JTACKLE Sportsfishing Monthly VOL. 6

14 JANUARY, 2015

MONTHLY

VOLUME 6.

H

appy New Year and welcome to the first

addition of JTSM for 2015. I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas with friends and family. The crew at Jones’s Tackle wish to extend a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015 to all our readers.

Our regular contributors Pete, Paul and Jack are all

CLICK TO WATCH

enjoying a well-earned break and fingers crossed getting stuck into a few fish.

This month’s movie honours go out to the crew at I’m very sad to report that a true legend of the

On the Fly Productions for their multi award

Australian fishing community Mr John Dunphy

winning Once in a Blue Moon. I believe this fine

lost his fight to liver cancer earlier this week. Many

example of cinematography put Australian and

of you may not be familiar with the name but John

New Zealand Sportfishing productions on the

Dunphy founded a distribution company called

world map. Exquisite camera work and a fantastic

Dunphy Sports in the early nineteen eighties. Until

insight to a world class brown trout fishery.

2008 Dunphy Sports were the sole distributors of Shimano Fishing Gear throughout Australia and New Zealand. John was a good friend and supporter of Jones’s Fishing Tackle and will be sorely missed throughout the Australian and New Zealand fishing scenes. Our thoughts go out to the Dunphy family and their friends. We would like to stray from our usual JTSM layout and include over the page a piece from Shimano Australia. cont’d

It is with great sadness we advise the passing today of

Dunphy Sports/Fishing Imports. John remained with

John Dunphy.

the company in an advisory capacity until 2011.

John had been fighting a long battle with liver cancer

After a lifetime of giving & supporting the fishing

throughout 2014. John passed away in Osaka, Japan

industry, Shimano was always in his heart & mind to

where he had been undergoing treatment for the past

the end and the Shimano family and company have

month, accompanied by his family.

been supporting John and the Dunphy family in

John founded Dunphy Sports/Fishing Imports in

Osaka.

1981 and a short time later secured the distribution rights for Shimano in Australia & New Zealand.

John has left a legacy of enriching the recreational

Over 30 years John & his team including several

fishing and general community for all Australians &

family members built Shimano from a relatively

not only for our generation but future generations. It

obscure name to be market leader in fishing in

is a legacy John and his family can be very proud of &

Australia & the Oceania region.

one which we are sure you will be able to reflect upon.

John was highly respected not only within the fishing

To John’s family including several employed within

industry at large for his extensive knowledge &

Team Shimano we extend our sincere condolences at

foresight but also within the global Shimano

this very sad time. We are not aware of arrangements

community

for a service for John at this time however we will

&

in

an

advisory

capacity

with

government fisheries departments. He was a strong

update further in due course.

advocate for ensuring the Australian passion of fishing is sustainable for future generations & was heavily involved in such measures as fish restocking programs.

Yours Sincerely,

In that regard he was often mentioned as a visionary

Colin Tannahill & Lindsay Secombe

& creator.

In 2008 Shimano Japan acquired 100% ownership of

CLICK TO WATCH

Good mate and JTSM reader Jamie bacon with a stunningly marked brown trout whilst on holidays in Tassie.

An absolute trophy fish, fantastic capture mate!

INSHORE FISHING REPORT Much needed rain throughout the southeast over the past few weeks has not only done wonders for our lawns but also our inshore fishery. The precipitation has aided in not only encouraging the bait towards the surface, it has forced the jelly fish and slimy (snot) weed out of the estuaries.

throughout the Bribie Passage and on the expanse of skinny water at the mouth of both the Pine River and Hayes Inlet systems. Regular captures well over 40 centimetres make for a good fighting and great eating quarry. Any surface popper or walk the dog lure between 40-60mm in length and preferably in a translucent colour should produce results. The new Storm Gomoku Popper and Lucky Craft Sammy 55 (pictured overeaf ) are perfect for your next assault on flats whiting.

Exceptional whiting have been targeted on the flats

cont’d

Excellent reports of flathead have come through

have been told amongst tackle shop walls this

over the Christmas break with larger specimens

season; I believe a whopping 71cm is the mark to

being caught in the deeper channels. Both the

beat this year.

Southport Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar have been popular locations to chase oversized female lizards on larger profiled sinking vibes. Popular lures are the River 2 Sea Fish Candy or FLT Transams. Focus your interests on the last hour of the making tide and the second and third hours of the run out tide.

This is also one of the preferred techniques for chasing both threadfin salmon and jewfish. Whilst the threadfin have been quiet over the holiday break there have been good consistent captures of jewfish throughout southern Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River mouth. Along with soft vibes, jewfish are a sucker for a well presented Micro Jig, definitely a must have in your tackle box.

Mangrove jack should be in full flight throughout our local rivers this month. It’s not uncommon for these brutes to go a little quiet in late December however the full moon in January typically sees them fire up again. Some entertaining encounters

A quality 49cm Noosa River mangrove jack subdued on very light tackle at the hands of Jones’s Tackle regular Nathan Weil

MORETON BAY FISHING REPORT January is traditionally an excellent calendar month to be fishing in the greater Moreton Bay area. Surface water temperatures have increased, coupled with our recent rainfall has baitfish a plenty throughout the bay. History shows the first month of the year to mark the arrival of our spotted and spanish mackerel season. While surface feeding schools have been inconsistent over the past fortnight, promising reports from both Wide

Lyn Baxter with a better than average kingy caught on an Ima Gun jig from the northern bay.

Bay and Sunshine Coast have these toothy critters making their way towards us. Moreton Bay is

The northern bay is still offering opportunities to

currently experiencing a nice run of bonito and

tangle with both cobia and yellowtail kingfish.

juvenile mack tuna providing light tackle anglers a

Popular locations are around the shipping channel

good taste for what’s to come.

beacons and the exposed coffee rock on the channel edges. Whilst live bait fisherman do have a slight

Southern Moreton Bay islands have reasonable

advantage, both of these species have been

numbers of squire throughout the coral fringing

responding well to light jigs and larger shad style

reefs, with the odd 60cm snapper for the persistent

soft plastics. This season, local sportfisho’s have

soft plastic enthusiast. Both grassy and spangled

won encounters with cobia reaching well north of

emperors are now frequenting the southern bay

the 20kg mark. Mack tuna have been progressing

reefs and weed beds in approximately 4-8meters of

down the coastline and are due to arrive with the

water. Emperor species have a distinct liking for

spotted mackerel any day now. Whilst many turn

curl tail soft plastics around the 4” mark along with

their nose up at mack tuna, I can certainly recall

Atomic Prongs and other prawn imitations. The

many afternoon summertime sessions when they

curl tail and creature style baits offer a great

have saved the day. Mack tuna are a great sportfish

swimming action when sinking and this is the time

and a sensational target for youngsters to develop

to pay close attention to your line between the rod

correct rod skills.

tip and water’s surface. A sudden acceleration whilst your plastic is sinking signifies a fish eating on the drop. Snapper, grassy and spangled emperors in the larger size range love eating plastics on the first drop after making a cast. Long casts away from the boat (especially when on top of the reef flats) and lightly weighted jig heads on strong hooks provide for great light tackle encounters.

Local lads Johno and Glen got in on the action over the Christmas break. A fine example of a SEQ light tackle black marlin.

OFFSHORE SEQ FISHING REPORT

Juvenile blacks are progressing nicely down the coastline and reports from both Mooloolaba and Wide Caloundra last week were almost as good as it gets. Two boats in these locations recorded over 50

Mahi mahi (so nice they named him twice!).

billfish tagged and released in a single days fishing,

Offshore SEQ has had quite possibly the best run

sensational! Wahoo are also starting to frequent the

of quality mahi mahi I can remember over the past

inshore grounds with reports, from our charter

decade. These guys do it all, jump, pull hard, attack

friends, of good schooling sized fish. January is a

lures with vigour and when cooked correctly taste

prime time for all three of these species. With the

sensational. All the usual light tackle locations

abundance of bait offshore at the moment they

north of Cape Moreton, the 18 and 24 fathom lines

should hang around, fingers crossed. Whilst deep

on the Gold Coast and the grounds east of South

baiting techniques in specific locations can often

Passage Bar have produced over the past few weeks.

provide the biggest captures of billfish, skirted

Mooloolaba and the Gold Coast currently have the

lures are accounting for plenty themselves.

measure with both locations offering up sensational blue water trolling. cont’d

Pete Cherrett (Waspy) with a stunning Hervey Bay baby black marlin.

Great in water shot!!

Glen and Dale with Billfish number two for the session, both fish were taken on well presented baits.

Great job fellas, keep them coming in 2015.

Anglers are favouring the smaller models of skirts

Tempest have extensions of weed beds that run to

this year, with both Black Bart and Fat Boys being

the north. The better quality spangled and grassy

the most popular on our store walls. If you’re new

emperor, historically, come from these weed

to billfish trolling and don’t know where to start,

covered areas. All the shallow reef systems, out to

please drop in and say G’day as we are only too

the 60m line, can provide some of SEQ’s best light

happy to try and connect you to your first marlin.

or slow jigging throughout January and February.

The flick of a switch can see these speedsters

In these months the quality amberjack and kingfish

disappear for another year. So when conditions and

often move into the shallows enabling anglers to

time permit, dust off the trolling gear and head out

have an amazing variety of species without having

for an oceanic meander (troll).

to venture too far.

Whilst our bottom fish have taken a back seat to the frantic pelagic bite we are experiencing, the shallower grounds are fishing consistently, as predicted. Snapper, tuskfish, grassy emperor and spangled emperor are all responding well to a light jig or a well drifted soft plastic. The stand out locations this month have been around the Sevens reef off South Passage Bar, the Southern 29’s reef and Shallow Tempest. Focus efforts not only on the hard reef structure because locations like Shallow

LURE OF THE MONTH Ima Lures fabulous Gun range of jigs have been at the top our favourite micro jig list for over half a decade now, so they’re not exactly new, but they have just released some great limited edition colours to spice up any jig roll. Available now in 12 – 20 – 30 and 40 gram sizes.

TIL NEXT TIME Well readers we have reached one of those very rare moments in time where I have no more stories to tell. We encourage you to please send through some of your favourite captures from 2014; and sincerely appreciate the feedback you have given throughout the year. For any issues you would like to see covered or any questions you may

have,

be

sure

to

drop

us

a

line

at

jtsm@jonestackle.com.au or pop into the store and say G’day.

From all the crew and fellow writers here at Jones’s Tackle we hope 2015 is a fishy kind of year. Until next month get out and enjoy the outdoors and be safe on the water.

Hooroo.

Editor of JTSM

Speechless…Timing is everything.

SATURDAY 17TH JANUARY (9:00AM - 4PM) & SUNDAY 18TH JANUARY

JONES’S

TACKLE P: (07) 3350 2054 F: (07) 3350 2091

692 GYMPIE RD, CHERMSIDE 4032 www.jonestackle.com.au

jtackle@bigpond.com