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Rhos Gibson. Sunshine Coast.
The season for merriment and celebration has come to an end. Schools are back in full swing and I hear a sigh of relief from local anglers as the water ways and boat ramps return to a bit of normality. The beaches are quieter and that means it's generally a pretty good time to do some serious fishing.
The Fraser Island and Double Island Point beach fishing brigade look forward to February because they can make their annual pilgrimage to the area and be fairly confident they won't be rubbing shoulders with 500 other anglers. Even if there are a number of other beach fishos with the same brilliant idea, the crowds are not what they are over Christmas, or Easter for that matter.
LOTS ON OFFER
The fishing locations are as endless as the stretches of beach. The gutters are too numerous to worry about over-crowding and the environment gives a boost to even the most over-worked city executive. The huge seas that pounded the coast during December and into January have created a shift of sand, and new gutters to target.
The summer species of whiting, dart, flathead and the occasional bream offer an absolute buffet of fishing enjoyment. There is no doubt that tailor play a very important role in the recreational fishery during the winter months; however, you can't discount the importance of the humble dart and whiting during summer. The open beaches along the Sunshine Coast have been very productive during the past few weeks, not just for dart, bream and whiting, but also for jew.
TACKLE SCENE
The tell-tale shine of a new rod or reel indicates that quite a few anglers received fishing tackle for Christmas. If you are unfortunate enough not to be fishing yourself, but are walking with your husband or wife along the beach instead, it's surprising to see how many different outfits anglers use these days. It wasn't that long ago that a side-cast reel on a 13ft fibreglass broom stick was about the only thing you saw on south-east Queensland beaches. Anybody who fished with anything else had to be a tourist from down south.
Nowadays, however, the beach scene has changed dramatically. New technology in the manufacture of both spinning and side-cast reels has meant more user-friendly equipment and more angler enjoyment. The Alvey is now lighter and better to fish with and still the preferred option as a beach reel; however, there has been a big shift into spinning reels as an alternative type of reel.
The greater flexibility of retrieve speeds makes spinning and overhead reels a better proposition if you intend fishing with lures. With the growth in lure-fishing, many anglers have switched to threadline-type reels because of their higher retrieve rate. This means you can crank the lure through the water at high speed and not work yourself into a lather of sweat. Alvey reels are a one-to-one retrieve and are not suited to this style of fishing. However, the company has produced a geared reel to cater for those anglers who specifically want a side-cast-style reel.
Metal high speed lures such as slices, pilchards and Raiders require plenty of speed through the water to achieve their desired action. A high speed spinning reel makes light work of what would be a rather physical way of fishing.
When you mention spinning reel and high speed in the same sentence, there is one reel that comes to mind immediately. The Shimano TSS4 has been used by just about every lure-fishing angler who requires speed in their lure retrieve. It has been on the market for quite a while in its current form, and this always speaks highly of the design of a reel when it stands the test of time like this.
A new kid on the block in high speed reels is Mitchell. A well-respected name in the past, Mitchell has produced its Turbocast series to capture some of the high speed spinning market.
JEWFISH
I mentioned earlier that jew were being caught along Sunshine Coast beaches. They are moving in close along the coastline to grab a quick feed of baitfish. The reports of mulloway captures come from a wide expanse of coastline, with a number of good-sized specimens being landed along Mudjimba and Kawana Beaches. Slabs of fresh mullet rigged on a set of 6/0 hooks made up one successful rig, while another angler used live mullet with a short-shanked 8/0 live bait hook secured to the enticer.
One thing is certain about fishing for mulloway - it's a waiting game. I know a few anglers who won't go jew fishing again because of the long periods of inactivity. However to a seasoned jew man, this is all part and parcel of hunting this fish.
THE MAROOCHY
The Maroochy River and beach have been in the news quite a bit lately. The combination of big tides and big seas has carved up the beach and river bank near Pin Cushion. In actual fact, Pin Cushion is now back to being an island, and residents of the Pin Cushion caravan park are worried that their back yard is about to be claimed by the river.
The coffee rock along Maroochydore beach has been exposed by the big seas at the end of December - something I can't recall seeing before. These changes, brought about by the forces of nature, have meant that anglers must now constantly look for new fishing spots. The river bed is changing and beach gutters are shifting, so what used to be a good spot is now no longer productive.
The new holes dug out around the river mouth have created good haunts for mulloway, especially in the week leading up to the full moon, when the tides are on the rise. In February, full moon falls on the 20th, so keep this in mind.
THE REEFS
I'd like to be able to tell you about the great catches of reef fish taken during January; however, the offshore scene has been a bit hit and miss during recent weeks - not because of the lack of fish, but due to the incredibly erratic weather. Sea conditions have been less than desirable, and even though it has been holiday time, both the Coastguard and Kawana boat ramps have been very quite for offshore boaties.
Of the handful of days that fishing was reported, there were catches of sweetlip, parrot and Maori cod taken from Brays Reef off Caloundra and Murphys Reef out from Mooloolaba. Sunshine Reef to the north has figured in the conversation and, of course, if these other areas are producing fish you can bet the Barwon Banks is, too.
The Banks is also providing anglers with some sport-fishing action, with dolphin fish and mackerel putting a bend in many a rod and stressing many a back in some recent charters to the area. The game species, as you would expect at this time of year, include sailfish and black marlin.
As mentioned earlier, sea conditions have not been favourable for smaller boats, but the larger game boats have managed to put in some hours out on the briny. The number of tag flags flying from the outrigger poles is always a fair indication of the state of the fishery. Lately, there have been plenty of red and white flags flying.
In short, the beach fishing is quite healthy, the rivers should start producing once the fresh clears and offshore is beckoning, if only we can get out.
If you are reading this month's edition of QFM, then you have survived the change of the century and the millennium bug. There is nothing more to worry about, so grab a rod and go fishing. Good luck and safe boating.