2 minute read
Fishing News
RoLy Newton
THE forecasters got it right, the winds dropped off, and the weather fined up to give us our second long weekend in a row of excellent boating conditions.
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Several boats travelled out wide to fish the rubble patches along the edge of the continental shelf. The crews I talked to were disappointed with their catches, especially as they had done exceptionally well in the same areas during recent trips. They managed some nice Rosy Jobfish and Flame snapper; however, catches of Nannygai and Red Emperor could have been better or were nonexistent. What is worse, the sharks were in plague numbers. They continually took the fish and their terminal gear forcing several boats to move back closer to shore to fish the shallow reefs.
Those that fished the main reefs found the fishing a lot better with reasonable numbers of Coral Trout and mixed reef fish; as an added bonus, virtually everyone that took the time to put out a floating bait managed to catch a Spanish Mackerel.
Closer around the rubble patches and wrecks between the shipping channel and main reefs, I have heard some very positive reports of good numbers of both Small and Large Mouth Nannygai and the occasional Coral Trout, Spangled Emperor and Cobia. These rubble patches also start to fish well for School and Spanish Mackerel. Many of the Spanish are small fish around the 60cm. size, which should be a good indicator of a successful breeding season. Hopefully, last year's closed season will lead to a speedy recovery in Spanish Mackerel numbers.
The islands and headlands suffered from the effects of all the recent rain and strong winds with poor water clarity, especially in close. Reports have been reasonable with some very lovely Fingermark and the occasional good catch of Grunter reported. Some nice Grass Sweet Lip, Coral Trout, and Gold Spot Cod have also been caught.
The Queenfish and Trevally have also moved in close, around the islands and some of the coastal creeks.
Many of the coastal creeks have started to clear, and these are the ones that provided the best fishing during last weekend. Some nice Barra and Jacks were
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info@wettropictimes.com.au PO Box 1100, TULLY, 4854 70 Butler Street, TULLY caught, and of course, the bread and butter species such as Whiting and Bream. The mud crabs have been relatively plentiful, and there has also been plenty of prawns in the creeks.
The Hinchinbrook Channel provided great fishing with great Barra and Mangrove Jacks caught. The crew from the shop put in a long day and managed to catch some smaller Barra and some very nice Jacks in the 40 to 45 cm. mark on the new Cast soft plastic paddle tails.
The freshwater reaches of the coastal creeks, particularly the Tully and Murray rivers, provided great fishing with some quality Barra to over the metre caught.
I haven't heard any reports from the upper freshwater reaches; I guess with the calm seas and fantastic fishing downstream, it wasn't as inviting as usual. Looking forward a few days to this coming weekend, the forecast is for 15 to 20 knots of south easterly winds. This will confine fishing to the estuaries or the Hinchinbrook Channel.
The early morning tide run will suit those wishing to target Barra and Mangrove Jacks in the estuaries. Either side of the afternoon low tide would be another option. This same low also offers opportunities to those that wish to pump a few yabbies or cast net some prawns and then fish the incoming tide for Whiting, Flathead, Grunter or Bream. Remember the crab pots. Good Fishing, Roly Newton, Tackle World Tully
