THREADFIN COMMON CORAL TROUT CORAL COD CRIMSON SNAPPER DARKTAIL SNAPPER DUSKY FLATHEAD GIANT TREVALLY GOLDEN SNAPPER GOLDEN TREVALLY GOLDSPOTTED ROCKCOD GRASS EMPEROR GRINNER KING THREADFIN LONGFIN ROCKCOD MANGROVE JACK MOSES SNAPPER PAINTED SWEETLIP PIKEY BREAM QUEENFISH QUEENSLAND GROPER REMORA SALMON CATFISH SAND BASS SCHOOL MACKEREL SILVER JEWFISH SPANISH FLAG SPANISH MACKEREL STAR GAZER STRIPED SCAT STRIPEY SNAPPER TARPON TEA LEAF TREVALLY WOLF HERRING WRASSE YELLOWFIN BREAM

Average Length 297 433 494 347 318 513 260 344 428 408 275 343 265 439 371 351 640 344 390 250 640 286 366 250 490 272 424 670 700 432 300 340 304 260 475 280 270 288 506 310 680 270 300

hadn’t slept in two days but were still pumped to go again.

The big news from the Sunshine Coast is the species list is crazy. A total of 70 species for the weekend way exceeded the 26 listed for prizes and was an amazing result for a first up event.

The sportsfishing scene on the Sunny Coast is a bit underground and I can understand why – for those who know how to work the region the rewards are there.

If you have had your fill of the bream and barra scene, now might be time to stock up with some new lures and try your hand at something new – don’t worry you will find something on the coast. Even better – join SCF Australia and help keep

especially when looking at visitor results. We now have a different picture thanks to some industrious young men who participated in a recent competition in the region.

I will revise my previous assessment of Hinchinbrook not being as strong a destination for sportfishing as it was in the past and be upfront in saying I was wrong – and I couldn’t be happier to admit it.

Hinchinbrook can deliver numbers and great fishing experiences if you aren’t focused on a single species. This has the dual benefit of improving skills as a fisher and maximising the fun. I would also suggest that this is a great environment to get out the lighter lines as

A SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF THE SUNSHINE COAST CLUB EVENT Assessment Counts Total Hours 36 Total Fishers 166 Total Fish 756 Mins/Fish 2.9 Fishers Caught Fish 123 Overall Catch Rate 2.3 Total Species 70 the Sunshine Coast in good condition. Fish for fun, only take home what you need for an immediate feed and you can come back and do it all again whenever you want.

REVISING HINCHINBROOK One of the advantages of tournament data is it gives an immediate snapshot into the state of a fishery and thanks to a recent tournament it’s feasible to revisit an area discussed earlier in the year. When I looked at the fisheries boat ramp surveys the results were not spectacular for the region,

there is plenty of challenging country, there are plenty of smaller fish to get into the zone and there are bigger fish for those that want to push boundaries.

I will caveat that by saying I don’t think Hinchinbrook is a good heavy harvest destination. It’s the variety of species and environments, not the abundance that is the big attraction. I haven’t seen strong evidence that there are big stocks of key food species.

The one fascinating part in this event is that multispecies focus seems

A RUNDOWN OF THE SPECIES FOR THE SUNSHINE COAST CLUB EVENT Species YELLOWFIN BREAM DUSKY FLATHEAD SNAPPER MULLOWAY SAND WHITING AUSTRALIAN BASS BIGEYE TREVALLY MANGROVE JACK GIANT TREVALLY MUD CRAB MAORI ROCKCOD VENUS TUSKFISH BLACKSPOTTED ROCKCOD EMPEROR STINGRAY PEARL PERCH SPECKLED JAVELIN GOLDSPOTTED ROCKCOD MOSES SNAPPER TAILOR FORKTAIL CATFISH COWTAIL RAY GIANT HERRING SALMON CATFISH YELLOWTAIL PIKE MACKEREL TUNA BLUDGER TREVALLY SHARK BARRACUDA SHOVELNOSE RAY GOLDEN TREVALLY PUFFERFISH SLIPPER LOBSTER COBIA BARRED JAVELIN WHITING FRESHWATER EEL WHIPTAIL ROCK LOBSTER ESTUARY COD SAND CRAB MUDCRAB AMBERJACK LONGFIN ROCKCOD QUEENFISH PAINTED CRAYFISH MACKEREL BLUE TUSKFISH REMORA FLOUNDER PUTTYNOSE PERCH YELLOWTAIL KINGFISH TARWHINE SPLECKLED JAVELIN YELLOWSPOTTED ROCKCOD BIGEYE TREVELLY SQUID GOLDENLINED RABBITFISH PONYFISH GREY MORWONG LONGNOSE TREVALLY VENUS TUSK HAIRTAIL BULLSHARK TERAGLIN GRAPHIC TUSKFISH EAGLE RAY MAHI MAHI STRIPED TUNA SCAT to have nullified the tidal influence especially on the second day where catches per hour were similar across the day.

This is a big hint for fishers that might be considering a trip up north – it suggests that planning

Number Caught 165 126 40 37 34 29 26 23 23 20 19 17 17 16 14 12 11 10 7 7 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

out the day to maximise the tide for species like mangrove jack then spend the rest of the time trying out different tactics.

Hinchinbrook should be added to the list of sites to visit for catch and release fishers.

A SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF THE 4LB CLUB EVENT

[Figure 3] Catches by hour at the 4lb Club event.

Assessment Result Total Hours 17.5 Total Fishers 113 Total Fish 1118 Mins/Fish 0.9 Fishers Caught Fish 97 Overall Catch Rate (Fish/Fisher/Day) 4.95 Total Species 43 NOVEMBER 2018

91

A new approach to big questions SUNTAG

Stefan Sawynok

Questions of philosophy are not covered very often in fishing magazines, but we at Infofish are at a point where we need to lay down the philosophical differences between us and traditional fishing establishment. This topic impacts every reader directly – from job choices, to how companies work to how services are delivered.

This is not just about fishing, it’s about the world that the internet is forcing us to deal with.

Feel free to skip over this article if it’s not your jam. I have a deep dive into some high-resolution mapping data coming next month.

For the past three years I have struggled to articulate exactly how we are doing things differently. Almost every conversation I have about the things we do, ends up in a conversation about stocks. I get that, we have been obsessed since the ‘70s with how many fish there are and how many is it safe to keep. However, it frustrates me at times because not every problem in fishing has a ‘number of fish’ solution.

The question of stocks is reflective of the difference between classical science and diverging modern practices. Technology has created a difference in world view among people who use data. At first, I thought my noticing this trend was just me spending too long looking at numbers. Over the past three years though

I have connected with people in other industries who are seeing the same thing.

This is going to be my best attempt at explaining what is going on.

First to classical science and statistics. Much of modern science is based on classical statistics, which use sampling of a population to extrapolate and provide a representation of a larger population. (Here I insert the ‘not all’ disclaimer for the scientists preparing bricks. I recognise that science is a methodology for exploring important questions.)

In fishing terms, this is a classical stock assessment problem, using catch and other sampling data to provide a prediction of total stocks, albeit with some complex mathematical modelling. In classical statistics, the better designed the model and sampling regime, the better the outcomes. Classical science is robust, the peer review system ensures quality and methodology is rarely accepted unless results have been validated in more than one study.

Classic science is the go-to for big predictive questions. Nonetheless, it’s a very slow process.

Classical science is not quite as good at predicting much smaller things, such as will you – the reader – go fishing at 6am or 10am.

There have been some good attempts at population-wide stuff, so a given ‘group’ of people will be more likely to go fishing early, but that doesn’t really tell us what a specific individual is going to do on a given day.

Let’s say the hypothetical you is a T20 Avid fisher, and the optimal tide/fishing time

is 6am. Sweet – you are going to fish at 6am right?

Maybe that’s true, but maybe you need to take your son to soccer training first and can’t get out until 10am. In other words, your primary driver isn’t always the basis of decisions. There are exceptions, even if one could argue misplaced priorities.

Now the classical science view is – really who cares if on a given Saturday you had to take your son to soccer. That’s all just noise, the real data we need is how long were you on the water, and how many fish did you take. Up until three years ago I agreed, but that approach kept failing me in solving the problems I was presented with.

SOCIAL SCIENCE VS BIG DATA There is a strong ideological view among left-leaning social scientists that classical statistics fails us. This failure manifests because population-wide averages do not correlate well to lived experiences. In essence, the washing out of the details through statistical models results in systems that are less responsive to individual needs and are overly oppressive. In a world which does appear to be fracturing into smaller subgroups, there is a validity to that notion.

Again, before I have social scientists throwing bricks, I understand there are different groups of thinking in all sciences, and I don’t want to embark on that debate. I do want to point out there is a different group who have looked at the same problem from a different perspective. I am one of them.

Figure 1 – Sound reflection off a fish.

This difference in thinking goes back to the 6am/10am example above.

If we had more datapoints on the individual, e.g. that they had a son that plays soccer on Saturday morning, that might have been factored

Figure 4 – Map of underwater habitat and fish based on echosounder data 92

NOVEMBER 2018

into our prediction. Is that a useful thing to do? If you want to better tailor services to that individual, yes – companies like Amazon have gone to crazy lengths to get more datapoints on their customers to better target services and products.

For years we have discarded data due to irrelevance to the problem at hand, lack of funding, storage or ability to share. We have also discarded data because we didn’t really think it was data at all. Is your preference (or non-preference) for the colour red really data? Is your predilection for ending every sentence with “ay?” data? In my world, yes it is.

The internet has changed how we think about data by brute force, because digitising things has become so simple. Within a few short years of the creation of the internet, the growth of data had outstripped our ability to analyse that data. Equally, the complexity of data grew beyond classical statistical models. In fact, classical statistical models have themselves become inputs as much as they were once outputs. This is the world of big data. Please leave your conventional thinking with your shoes by the door if you

are entering this world.

Big data is too hard for conventional tools to manage due to volume and complexity. Not only that, but in the big data world, noise matters. When Google first developed a translation engine, they worked with good clean data, prepared in the way all good scientists would recommend. The project was a disaster. Things didn’t start to work until they started adding in all sorts of things, like misspelled words, completely wrong contexts, and broken sentence structures to their source datasets. In other words, until you allowed for the fact that people aren’t perfect, systems will only be able to deal with a smaller subset of circumstances.

Shock, horror! The real world is far more messy than conventional science likes.

Enter machine learning.

Where new complex algorithms addressed part of the big data problem, another branch of computing was starting to come into its own.

Machine learning replicates the basic decision/learning processes that humans apply but through some very clever maths. This gives computers a more ‘organic’ way of learning complex tasks. The

tech giants were the first to go down this road; almost every decision on YouTube is driven by machine learning. Humans are only there to deal with disputes.

My current favourite though is a robot that taught itself to flip pancakes using a technique called reinforcement learning. That is real progress and the basis for self-driving cars.

I don’t want to dive too far into the big data world, but I do want to point out the fundamental difference to classical statistics.

Classical statistics uses data to tell us something about a larger population.

Big data uses data to tell us a lot more about the individual, and the world that individual inhabits. In a real sense, most of the big data applications are the opposite to classical approaches.

Where classical statistics washes out the detail, big data embraces the detail and accepts that it’s messy.

ECHOSOUNDERS, BIG DATA AND OUR APPROACH TO THE FUTURE This is the divergence I took three years ago. In a complex world, ‘one size fits all’ statistical approaches that drive services delivery and decision making will continue to lack flexibility to deal with local circumstances. Globally, the disconnect between larger institutions and local communities is widening.

I don’t feel like that is a controversial statement, as big institutions are still the best way to deliver services, but their rules-driven processes drive people mad.

The electoral volatility around the world is strong evidence of that disconnect.

With this in mind, everything Infofish does is about expanding the datapoints we collect and expanding the definition of ‘data’. In our world, individual fish now matter – a lot! The better the resolution of the picture we have of a local fishery, the better we can help people achieve their goals.

Enter Biosonics Echosounder as one example of our expanding approach to data collection. Let’s take a look at the classical science.

Echosounders have been used to assess fish data since the late 1960s, and I recommend reading the first of Richard H Loves’ papers that provided the foundational methodology for measuring fish with echosounders. This paper is a great piece of history and explains much of how echosounders work.

Figure 1 gives a pretty good picture of how echo sounders see fish, but what that amounts to is an equation: T=24.1 log L-4.1 log λ -33.2 Where T = Target Strength,

L= Length of the fish in inches and λ is the acoustic wavelength in feet.

There have been many studies that have since confirmed and updated the technique, we are using an equation derived for Nile perch for barramundi while we are gathering samples to develop a localised equation.

Is that reliable? Here is a comparison of catch records and calculated lengths for Lake Awoonga, comparing regular catches with a survey of a bay area.

So how is Biosonics a big data problem? 58 barramundi in a survey is not a lot, right?

In side facing surveys, we get around 1GB of data per km. After applying the AutoTrack software that provides a list of candidate targets, that corresponds to around 30,000 objects per km. There is a section in each survey where the sounder starts hitting bottom that is noisy. For the moment we are excluding that though soon we will be mining that data for additional targets.

When all is said and done, we end up with around 5000-6000 targets per km.

That includes trees, small fish, bait balls, target fish and so on.

For the record, we collect between 1200 and 1500 datapoints on each object.

Compare that with 3-4 for a net-caught fish.

In the original round of surveys, we assessed those signals by hand. This was very time consuming but also very educational. Over time we have improved detection in simple environments, but an environment like Awoonga is very complex.

We have a set of rules we use to sort out most objects, but sometimes you get a piece of timber that provides the same sort of data profile as a fish. In response we have used sidescan data, and this has helped but we still end up with a lot of manual work because we need to be able to interpret visualisation of the data.

This is where machine learning comes in. As we build up datasets we are generating thousands of visualisations of the scan data from different perspectives that we are feeding to machine learning. It turns out that it is really good at looking at a 75cm x 75cm slice of the echosounder image and determining whether the target is wood, fish or something else we need to check.

Over time we are whittling down the impossible task of checking echo scans.

Do I believe we make errors? We err on the side of caution, only accepting the best signals, but still it’s quite possible. Can we be 100% be sure that we are right 100% of the time? No, but as with all big data projects to date, there is a slower start with

higher uncertainty. The more survey data we collect, the more datapoints we collect and the better off we will be.

I am very confident on many things, like structure and wood as we have sidescan corroboration. Sidescan has also helped resolve many fish identification issues as well.

Using the Biosonics, covering large survey areas is possible in a fraction of the time that it takes to do electrofishing or creel surveys. More to the point, we get a lot more data about baitfish, habitat, vegetation and bottom structure. Figure 6 is an example of a test survey we do in Lake Awoonga; you be the judge as to whether it’s useful.

Extrapolate to the entire impoundment – that is the goal. For the record, we don’t plan to publish maps like this but in order to get the concept across we need to provide an idea of what can be achieved.

I believe statistical robustness matters. More and more we apply better sampling and statistical techniques, but statistics is a tool, not a religion. I accept we have to do the validation work and convince the scientists, but I am not about to stop surveys in the meantime as the data we are extracting is solid and useful.

This has been the challenge for most big data projects. They aren’t following conventions and aren’t trying to solve the same problems. Most have just accepted they can’t be easily validated and instead have focused on making the techniques successful in dealing with real world problems.

We can use raw numbers as a baseline, as we can survey an entire region, not just a small area. There are established survey methods.

There are a number of ways to ground truth results.

If we can provide good data for decision making, I will accept that fact that in the short-term chances are there will be skeptics.

WHERE ARE WE HEADED? Do I have a clear vision of where we are headed?

Not yet. We have only just started to get the techniques to manage this large-scale data right. What I do know is that the picture we get from these datasets is far more detailed and faster to generate than was ever possible before. Decisions made on this approach are more responsive to changes in circumstance and in the long run they’re cheaper to produce.

Can we address stock questions using this new approach? Yes, but I think that is such limited thinking. Rather than addressing the question of stocks, I think it’s far more important to address

Figure 2 – Catch records of barramundi in Awoonga in 2018. the needs of members of the fishing community in a way that reduces the pressure on stocks overall.

To do that we need to better understand the world that fish inhabit, and then provide much more tailored fishing products that allow fishers to get the most from their fishing experience, be that for fun or harvest.

The real question for me is this: can we help fishers

be much more successful in achieving their goals while reducing their collective impact? Can we make sure that fishing is around forever?

The early signs are very positive.

Taking this path has been a huge risk, both financially and technically.

The fishing establishment has no idea how to deal with us, and I don’t blame

them. Any new process has to prove itself in the real world, and in some cases never gains acceptance from the establishment.

Do I think it will pay off?

Absolutely.

There is no turning back the clock. The faster we embrace new ways of addressing the complexities of the world and the needs of the individual, the faster we all reap the benefits.

Figure 3 – Survey of Grevillea Creek.

NOVEMBER 2018

93

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95

FUN PAGE AND COMPETITIONS FILMS ABOUT FISH

SHARK TALE GONE FISHIN THE MEG BIG FISH THE PERFECT STORM BAIT SHOP ONDINE DEEP BLUE SEA LIFE OF PI

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QLD NOVEMBER 2018

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SPOT THE

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ORIGINAL

FIND-A-WORD

Congratulations to Maurice Goodwin from Cardwell, who was last month’s winner of the Find-a-Word Competition!

Monthly winners receive a sponsor prize. Prize delivery can take 8 weeks. – QFM

SUBSCRIBER PRIZE

The subscriber prize winners for September are D Kidd of Keppel Sands, W Morris of Moorina, and N Brammer of Mareeba, who won a AccuMat fish measuring mat valued at $99.

All subscribers are entered in the monthly subscriber prize draws. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – QFM

P Cauchi of Kepnock, J Fourro of Bundaberg, J Weier of Burrum Heads, B Steers of Redbank Plains, R Brown of Edmonton, F Heiniger of Woombye, R Schefe of Point Vernon, A Edwards of Alderley, J Ryan of Yeppoon, G Essex of Toowoomba, R Wright of Urangan, J Rogers of Tambo, T Grice of Caboolture, A Needham of Blackbutt, K Edwards of East Innisfail, D Hutchins of Bundaberg, A Duxbury of Caboolture, R Whittaker of

Victoria Point, M Baker of Gorokan, A Hall of Lucinda, D Davidson of Guyra, K O’Brien of Burrum Heads, L Pirlo of Modanville, R Kunde of Beerwah, R Elworthy of North Bundaberg, B Mackey of Parkwood, K Martin of Dalby, J Rasmussen of Frazerview, C Hendry of Imbil, G Herring of Gymie, G Mason of Kalkie, L Randles of Capella.

Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks.

– QFM

LAST MONTH’S ANSWERS

© A Cordelia Adams original artwork.

FIND THE DAIWA LOGO

GUESS THE FISH?

The answers to Find the Daiwa Logo for September were: 10, 19, 20, 22, 27, 28, 30, 40, 48, 52, 53, 57, 76, 113, 115. – QFM

96

NOVEMBER 2018

This month’s Guess the Fish Answer: Yellowfin Bream

The Find the Daiwa Logo prize winners for September were: A Scott of Proserpine, C Beacham of Harlin, B Adams of Bongaree, S Dawson of Gympie, G Watter of Ripley, W Robinson of Raceview, M Boyle of Slacks Creek, D Paranihi of Urangan,

Answer:

boats & kayaks

In the skipper’s seat 98 Hoping at Hinze Inside story...

After WWII, the pace of life changed as a war-ravaged world now craved speed and excitement. This era saw enterprising young businessman Jim Whittley who, along with his brother Ossie, indulged a love of boating. In 1953, Jim produced his first timber boat out of a small shop in the Melbourne suburb of Bulleen. In the late 1960s they made the switch to fibreglass, and have been moving forward ever since.

Made for...

Whittley balances traditional core boating values with constant improvement and delivers on that original promise of quality and innovation.

This month...

Steve Morgan takes the Whittley SL25HT with 200hp Volvo Penta inboard for a spin on Port Phillip Bay. Check it out on page 110!

Troy Brown breaks down this intimidating body of water for kayakers.

102 Abandon ship!

Justin Willmer discusses the joys of parking the kayak and venturing out on foot.

104 New from Lowrance Check out what’s new in the wonderful world of Lowrance marine electronics.

106 Planning a boat trip Wayne Kampe goes into planning a trip, and what you can do on land to get the most out it.

108 Sportsman 232 CC Editor Steve Morgan climbs into this beautiful machine, which is powered by Yamaha’s F250 Four Stroke.

NOVEMBER 2018

97

Conquer the dam of 1000 casts BRISBANE

Troy Brown

When I first decided to write about fishing Hinze Dam from a kayak I had vastly different expectations to the reality that followed. It was nearly left unwritten, as although I research sites and talk to fellow kayak fishers for advice, I will not write about a fishing location unless I have fished it successfully.

Knowing that freshwater fishing can be a fickle exercise, I first pushed my kayak into the wide waters of the Hinze with great optimism.

Successful catches on other freshwater impoundments

Scheme, you will need to purchase a SIPS permit prior to fishing the lake. These permits are inexpensive and provide access to the many exceptional stocked impoundments included in the scheme.

The eastern and western boat ramps provide convenient access for kayakers. There are numerous car and trailer parks available, but consider arriving early during peak periods. These ramps are well maintained, but care needs to be exercised around the rocklined edges of the launch points. Public amenities at the ramps are limited, with basic BBQ and toilet facilities available. Access to the ramps is available

Two well-maintained ramps ensure that launching your kayak is a simple task. have increased my knowledge of bass fishing, so chasing the same fish at Hinze Dam should have been a simple task. While I had never targeted saratoga, I had successfully targeted Australian bass elsewhere and was certain this would translate into large catches at any location.

My first trips to Hinze Dam provided me with some important lessons.

Firstly, finding and catching Australian bass requires different techniques in different impoundments.

Secondly, you need lots of patience to develop your fishing skills, or in my case a bloody-minded determination to learn and succeed. I devoted hours of research to the task, I sought the wisdom of those who fished the area regularly and spent many hours fishing this great body of water, and I finally found success.

The Hinze Dam, also known as Advancetown Lake, is a short drive from the Gold Coast, or an hour from the south side of Brisbane. Covering an area of 1500ha, the large expanse needs several trips to explore completely by kayak. As the dam is included in the Stocked Impoundment Permit 98

NOVEMBER 2018

from 5:30am to 6:30pm, with the gates locked at all other times.

Luke Lispet is a regular at Hinze Dam and has an impressive tally of catches on this lake. Luke mostly targets saratoga and understands the habits of these prized fish. “The saratoga in Hinze tend to stick to structure. They love the inlets and coves that exist in the extremities of the gullies. If there are lily pads and snags, you will also find the fish. Saratoga are very territorial, so they stay in an area and will dominate it.” Luke likes to fish for saratoga with jerkbaits, suspending lures

and frog simulations.

“The Hinze is a hive of frog and tadpole activity.

Cast as close to the snags as you can, let the lure sink to around 1-2m deep and start a slow retrieve to tempt saratoga from cover.”

Hinze Dam regular Kane Rowsell is another kayak angler who targets saratoga.

With summer approaching, Kane is aware this is prime time on Hinze to chase this impressive species, “I target saratoga from December to January, as when the water temperature hits the high 20s these fish are at the peak of their activity. They are a difficult fish to land, with hard mouths and impressive aerial antics. Depending on the day I may fish them differently, as you need to adapt to the conditions. If I hear them working the surface, I will usually cast suspending lures 2-3 times and if I don’t have success, I will move. This method has been my most successful, but if it is not working, I then find densely packed trees that are partially submerged in deeper water.

The fish cruise near the surface in those areas, but I find surface hook ups can be average, so I prefer to cast small jig spins and plastics. Sharp hooks and constant pressure on the fish are absolutely essential, as I have often watched the hooks fall from their mouth while in my landing net.”

While Luke and Kane have success with their favourite lures, anglers have reported success with a variety of hard and soft lures for these aggressive fish. Soft plastic grub imitations on jigheads as light as 1/32oz are deadly, as they can be surface fished, or allowed to flutter slowly into the strike zone. Small hardbody lures such as the Atomic Hardz Crank 38 Deep are deadly on bream, but are also surprisingly effective on hard-charging saratoga. While the lures used by successful anglers may vary greatly, the

Sounders are invaluable for finding schooling fish and avoiding snags.

techniques invariably focus on casting tight to structure, be it snags or lily pads, then working slowly across the surface for active fish or slow diving for fish lurking in the snags. When a saratoga does strike, a firm drag is required, as the many submerged trees will otherwise claim your catch before it reaches the kayak.

The mighty saratoga may be a great photo opportunity, but for most the ultimate prize in these impoundments is the highly regarded Australian bass.

Pound for pound, these fish are one of the most satisfying fighters in freshwater. The attraction of bass in dams such as Hinze is also their elusiveness, as they can be a tricky fish to target. They are a difficult species to understand and consistent catches require an extended period of education. The difficult nature of fishing for bass makes it even more satisfying, once you unlock the basics of finding and tempting them to strike your lure.

Unlike small impoundments such as

Kane Rowsell is an expert at enticing large saratoga. and ice jigs work well on schooling fish, which can often be found in snaggy outcrop areas near deeper water.

Luke favours dropping small blades to the bottom, adding small twitches and hops as it works through the deeper schools. He also keenly

Amazing fish like this are why Luke Lispet has a passion for fishing Hinze Dam. Lake Kurwongbah, the size of Hinze Dam increases the difficulty of finding large schools of fish. Some dams offer highly concentrated clusters of fish, but the size of schools in Hinze seems miniscule in comparison.

While you can still find congregating fish, they are more widely distributed than smaller bodies of water, plus they are often lurking deeper in the water column. Finding these fish in the timber can be like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. They will undoubtedly be among the snags, but locating active fish and successfully removing them from the trees can be a difficult task.

Luke likes to work his lures around grassy banks, casting shallow divers and spinnerbaits in natural brown, green and yellow colours. Spoons, blades

observes the feeding cycles of the local fish, as these will control the success of each lure. “My biggest tip is to match the hatch. Find what the fish are eating and match it with your lures as closely as possible.

Jackall Pompadour Micros and Tiemco Cicadas tend to be very successful here, especially during summer when the cicadas are active around the dam.”

It is wise to study the dam from above; using Google Earth can give you an indication of where fish may be lurking. Bass tend to school in areas either side of points, particularly if there is underwater structure and surface cover such as lily pads. Although a surface strike may be enticing, your tactics need to alter as the fish move into deeper water during the day. Use your sounder to

find the fish, which may be lurking in areas as distant as the centre of the dam, holding in over 30m of water. These fish will often sit mid-water, so a very deep diving lure that trolls at around 8-10m can result in an aggressive strike.

Trolling is not the most exciting method to catch fish, but the rush when they engulf your lure is just as exhilarating as a fish seduced from the surface. Working drop-offs with a trolled lure after the morning bite and before the afternoon surface activity starts will nearly guarantee a fish. Towing a 3m diver in 6-7m of water is a proven means of attracting a bass.

It is not the most sporting method, but it is a proven donut saver, as you can cover far more territory than is possible when sight casting.

While trolling, using a sounder with downscan, this will save a fortune in snagged lures, as high quality units reveal submerged tree branches under the kayak. If you are using a floating lure and you see a potential snag, simply slow your propulsion and let your lure float over the obstruction.

The cost of a quality sounder will be rapidly repaid in tackle, which would otherwise be lost.

While there are many theories about what works when fishing the Hinze, the single important factor is a firm belief you will catch fish. You need to persevere, as fishing a location such as Hinze Dam can damage the confidence of even the best angler. More than one kayaker have described this lake as the ‘dam of a thousand casts’, but perseverance will see results and you will soon be adding this dam to your favourite fishing locations.

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NOVEMBER 2018

99

WHAT’S NEW BOATING YAMAHA SUMMER SALE

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Say hello to summer with Yamaha’s outboard sale, and take advantage of this special deal: $15 per hp off all 2.5-130hp Yamaha 4-stroke outboards. This offer provides significant savings of up to $1950.

Whether you are repowering or buying a new boat, Yamaha is giving boaties this summer the perfect opportunity to pick up a new outboard for less.

From the revolutionary F25 and F75 to the next generation F90, Yamaha outboards have been fuelling the summers of Australian boaties for many years. With one of the most extensive ranges of outboard engines in the market, Yamaha has reliable engine options for every boat, large or small.

This special limited offer is available to recreational customers until 30 November.

Visit your local Yamaha dealer to learn more, or visit the Yamaha Marine website. You can also check them out on Facebook at www. facebook.com/YamahaOutboardsAustralia. www.yamaha-motor.com.au/outboard

AUGMENTED REALITY FROM RAYMARINE 2 Raymarine ClearCruise AR (Augmented Reality) brings enhanced on water awareness to Raymarine’s Axiom multifunction displays (MFDs). There is also a new video stabilisation module, the Raymarine AR200, which integrates with ClearCruise.

ClearCruise AR video imagery is supported

by Raymarine CAM210 HD marine cameras to provide an augmented reality view from any camera position on the vessel. The video stabilisation module includes a precision GPS/GNSS sensor and the same attitude heading reference sensor (AHRS) technology used in Raymarine’s award-winning Evolution autopilots. ClearCruise AR accurately displays nearby navigation markers, automatic identification system (AIS) traffic, objects, and waypoints in sync with real-world imagery, which is ideal for complex navigation and high traffic situations.

ClearCruise AR for Raymarine Axiom, Axiom Pro, and Axiom XL is compatible with the upcoming LightHouse 3.7 OS update.

Price: SRP $999 (camera), $899 (video stabilisation module) www.raymarine.com/clearcruise

SIMRAD HALO24

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Simrad’s HALO24 combines the performance and reliability of Simrad’s radars with the advantages of innovative technology and a lightweight design.

It boasts 60rpm high-speed rotation at distances up to 2nm. Offering high quality short, mid, and long-range detection, up to 48nm, HALO24 processes multiple ranges simultaneously for instantaneous Dual Range performance. VelocityTrack Doppler technology provides instant visual feedback on the motion of radar targets in relation to the boat – colourcoding approaching vessels, as well as MARPA functionality, decreasing the risk of collision.

The lightest 24” Pulse Compression radar dome on the market, the low profile Halo dome offers different power-level options. In a matter of seconds, the radar will boot from low-power standby to full functionality in any mode—harbour, offshore, weather, and bird.

This easy-to-use radar optimizes up to 18 parameters for each pre-defined mode.

Price: SRP $3599 www.simrad-yachting.com 100

NOVEMBER 2018

MERCURY FOURSTROKE SALE

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Big savings of up to $1150 are now available on selected 2.5-115hp Mercury FourStroke outboards.

By acting quickly, boat owners can also take advantage of Mercury Finance’s very competitive loan rate of just 3.99% (comparison rate) for 40-150hp repowers**.

The Mercury FourStroke Revolution savings offer is available to recreational and commercial customers until 23 November.

Mercury FourStrokes deliver reliable starting, excellent fuel efficiency, smooth operation, electronic fuel injection (EFI models), tougher components, corrosion protection, and the availability of SmartCraft digital monitoring on selected models. *All new 15 and 20hp FourStroke models excluded. **For recreational customers. Fees, terms, conditions and credit criteria apply. www.mercurymarine.com.au

RAYMARINE RVX1000

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The RVX1000 3D CHIRP Sonar brings RealVision 3D high-powered CHIRP Sonar to Raymarine’s Axiom XL MFDs (available in 16”, 19”, 22” and 24”).

The RVX1000 can be customised to fit any boat with a wide range of available transducer options. There are dual transducer ports; Port 1 supports a Raymarine RealVision 3D transducer system while port 2 supports a range of AIRMAR broadband CHIRP transducers.

Supported channels include: RealVision 3D, which shows you in 3D space the exact position of fish and structure (you can rotate the image and view it from any angle); CHIRP DownVision, which gives you a high definition, 2D photo-like view of underwater structure and fish as deep as 180m; CHIRP SideVision, which can see out to 90m on both sides in water as shallow as 1ft, and produces photolike images; High Frequency CHIRP, used for spotting gamefish and bait balls to depths of 270m; and 1kW CHIRP, which delivers excellent performance in depths up to 1500m.

Owners of Raymarine eS and gS Series systems can also use RVX1000 sonar. www.raymarine.com.au

SUZUKI DF175A AND DF150A

PRODUCT GUIDE

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The new Suzuki DF175A and DF150A deliver outstanding power and performance together with superior fuel efficiency – all from a super compact and lightweight unit.

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“The new DF175A and the DF150A are packed with the very latest Suzuki’s technologies,” he said.

The new outboards are equipped with a Semi-Direct Air Intake System for a cooler flow of air, O2 Sensor to optimise combustion, and a knock sensor for superior reliability.

Suzuki has also utilised its pioneering offset driveshaft to move the outboard’s centre of gravity forward, to improve balance and reduce vibration on the transom whilst contributing to the outboard’s overall compactness.

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Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au

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101

Abandon ship!

BRISBANE

Justin Willmer Find me on Facebook at Yaks On

What a month… wind, rain and weed! I’m grateful to see November roll around and hopefully bring with it some good weather, hot bites and the end of the annual seasonal slime weed that invades the systems I fish. Hopefully you have all been finding a few fish. For me it has been a few short sessions on the

up my latest adventure, here’s how I generally approach a new creek system and the key structure that I look for.

ARTIFICIAL STRUCTURE Artificial structure is always worth a cast and this can be in the form of pontoons, moored boats, rock walls, stormwater drains and even a shopping trolley in a creek. Structure attracts bait, offers a break from the current, protection from predators and an ambush point.

your lure under or tight along the side of the boat. Finally, a mooring line or anchor rope, along with the mooring or anchor can be enough to hold bait or fish.

Stormwater drains are another favourite, especially when releasing water into the system as fish love to feed on the morsels being home delivered to them. Casting your lure hard against the outlet and allowing it to drift naturally with the flow will see strikes, as will casting along each side of the pipes

A handful of flathead caught casting lures from the bank. of the wall and hopefully attracting the attention of fish foraging in the rocks.

Alternatively, fishing along the rock wall and working your lure right along the base of the rock wall can produce larger predatory species that are patrolling the base of the wall.

Don’t disregard any artificial structure as I remember a night kayak

fishing under a wharf precinct and shopping centre, catching bream, cod, flathead and trevally off pylons, rocks and pipes, with some of our best fish coming off shopping trolleys that had been dumped in the creek – just like artificial reefs, but in the suburbs.

When fishing this structure, I generally just drift and cast, however, if you

find a productive area you can deploy an anchor, drag anchor or even use a grab anchor made up of a spring clamp and length of cord to hold position. This will allow you to concentrate your casts in the area and work the area more effectively with your lure or position your bait exactly where you want it.

NATURAL STRUCTURE When I enter a new creek

Weedless rigged soft plastics are a great option when the structure gets snaggier.

SUP and kayak, hiding from the wind and fishing the creeks.

Creeks are a great place to escape the wind,

When fishing pontoons target the back corners, any shady pockets, swim your lures along the front and even allow your lure to

or concrete structure.

Bridges are always worth a cast and I generally cast past the pylons and swim the lure back naturally with the current, varying the depth of the retrieve by casting further past the pylon, allowing a longer sink or varying the retrieve speed.

Targeting the pressure point in front of the pylons and the eddy behind the pylons will also produce results on species such as bream, flathead, mangrove jack and bass in the upper reaches.

Rock walls also hold fish and I generally fish the lure down the face of the wall, following the slope

A land-based flathead caught on the ZMan 3” MinnowZ accessed via kayak.

Artificial structure includes moored boats, bridges, pontoons and rock walls. with the bends of the creek offering sheltered areas to fish and plenty of new water to explore. Google Maps or the internet are great places to start looking for access points to launch, be it boat ramps, parks or even the clear areas left during the construction of bridges.

When fishing new water keep an eye out for active bait as a signal that fish are feeding in the area and target available structure, as fish love structure. Before I wrap 102

NOVEMBER 2018

drift in under the pontoon.

Lightly weighted soft plastics are a favourite for me, rigged on 1/28oz, 1/20oz or 1/16oz jigheads.

Moored boats have also produced plenty of fish, including bream, mangrove jack and trevally. Targeting any feature of the boat that creates a break from the current is effective, including motors and keels. Shady sections also hold fish, including duckboards and the shadow of the boat, so run

Flathead are an excellent land-based target, feeding along the drop-offs and channel edges.

system the first thing I do is make note of any structure and artificial structure can often be more obvious, while natural structure can blend into the scenery more and will initially be less noticeable.

Natural structure can be as major as a rock bar, fallen timber or sand bank, or as subtle as a slight depression in the bottom, weed edge or mangrove point. A single stick poking out of the water can signal more structure below and I have landed a stack of different species casting to a single visible twig.

Natural structure can often be messier and more snaggy than more defined artificial structure and if I am snagging and fouling lures I will generally switch to a weedless rigged soft plastic presentation, as this allows me to drive the lure

deep in amongst the timber, lilies, weed and other natural structure.

Mangrove edges are always worth a cast, paying particular attention to changes in the mangrove line, such as points, pockets,

including drop-offs, channel edges, deeper holes and even deeper sections on the flats. I often get out of my kayak on the lower stages of the tide and walk the creek flats and sand banks looking for flathead lies, small holes

to fish, due to the weather and other commitments, my wife and I were keeping an eye on the tides and the weather forecast to lock in an afternoon fish. Perfect, a 3:30pm low tide and 4-6 knot winds, we were in for a

The author’s basic setup for the windy afternoon session.

Getting out of the kayak can sometimes make fishing easier. drains and fallen limbs, as these will often be the most productive sections.

Weed beds are a favourite for me when targeting new systems, be it rolling plastics across the top of them on higher tides or hopping weedless rigged plastics among the pockets of sand and rubble, or even along the weed face. Weed beds hold plenty of food, along with shelter and an ambush point.

Rock bars are gold. Find a rock bar in a creek system and you have often found one of the most consistent produces in that system.

Rock bars create pressure points, eddies, and ambush points, they also attract crustaceans and baitfish that in turn attract predators.

Changes in depth are also worth noting and fishing,

in the bottom where fish have been feeding, crabs, yabby holes and other signs that fish may be attracted to different sections of the flats and banks when the tide starts flooding again.

Working the channel edges and drop-offs, especially in a system without significant natural or artificial structure, is also a winning technique, as fish will travel along these edges when feeding and when moving in and out with the tide. Baitfish will be holding tight to these edges as they move with the tide also, so keep an eye out for nervous water, rippling and changing water caused by nervous bait, along with any bait splashing or fleeing and get a cast in there.

ABANDON SHIP With little opportunity

gusts, thanks to some storm activity in the area. But we had waited long enough for a fish, so we rigged and readied our gear and decided to push on anyway.

Five minutes in and we realised our decision was a poor one, as the wind gusts kept pushing us back into the bank before we could even make a couple of casts. It

along the bank to the next suitable section for landbased fishing.

A massive shout out to Sea to Summit at this point in time, as they saved us the loss of my wife Sheri’s good camera. We normally carry waterproof cameras in the kayaks, however, on this occasion Sheri had opted to bring her larger camera. We

Abandon ship. Working lures from the comfort of the bank. flathead fest drifting a weedy channel edge.

Come game day, we launched our kayaks and were faced with weedy conditions and 20 knot wind

Tough work, but one that made the grade for dinner.

was uncomfortable, virtually impossible to fish and hopes of catching a few fish for my parents who were coming to visit were fading fast.

Instead of pulling the pin we made a change of plan and decided to paddle a few hundred metres to a section of bank that dropped off more steeply, allowing us to beach our kayaks and work the bank land-based.

Not really kayak fishing, but without the kayak we would not have been able to access this area to fish.

Keep this in mind in terms of your local creek systems, as even though the wind may be blowing, the kayak may allow you to access a bank, sand bank or flat that you can fish effectively land-based.

Once out of our craft we could comfortably fish from the sand, mud or weed, fanning casts up current and bouncing our 2.5” and 3” paddle-tail plastics back with the current. Even though it was blowing we could still effectively fish the area and then slide our kayaks back in and move further

always store gear in Sea to Summit dry bags and roll them up with enough air trapped inside to float the bag and contents. After moving along the bank further Sheri went to grab her camera and it was gone. So, after some stress and almost a few tears, we slid the kayaks back in and back tracked.

The wind was blowing in our faces and the tide was still dropping, so we hoped

the bag had floated and been blown back into the shore.

We fast paddled about 50m and felt relief, as there up on the weed bed was a bright blue dry bag. Sheri retrieved the bag, opened it and there was the camera in its case, safe and dry. A lesson to us all, dry bags, leashes and safety first.

Conditions were still testing with wind, weed and some stormy weather looming, however, we were having fun, sharing a few stories and laughs, and making plenty of casts. We ground it out and managed a few small flathead on the 3” paddle-tails and a few bream on the 2.5” paddle-tails. It was their unlucky day, as they would normally have been released, however, they were instead dispatched into the icebox for a fish dinner for my folks.

We had made the most of what we were presented with and had the survival story of Sheri’s camera to tell for our day on the water, along with a feed of fresh fish for my folks. If you find yourself confronted with average weather when you have some available fishing time, make sure you check out the creeks in your area and make note of any structure that may be holding fish. Alternatively, you can always abandon ship like we did, using your kayak to access suitable areas for land-based fishing.

See you on the water.

The kayak slid up on a point with a steep drop-off. Perfect for working plastics.

NOVEMBER 2018

103

Product Profile

Lowrance goes LIVE with new flagship fishfinders

The new Lowrance HDS Live fishfinder/chartplotters deliver powerful realtime sonar, charting and connectivity features.

Lowrance held a media day in Sydney to give the Aussie media an advanced look at the Live units – and everyone was mightily impressed. Scan the QR Code hereby to watch the full launch video – or visit the Fishing Monthly Magazine channel on YouTube.

The following is Lowrance’s release about the new units’ features, and you can expect a full review in a future issue of Fishing Monthly.

ACTIVE IMAGING SONAR Active Imaging displays structure and cover with a new level of refined detail, and at a range unmatched by any other structure imaging technology. Offering superb clarity without sacrificing range, it delivers unmatched image quality of structure, fish and bottom composition.

Active Imaging 3-in-1 sonar combines Lowrance CHIRP with SideScan and DownScan Imaging, allowing you to quickly search fishholding structure, and enhances FishReveal with

VIDEO

Scan QR code to see Steve Morgan’s ‘Launched’ video.

higher-level clarity and target separation. Active Imaging 2-in-1 sonar includes Side and DownScan Imaging, and is perfect for use with a separate traditional sonar transducer.

Simple to use without the need to change frequencies while fishing in most conditions, Active Imaging 800kHz provides crystal-clear detail with uncompromised range.

If you need to see further than 120ft, Active Imaging can also operate at 455kHz. Active Imaging enhancements are coming to existing StructureScan 3D modules via a free software update.

LIVESIGHT SONAR Livesight sonar delivers

the most detailed views of fish as they swim in and around cover. You’ll be fishing in real-time as you watch fish react to your lure, and see how

they are relating to structure.

Mount the transducer in a front-facing position to cast toward the fish, or mount it in a down-facing position to do

some vertical jigging.

When using LiveSight forward in conjunction with the Lowrance Point-1 GPS antenna, an on-chart indicator shows the direction the transducer is pointed, allowing anglers to line up on a waypoint or pinpoint the structure they are trying to fish.

GENESIS LIVE CHARTING Delivering real-time,

custom-mapping capabilities, HDS Live harnesses the power of Genesis Live charting, which uses digital depth to create depth-contour overlays

on charts. Users can control contour transparency, density of contours drawn on the screen up to unprecedented 30cm intervals, depth and safety shading colour palettes, and more. Charts can easily be saved to an SD card.

LIVECAST SMARTPHONE INTEGRATION HDS Live lets you display fishing information and entertainment from their smartphones on their 12” and 16” sunlight viewable displays. Users can view their phone in full-screen or splitscreen windows via HDMI connection, allowing them to stream video, view Google Maps and fishing data.

HDS LIVE features a low-profile design with edgeto-edge glass; a SolarMAX HD screen; bracket, flush and rear mounting options; user-programmable keys; and an optional fullyprogrammable Bluetooth remote. The available sizes are 7” ($1549), 9” ($3249), 12” ($4649) and 16” ($6299). LiveSight TDX is $1145, and Active Imaging TDX is $275.

For more information or to locate an authorized dealer, visit www. lowrance.com. - FM

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NOVEMBER 2018

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Planning a boating trip PART 1 BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

Owning a boat definitely widens your fishing horizons, but there’s more to going fishing than just going fishing.

Many years ago I often fished on mates’ boats, and they weren’t always

maintained correctly, so we were sometimes involved in what you might call ‘issues’.

Have you ever seen a tinny come off a box trailer at 100km/h on the M1? Enough said, I’m not going there.

While there was always lots of fishing and boating, sometimes things happened that made a trip memorable for the wrong reasons, and the memory of these events is why I’ve decided to write

this article. Why should any of us suffer through misfortunes when they can easily be avoided?

Whether the proposed excursion is to a local hotspot or you have to make a long drive to a distant ramp, it’s worth considering things that might throw a spanner in the works.

First, the trailer.

Why the trailer? Well, it’s generally a major part of

Let’s have a cast! Planning the trip carefully and checking out all aspects of the rig to avoid problems will give you peace of mind.

The safety chain shackle should be carefully maintained to avoid issues with jamming on the ramp.

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any the boating set-up so it needs a once-over. The first thing to do when you get home is to check all lighting and indicator functions. If something isn’t working, a spray with an electrical contact enhancer might just bring to life the offending contact or contacts. Wait a short time after the application of spray, and gently jiggle the trailer’s plug into the car’s socket. This will either bring a smile to the dial or confirm that there is a wiring problem which needs attention. Sorry about that!

It’s good to put some lubricant on the winch gears and axle and then closely examine the strap (if you don’t have a cable) to look for any nicks or small tears.

These little flaws can widen dramatically when you’re retrieving a boat and they’re under serious strain.

LAUNCH LESSONS The D shackle that links the boat and safety chain is a definite risk management site.

How often have you seen a boat backed down a ramp, a member of the launch team trying in vain to undo a seized shackle, and then frantically searching for a tool?

Meanwhile other people are waiting to launch and getting annoyed as work progresses on the offending shackle. It’s not a good way to start a trip.

The launch itself is worth thinking about as well. You should never ever simply undo the chain and let her go! If the boat races back too quickly and kisses the concrete there’s a big chance of damaging a valuable and hard to replace transducer. Trying to feed a new transducer plus cabling back through the boat to connect to a sounder can be a nightmare when other wiring and accessories are already in place.

Next comes the winch handle. Many trailers have a removable handle, and these are notorious for being left on the winch when the boat is retrieved, and they then get lost on the drive home. You should always keep a spare winch handle under the car seat.

BOAT BITS Now let’s turn our attention to the boat itself. Regular checks and maintenance are important, particularly if you’re planning a trip far afield, a long way from your

local marine/chandlery outlets.

It’s easy to fire up the engine at home to assess battery performance and ease of start-up, and while the engine is running you can have a quick look at the engine gauges to check that all’s well.

Next is the bilge pump.

You never know when a bilge pump will be required, but unfortunately it’s very hard to assess what is down in the bilge sump area that might inhibit the bilge pump with its busy little impeller.

If possible, try to get a ‘feel’ for things by having a poke around the bilge sump and pump. If it’s difficult to physically access the bilge area – as will be the case with some craft – there’s nothing wrong with running a hose into the bilge area and giving it a good top up to test the pump’s ability. Then, with the pump turned off, remove the bung to totally flush the bilge to wash out foreign material. As sure as night follows day, this stuff will accumulate over time.

Now to seating. Pedestal seats are deservedly popular these days, but it’s a good idea to up end a seat now and again to ensure that none of the

The author with a Tinaroo Dam barra. Your boat and trailer need to be in tip-top condition when you go fishing far from home.

a tote tank you can. When the petrol has degraded due to aging it will smell like rotten eggs. Don’t be tempted to merely top it up with 95 RON

bottom of the hull to be most effective, but said transducer can also be responsible for a lot of spray coming up onto the engine when travelling

Dam without a deflector over the transducer. The accompanying image shows the extent of spray deflection which I fortunately picked

The author’s Galeforce had its maiden run without a spray deflector, and you can see the displaced water it created to starboard of the E-Tec. screws or other fittings holding the seat onto the base are loose, or even missing.

You should also look for unwanted material in tote tanks.

Tote tanks in smaller boats are conveniently portable so it’s easy to check for cleanliness and possible intrusion of unwanted material. And on the topic of fuel tanks…

FILL HER UP! Fuel issues in outboard engines are legendary because our modern unleaded 91 RON petrol does not remain in good condition in hot weather. If the fuel in the boat’s tank is

months old it can degrade in as little as a month during a hot summer. With this in mind, it’s wise to think about the fuel prior to hooking the boat up.

Old, stale fuel can cause filter issues, pre ignition, and other problems. Adding a stabilizer (always into fresh fuel of course) when a boat is going to be idle for an extended period is a handy safeguard.

Likewise, it’s a good idea to leave the fuel tank almost full prior to the next use as it will prevent unwanted air intrusion into the tank. Because there’s moisture in the air, when the

temperature drops, it can cause condensation. Don’t fill it right to the top though, because in hot weather fuel will expand and then find its way out of the filler neck (which of course doesn’t have a lockable cap like a car does).

Another thing you can do if the tank has been left somewhat depleted, but certainly not for a very extended period, is to add higher octane fuel to top it up.

A last word on fuel: its smell can tell you whether it’s stale or not. It may not be possible to check the fuel smell in an underfloor tank, but with

Pedestal seats rely on screws to connect the seat to the base framework, so it’s best to ensure that they are all tight! as it will still be degraded and can cause engine damage.

It’s best to remove it and start again.

TRANSDUCER ISSUES This paragraph might be of particular interest to people who have recently bought a boat. We all understand that a transducer must be right in line with the

at speed. Even freshwater spray, if it’s up around the engine’s air intake, can shorten an engine’s useful life, so a spray deflector set onto the transom just above the transducer puts that worry to bed.

My own Galeforce 4.5 centre console had its maiden run in Somerset

up on immediately. I restricted my speed to less than planing pace that day, and fitted a deflector immediately after the craft came home.

That’s it for this issue.

Check out the December issue for more tips on how to prevent unwelcome issues from cropping up.

A $25 spray deflector will keep displaced water from a transducer from finding its way to the engine’s intake.

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or contact us on 1800 336 603 It’s a good idea to clean out the bilge sump occasionally. This lot came from the author’s boat’s bilge area, and he thought he’d kept the craft very clean!

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Sportsman 232 CC with Yamaha F250 Four Stroke

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enough comforts to keep the family happy for a day-trip.

The ability to turn the bow of the boat into a comfortable seating area – the fact that it is complete with seat backs and as an added bonus, there is a toilet concealed inside the console, ticks a lot of boxes. The lack of shade

SPECIFICATIONS Length......................................................6.93m Beam........................................................2.59m Transom deadrise ........................... 18 degrees Hull weight ............................................ 1250kg Weight on trailer (dry)...........................2500kg Maximum HP...........................................250hp Fuel ............................................................390L Water............................................................56L Capacity .......................................... 10 persons the 232 being eminently fishable. Rod holders in all the right places, ample fuel, provision for outrigger bases and a console that can handle flush mounting of big, multifunction screens.

Thirdly, the 232 has

up front is partially offset by the fact that the T-Top is fitted with freshwater ‘misting’ nozzles.

Admittedly, this is the first boat I’ve tested with these built in. It does seem rather luxurious.

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Sportsman boats have been a wonderful match to Brisbane’s Northside Marine. Northside have a reputation for selling quality rigs and looking after their customers like they are family, and they choose brands that allow them to maximise that boating experience.

Northside’s Bill Hull is a veteran salesman with over 30 years experience. You know when he is excited by a boat that it’s worth looking at in further detail. At the time of testing, they had 16 Sportsman boats on order and anglers were loving them.

WHY THE SUCCESS? Firstly, it is a good looking boat. With an upswept Carolina bow and purpose-built fittings combined with a pleasant matching of gelcoat and

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s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

seat colours, this is a boat that demands investigation, whether in the yard or on the water.

Secondly, they are purpose built. Although a young company (6 years at the time of the test), they have obviously been designed by anglers, with the layout of

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Main: Is there a saltwater angler you know that doesn’t want a boat like this? The Sportsman 232 falls squarely into the category of ‘dream boat’ for most readers. I’m one of them.

Above: The smooth lines of the Sportsman and the upswept Carolina bow will turn heads at any ramp in the country and offers a fantastic fishing platform for serious anglers.

Powered by Yamaha’s F250 4-stroke outboard, the boat delivers surprising economy – yielding 1.5km/L at 3,500 rpm. Drop the hammers and the boat goes 84km/h at 6,000rpm, but with the economy dropping sharply.

Supplied on a twin-axled aluminium framed trailer, the rig weighs in at around 2,500, loaded with half a tank of fuel and fishing gear.

This is well within the range of most dual-cab 4WDs. The elephant in the room, however, is the 2.65m beam and the fact that the rig is wider than the 2.5m maximum towing width.

Northside deal with this head-on. They supply all of the paperwork, flags and signage you need to trail an ‘overwidth’ trailer. Since the overwidth regulations were

recently modified to reflect common sense, it’s much less of an issue to own an overwidth boat nowadays in Australia.

Of course, keep it on your back pontoon or in dry storage and this isn’t a problem.

At the helm, of course, I felt like I should have my own fishing show, be called ‘Captain Morgan’ and that I should start calling Spaniards ‘King Mackerel’.

But then I remembered that I was in Australia and should set my sights to big snapper, small black marlin and some longtail tuna on the way home. This rig would do all of this with ease, and style.

At the end of the day, it’s the small things that make the Sportsman experience what it is, like the anchoring system. Concealed anchor winch and cleats and rope/ chain storage makes this the neatest I’ve seen.

Watch the test video on the Fishing Monthly YouTube channel, give Bill Hull a call (I think you wouldn’t need to twist his arm to take you on a test ride) or visit www.nsmarine. com.au for more information and package pricing.

As tested, with all of the options, this rig came out at just under $150,000. Smaller Sportsman boats come in at around half that.

PERFORMANCE • Top Speed: 84km/h @ 6,000 rpm • Most Economical: 3,500rpm @ 1.5km/L

Now that’s a serious console packing some serious glass. Matching Simrads offer superlative navigation and sounding options.

Above the console is a technical T-Top. It includes rod holders, speakers for the sound system, outrigger base attachments, storage, lighting and even water misters for those mid-summer days.

Although firmly in the ‘fishing’ rather than ‘family’ category, there are some luxuries that’ll keep passengers happy. Comfortable cushions and removable seat backs are quality made and colour matched.

There’s room for a couple of people at the helm and the port side transom door allows for easy boarding while the rig is on the trailer.

Even if you cast a large shadow, there’s plenty of room to walk around the console. Note rod storage along the gunwales in lieu of side pockets.

Americans are great at neat anchoring solutions.

Check out the concealed windlass and cleats.

Left: It’s not the prettiest toilet location we’ve ever seen, but if having one is a game-changer, then this toilet fitted inside the console will do the trick.

Right: Fitted with the maximum 250HP, the 232 had an impressive top speed (84km/h) and surprising economy. Its theoretical range is well over 500km with full tanks.

Collapsible seating means you get to choose between extra space or additional seating.

The Sportsman has an abundance of rod holders. This boat was definitely designed to be a fishing vessel with a holder equipped for you and each of your mates fishing onboard. Plus, a ladder for easy access to and from the boat.

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Whittley SL25HT with 200hp Volvo Penta inboard - SC

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Whittley, “ but this 25 is a very popular rig for both anglers and families.

“Also, it’s the deepest-vee 25 footer in its class. The low centre of gravity from the sterndrive offsets the high weight of the glass hard top, and gives this hull a great ride when the water is rough.”

Not that we could assess that on the test day at Queenscliff; it was the kind of glassed-out day where every hull rides as smooth as a hovercraft.

What we could test, though, was performance.

This rig jumps out of the hole and onto the plane, but what about the most economical speed?

As it happened, 3500rpm delivered 35km/h at 25L per hour, equating to 1.4km/L. Handy indeed for a 25 footer. Put the hammers down and you’ll reach 64km/h at 6450rpm, but your efficiency will

PERFORMANCE RPM......Speed.(km/h). Economy.(km/L) 650 ........................ 5.3 ....................... 2.1 1000 .........................8 ....................... 1.9 2000.................... 13.7 ....................... 1.3 3000....................... 24 ....................... 1.0 3500 ....................... 35 ....................... 1.4 4000....................... 41 ....................... 1.2 5000....................... 55 ....................... 1.1 5650 ....................... 64 ....................... 0.9 110

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Every time I get into a boat that’s powered by a 240hp Volvo Duoprop, it brings a smile to my face. Plenty of power from the V6 block is readily translated to the water through the six blades of the counter-rotating propellers, and the result is super mid-range torque and a fun boat to drive.

Most recently I test drove a Whittley SL25HT, so named because it’s in the Sea Legend range (SL) with a hard top (HT). While I was throwing it into turns and checking out the hole shot, I had to remind myself that it was a 25ft boat.

Whittleys are built in Melbourne, and we have tested plenty of them over the years, from their diminutive CW1650 through to the trailerable 28ft cruisers. This rig sits at the upper end of the Whittley range, but in the middle of the SL sizes.

Marine Director of Sales and Marketing Alan

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s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

wide in the morning and then in the estuary later on in this boat,” Whittley said. “That’s what it’s designed to do.”

Indeed, if you’re

“There’s a 20 and 22SL under it, and a 26 and 28SL above it,” said Whittley

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test boat with all of its options checked out at a tad under $160,000.

For more information visit www. whittleymarinegroup.com.

SPECIFICATIONS

Main: Whittley’s Hard Top 25-footer in the Sea Legend range totes a sterndrive, which is why the model is called the SL25HTSD. It has plenty of torque when you put the hammers down.

Above: The rear duckboard is a spacious casting platform. There’s plenty of potential here to cover it in squid ink. plummet, yielding 900m per litre of fuel burned.

The hard top itself is very handy, with twin layered glass with magnificent visibility to nearly every quarter. The air flow is good for more humid climates, with sliding side windows and a sliding, lockable cabin door in the bulkhead to help secure your gear while you’re docked or travelling.

The routed SeaDek inside is virtually mandatory nowadays for a boat of this class, and Whittley does it well. The rig can’t escape its cruiser heritage either, with a sink and sliding fridge cleverly inbuilt.

The transom duckboard adds family flexibility to the unit, with easy access

for kids or other swimmers on either side.

“And there are no problems fishing out

Length.overall ............................................7.7m Length.on.trailer .....................................8.45m Height.on.trailer ........................................3.3m Beam........................................................2.49m Transom.deadrise ....................................... 23° Fuel ............................................................240L Water............................................................20L Dry.tow.weight ............................................2.8t Max.hp .........................................................300 Capacity ............................................ 8 persons looking for a versatile boat that’s half fishing and half cruiser, the SL25HT is well worth adding to the list.

This model is priced from the mid-$130,000s, and the

au, or like Whittley on Facebook for their latest updates. You can also scan the QR code hereby to see this boat in action on the test day.

The SL25HT has been designed from the hull up to accommodate the hard top. Just dropping a heavy top that high can be problematic on some hulls.

The 25 carries its 23° of transom deadrise well – probably due to the low centre of gravity afforded by the sterndrive installation.

The stern duckboard is suitable for fishing, swimming or BBQing.

Advances in synthetic decking mean that now you can expect quality, durable, washable decking in a boat like this. Whittley do theirs well.

Supplied on a duel axle trailer, the SL25HT is not only impressive on the water, but great to tow as well.

Yep, that’s a TV up front near the access hatch. The SL25HT features a quite luxurious cabin that will keep the family happy.

The grab bar that runs lengthways along the hard top is a neat and practical idea.

At Fishing Monthly we love a good flushmounted sounder fit-out. The SL25’s dash holds a large display with ease. Big tick for the waterproof switch panels, too.

The all-round visibility of the windscreens is impressive.

See the slide-out drawer under the seat base? That’s a fridge.

Underfloor wet storage for swimming gear or fish is incredibly practical.

A dozen livies will survive in here… until you send them to their doom.

Combining stainless rocket launchers with deck lighting is neat.

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