Hard to say who is the happiest fisho in this pic. The Welch family having a ball, with Scott overseeing Finn and Ivy while mum Bonnie out-fished all.
Better Weather Beyond the Dark of the Moon
Much of the past week could be described as bitterly cold, and there was little escape under sunny skies, with the wind up just enough to keep the flanno on. Such a cold snap does wonders for many winter-loving species of fish though, so there is better times and good fishing to look forward to over the week ahead.
This morning’s 15 knot southerly will tend more south-easterly this afternoon, before swinging back to the south and strengthening slightly overnight. Saturday will dawn quite breezy. You will need to seek shelter or contend with 20 knots from the south early. There won’t be any reprieve Saturday afternoon as the wind returns to the south-east. Sunday will be much better, and certainly the pick of the weekend. 10-15 knots from the south early, then south-east later and easing. There will be plenty of boats hitting the water, even if they aren’t traveling too far.
Those lucky enough to avoid the workday grind will rejoice during the week as the wind drops right out (supposedly) and our bay waters are once again inviting. Light showers are possible mid-week, whilst we can expect barely 10 knots of onshore breeze, either side of easterly to see out what will be a very special week for some lucky fishos.
There is plenty to get excited about moon-wise too. Sunday’s new moon brings with it a fair degree of water movement, but not too much. Perfect for a day or two on the flats, or chasing some inshore reefies or pelagics. Those keen on mixing it with the bread’n’butter species will be in their element too, so expect good things from your next inshore adventures.
George struggling to hide the disappointment after pulling up this thumper chinaman. Hell of a battle for a dud result, but a fine-looking fish all the same.
Bread’n’Butter Species Keeping Urangan Pier Fishos Entertained
The pier is hardly breaking any records in the fishing department at present, but there is enough action from loitering estuarine species or passing pelagics to keep the die-hards entertained. It has been mostly small school mackerel and tailor taking swipes at spoons or gang-rigged live baits. Many have been undersized too, so care should be taken to release the little ones unharmed.
Enough whiting have made an appearance to warrant some effort after dark. It may not be only sand (summer) whiting on offer either, as you will learn more about if you read on. Bream numbers aren’t anything to write home about, but the new moon will boost the appetite and spike the interest of any lurking between the pylons. There is still quality bream on offer if you put in enough effort, particularly after dark.
Pier baitfish can be fickle at this time of year. No specifics on herring movements this week, so be prepared to catch pike as a (somewhat better) alternative when necessary. There is no better livie for a flathead at the pier, and there has been enough sizeable flatties cruising the fringes of the sandbank and the first channel to have the locals peering over the side regularly. Spot a flatty, then send a live bait its way. Pretty simple really (so long as you can catch the live bait).
There have been a few pencil squid out the deep end this week apparently. Don’t expect any serious numbers, but ensure you have some smaller jigs if planning a night-time assault all the same. Indeed, those tiny jigs should be sharing space in your tackle box with some 2.5 or 3.0 sized models too – just in case you are the one lucky enough to spot any tiger squid lurking beneath the pier before anyone else.
Beach fishos could put in a little time after dark chasing a feed of sand whiting. The bigger rising tides of the new moon period are just the ticket to trigger any early-arriving whiting to feed. The sand whiting season for local beaches kicks off this month some time. More likely with the full moon in a fortnight to be honest, but you never know (unless you go).
Winter (diver) whiting have been mooching right up onto the town beach flats with the rising tide after dark this week. Catching a good feed has been possible from stretches of beach west of the pier, centred around the Shelley Beach area. Reports of such catches are what suggest there could be a feed of winteries on offer from the pier itself over this new moon.
Our local creeks have been giving up a good feed of quality sand whiting over the past fortnight. Beelbi Creek at Toogoom has been the star performer, again, whilst the other creeks are worth a look too. The lower Burrum has produced a good feed of not only whiting, but bream and a few flathead too. Walking the shores can produce a few, though boaties have the edge up that way.
Speaking of boaties, those out and about chasing winter whiting have had a pretty good week – wind aside. Sheltering from the south-wester close to the town beaches has resulted in bag limits of reasonable winteries without too much fuss. The clusters of boats are a dead giveaway, so if in doubt, just go for a wander down to the esplanade and take a gander.
Otherwise, the waters off the south-western corner of Woody Island have been quite productive, as have the nearby flats and channels. There has been whiting off the Picnics and some in the dog-leg. Word from the straits is of tougher fishing (from those that we have heard from anyway). This will be a great week for winter whiting fans. Once that wind settles, it will be bag limits galore and everyone will be gorging on fresh fillets for every other meal so they can get out there and do it all again.
Jackson Johnson headed wide and picked up this fine red during a recent break in the weather.
Fantastic Flats Fishing for Freshly-Thawed Fishos
Its is that time of year again. That time when the local flats fishos dust off their favourite finesse tackle and spend some time up in skinny water chasing bream, whiting and flathead. These same fishos, if they are smart, will have the gear on board to mix it with the likes of trevally, salmon, grunter, squid, and any other fish that frequents our vast network of flats.
Fraser’s western flats will be very popular this week. Be warned – the new marine park rules apply a 6-knot go-slow zone speed limit on the waters south from Moon Point. This will annoy the locals no end as they have to crawl in so far at such a slow speed. It was a slow grind just off the plane at 9 knots, so be patient and allow extra time to get there and back. There will be folks caught by the tide due to the extra time taken to travel some very skinny water, so consider the tide and warn your fellow boaties if you see someone at risk.
If you haven’t already downloaded the Great Sandy Marine Park app, then do so before you hit the water. It is integral to knowing where you are, as no decent hard-copy mapping is available. The app is very user-friendly and free.
The recent cold snap creates the perfect conditions for the abovementioned flats dwellers to forage these grounds as they feed feverishly throughout their spawning processes. If it is whiting that you seek, then you know the drill. Pump some yabbies at low tide and find yourself a suitable flat or small creek to fish on the rising tide that evening. Do it the modern way and chase them on tiny topwater lures etc if you prefer, and it won’t be just whiting that you hook.
Bream will be active on the flats over these tides, and having just spawned or spawning, will be super aggressive. They will soon pounce on your tiny topwater lure, if you slow the retrieve from your whiting pursuits, and add plenty of pauses. Lightly-weighted plastics and micro diving lures will also account for many flats bream. All great fun on the lightest of tackle and very entertaining when the fish are coming at a rate of a fish a cast.
Timing will be everything of course (as it always is), so be flexible and consider how a fish that forages the flats looking for food will travel. Low light and slightly-coloured waters reduce the fish’s spooky tendencies, as does a degree of water depth. Look for access channels that are their highways, even if it is a mere dip in an otherwise flat paddock. Flats sessions can be limited to those vast expanses of gritty, sandy or muddy margins, but such sessions might also see a fisho wandering in and out of the tiniest of creeks and inlets with the tide.
Deano has been having a fat time fishing the flats lately and mixes it up with bream amongst bigger quarry.
All that water that floods the flats has to recede with the ebb tide, and this is when the ambush specialists like the flathead really hit their straps. That bottom half of the run-out should see you positioned to engage flatties intercepting baitfish forced from the flats. Small drains, creek mouths, the frontage of shallow inlets and similar landforms all offer ambush opportunities for hungry flathead. They will feed with vigour throughout the ebb and possibly with even more aggression during the early flood.
Armed with a good selection of small paddle-tailed soft plastics, some curl-tailed versions if you prefer, or even jerkshads; you will be ready to flick your offering across likely terrain and hookups won’t be long coming. Just enough jig head weight to kick up a puff of sand of mud on touchdown is the go, adding that extra appeal to an ever-watchful flattie. Sight-fishing opportunities will abound, so ensure you travel in stealth-mode and cast well ahead before you spook fish in the shallows.
Some prefer the hard-bodied lure option for their flathead fishing. Many lures are real flattie-slayers too, that have fans right around the country. A mix of profiles is a good idea (in all aspects of lure fishing) and these might include tiny offerings, longer ultra-shallow divers, bent minnows and shallow-diving shads. All can be cast and retrieved, and all can be trolled too. Consider the damage you might do to larger breeding females destined for release with trebled lures at times, and consider reverting to softies to target the larger fish when you can.
Jacko spent a romantic day on the flats with his latest, and even managed to catch a couple of flatties.
Serious Fish Favour the Flats Too
As much fun as the bread’n’butter flats dwellers can be, there is ample opportunity for a fisho to tangle with much larger and more exciting quarry in very skinny water at this time. It might just be a session chasing queenies, trevally and other pelagics around the bay islands – all the while noting the increased number of fish available since the recent reduction in netting effort.
Heading further south into the Great Sandy Straits proper will see you entering the domain of the blue salmon, the grunter and possibly even bigger queenfish. Barra and large threadfin salmon might also cross your path as you wander this vast network of flats and channels. Chances are the blue salmon will dominate some waters, sharing those at times with schools of grunter. Some will be lucky enough to witness the motherlode of both species on certain flats mid-rising tide as they amass in numbers to move up and feed when the clear waters tend a smidge ‘coloured’.
Of course, there will be plenty of flathead, whiting and bream down the straits for anyone keen to seek them out. The creeks and adjacent flats will be the source of most of the flathead fun, whilst the whiting will rise and feed in the skinniest of margins after dark. Don’t head down the straits without any squid jigs on board, or you know what you will discover. Concerted efforts by a massive population of fishos these days means squid catches are more precious than ever, so don’t miss your opportunity should it appear.
Trying to catch threadfin salmon in gin clear water can be very frustrating. They can see you as well as you can see them and they are masters of torment. Monitor their movements and look for opportunities to approach them again in less clear water and it can be a different ball game. Hook a giant threadie in any water and it will pull some string with crazy direction changes that cover the whole water column. Hook one in mere feet of water and there will be plumes of mud and spray flying everywhere and more than a little circuit-work around the boat that you will remember for some time.
Just as the winter-loving species mentioned above are prime for catching right now, so too, those species more active in warmer times will enjoy a reprieve from the ridiculous chill of last week. There were some good barra caught before the chill set in, then the same schools of fish developed a temporary case of lockjaw. They have to feed, and the biggest ones in particular have a mighty belly to fill, so chances are there will be a few barra biting (albeit briefly) this week. Choose prawn imitations or suspending hardbodies and don’t be in any rush to retrieve your lure when it is in the zone.
Max hiding behind a mini-GT caught working the flats. Just one species you might encounter in skinny water this time of year.
River Fisheries in Full-Blown Winter Mode
As mentioned, there are schools of whiting and bream, and a few sneaky flathead on offer in the lower Burrum River. Tailor are also making raids on baitfish schools in the area and there are a few blue salmon further upstream again. Locals will know how to procure a feed of quality grunter from the mid-reaches and no doubt a few of them will be doing so well after sundown.
No word as yet as to the potential return of queenfish and river GTs to the Burrum system. Both species were absolutely abundant in the mid-reaches from August into spring in past years, though their numbers declined to next to nothing in recent years. Should these same species migrate upstream from now on, they will do so without having to run the gauntlet of the gillnets. The return of the fun sports fishery that trevally and queenies in their smaller size classes offer will be a joy for the family fisho keen to entertain the kids. We will let you know if this fishery shows any sign of recovery this month or next.
Should that recovery eventuate, then with the trevs and queenies will be giant herring, tailor and plenty of big tarpon. Blue salmon add a bit of variety, whilst a few average-sized threadies also wander the upper reaches. The Burrum’s winter barra fishery isn’t any easier to master than others, but be there when they decide to bite and ‘happy days’. Jewies will be a lot more accommodating, but there is generally vastly less of them. You will need to concentrate your efforts in deeper water, ideally during periods of low light or darkness and a slack phase of the tide.
The Mary system offers substantially greater numbers in the salmon stakes. Blues are abundant and threadies are gathering in better numbers with each passing week. There are some truly large threadies on offer, and they will fall to the same tactics that regular readers will be fully-versed in. These big tides will see most effort concentrated in the lower reaches, where a lure meant for a salmon might be intercepted by a jewie, a flathead or a cod.
Rick enjoyed the battle with this big 135cm wintertime threadie. Just one of many fish of that calibre cruising our estuaries at present.
Effort Needed to Avoid Snapper During Closure
Many tried to catch snapper prior to the current closure and failed, and now some of the same folks are struggling to avoid them. That is not to say that they are there in huge numbers, just more active as they gather to spawn. Keep doing your bit and spending time seeking alternative reef fish for a feed and hopefully this year’s spawn is a success. It is certainly cold enough!
Grunter are keeping families fed of late, taking a mix of baits and lures fished on the bottom around the fringes of reefs, both inshore and up the bay. There are still a few grassy sweetlip to be caught from deeper inshore waters. What they lack in number, they make up for in size at this time. Blackall are active enough, fighting all the way to the surface only to disappoint the fisho peering over the side expecting better fish.
Catching cod and coral trout inshore is a matter of patience and attention to detail this time of year. Cold water makes them lethargic and less aggressive, so live baiters will do better than those favouring lures. Both methods will tempt better numbers in deeper waters of the northern bay – if you can find any without sharks hot on their heels (tails).
Matt Bonner with the class of grassy you can catch inshore this time of year. Not as many as warmer months, but bigger on average.
School mackerel have been less abundant than what might be expected at this time, yet that is surely a very temporary scenario (due to the weather in part). They will be expected to show down River Heads way very soon, and are bound to be harassing herring or yakka schools somewhere in the lower bay. No doubt we will have word of their whereabouts in future reports.
In the meantime, the northern bay Gutters continue to produce spanish mackerel and cobia. Some large, some not so. The weather window was only open briefly for trips up that way last week. There are bound to be crews headed there this week. There will be plenty of trevally to greet them, and hopefully they can scrounge up a decent feed of reef fish without feeding too many to the sharks. Trout, nannygai, grassy sweetlip and tuskies will feature in the best catches from those once-hallowed grounds.
A few crews headed much wider last Friday-Saturday and their efforts were in some cases; rewarded modestly, and in other cases; rather fruitless. The sharks were a real problem in some offshore areas, meaning skippers had to ‘rock-hop’ from spot to spot, taking a mere fish or two before having to move on. Quality red emperor were landed via these tactics, but the fishing was tougher than anticipated. Some just struggled, bigtime, and either couldn’t avoid the noahs, or encountered a poor bite.
Fish that did bite well offshore were tuskies and hussar. The good old venus tuskfish can be a trip saviour in the toughest of times, taking baits drifted over the sandy margins between reef outcrops. As annoying as hussar can be, they are delectable on the plate and offer a great alternative to the prestige reefies when things don’t go to plan. Hussar can get a bit of girth about them too, so trip over the better class of fish and its all smiles at the dinner table.
It sounds as though few if any bothered with any deep dropping effort last week. The snapper and pearly closure is a reasonable reason for many to avoid the deep water fishery at this time. It is a long way to go to fish over the shelf if you cannot be sure what is lurking below. Catch and release is just not an acceptable part of that fishery.
Mac tuna are in sufficient numbers off Wathumba Creek in Platypus Bay to warrant some effort from died-in-the-wool tuna fans. Longtails are scarce, but not totally non-existent. They just take some finding when they are feeding on yakkas sub-surface and their overall numbers are at a minimum. Trevally schools make for light entertainment for the family fisho in lieu of tuna, and you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding schools harassing the baitfish hovering above Platypus Bay reef systems.
Only 13 more sleeps until the snapper and pearl perch season re-opens. Oh, how time can go so slowly!
One of the better fish Rory got past the sharks out wide last week. Keeping mobile was key to putting together a good feed on that trip.
Annual Fraser Island Fishing Closure Commences
As of the 1st August each year, the waters surrounding Fraser Island’s headlands are closed to all forms of fishing, until the 30th September. This means all waters from 400m south of Indian Head to 400m north of Waddy Point, and 400m to seawards, are out of bounds. This closure has been in place for many years now, and is designed to protect the tailor schools from overfishing as they amass around the headlands to spawn. Fisheries are always very active and patrol the area at this time so ensure you aren’t tempted or you will be in strife.
It just so happens there were good schools of decent-sized tailor taking baits and lures near Waddy Point earlier this week. Turns out it wasn’t just the savvy fishos seeking shelter from the big swell cranked up by that low down in the Tasman. The exposed surf beach copped a pounding over recent days, making for tough fishing conditions for anytime other than low tide for nomadic surf fishos. All the same, there have been tailor schools lingering in the Poyungan Rocks area apparently, and there are bound to be plenty found elsewhere this week.
Large dart remain a feature of the surf fishery from select gutters, whilst those at Eurong aren’t needing to travel far to catch a more modest sample of dart. They have been catching a few bream down that way too, and apparently the run of quality whiting closer to the island’s southern extremities is still a thing. This new moon should mean good things for surf fishos, combining with abating seas and well-formed gutters and shifting sands. Ample feeding opportunities for fish foraging in the surf zone, and hopefully great fishing for those lucky enough to be there right now.
Good luck out there y’all …… Jase
Jeff Hirning with another example of the quality of grunter you catch in the bay at present.
Brown maori cod are always welcomed on board on offshore trips. What they lack in fight, they make up for in eating quality.
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