Fishing Monthly - Latest Fishing Reports - Updated Weekly
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COMPILED WEEKLY BY GARRY SMITH IN CAIRNS:
e-mail: lavallesmith@iig.com.au
Gold Coast

John Polson & Paul Revie
The Fisherman Pty Ltd
Sporty's Warehouse
32 Strathaird Rd. Surfers Paradise
Gold Coast. QLD 4217
Australia
Phone: +61 7 5531 6511
Mobile: +61 418 751220
www.thefisherman.com.au

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Moreton Bay
It seems that wherever you drop appropriate baits, you will encounter a few whiting. There have been reports coming in from the estuaries as well as in the bay. The Pumicestome Passage has been one area that has been consistent with the Bribie Bridge to Avon Wreck area producing good results. The banks out the front of Elimbah Creek, the W’s, Donnybrook and several others have all fished well for whiting as well as a few quality bream and flathead.

The Pine River has been getting netted fairly hard in the lower sections between Dohles Rocks and the Hornibrook Bridge and as such the fishing has been quiet. Even Hayes Inlet has been affected and a bit of artificial structure in the area may slow the netters down a bit as they presently sweep the whole area and take almost everything. The fish haven’t got a chance.

The ocean beaches at Moreton have been fishing well for dart and tailor with a few 3kg plus greenbacks being caught. The occasional trevally has been hooked from the beach as well and anglers have had their work cut out as they have averaged around 5kg.

The luderick have been slow over the last few seasons and this one is no exception. A few reports have filtered in from Short and Tiger Mullet Channel at Jumpinpin, as well as the sunken wall in the Brisbane River and the various canal developments. While there has been a few caught everywhere, the numbers just aren’t being caught in any one spot.

There are plenty of bream around the Pin area as well, but they are lacking in size a little. The Kalinga Bank, Squire Island and Tiger Mullet Channel areas have produced a few large fish over 1.5kg but they are not that common amongst hordes of small ones.

There are plenty of school flathead around the tops of the banks at high tide and in the gutters towards the last of the run out. Gold Bank has been one of the more consistent spots for anglers trolling lures, and the mouth of Never Fail Creek has produced a few better flatties on soft plastics.

A few school mackerel are in the top end of the Rous at times. It is a case of here one day and gone the next,but if they are there then a drifted pillie will produce the goods. They are not big and average a little under 2kg.

A few large longtails have been taken on live baits around the Western Rocks area. The cobia shouldn’t be too far behind either.

Good bream are coming off the beach a Bulwer, especially early morning. A few flathead, whiting and tarwhine have also been caught on fresh baits.

Snapper continue to be caught at most of the more well known areas in the bay but a lot of the better quality fish have been taken around the numerous wrecks in the bay. The Captain Nelson, Houseboat, Bulldozer, River Wreck and Trawler are some of the better known ones that have produced good fish. Most have been taken on fresh or live baits but a few anglers have had success with soft plastics.

May your bait be nervous.

Gordon Macdonald
Tackle Warehouse
Ph. (07) 3398 6500
masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

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Moreton Bay - Wide
Conditions were very fishable during the week with snapper, sweetlip and mac tuna on the chew on the shallow reefs. Unfortunately, the weekend was a dead loss with extremely strong winds with a lot of west in them. While the mac tuna are very obvious on the surface, don’t be afraid to move away from them to find the snapper. The locale of these species has separated after the last full moon, when snapper were quite prevalent under the mac tuna schools.

Whether divers are feeding them or they are just getting used to us, turtles are hanging around the back of the boat reasonably frequently. Be careful moving around as these guys really do damage to props with their hard shells, and are usually too stupid to move out of the road.

Quality pearl perch are still in good numbers on the 80m line but check the weather before pushing out wide in unsettled conditions.

Keith Hall
INCREDIBLE CHARTERS
20 Courageous Ct,
Scarborough 4020
Tel: 3203 8188
Fax: 3203 8199
incrediblecharters@bigpond.com

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Southern Freshwater

Peter Taylor
Mullet Gut Marine
Ph (07) 4632 9770
Fax (07) 4639 2543
mullet_gut@bigpond.com

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Lake Boondooma

Lance & Kristy Frahm
Lake Boondooma Kiosk
Open 7 days 8am-5pm.
Ph 07-41689694, fax is 07-41689691,
PO Box 24, PROSTON 4613.
lakeboondooma@wondaishire.com
Stop Tailor Netting - Phone (07) 3284 0043 or 0414 376 217
Bribie Is. & Caloundra
The fishing is just going off on the Sunshine Coast at present with reported catches from stacks of happy anglers. The passage is providing loads of bream and plenty of flathead that seem to start over the 70cm mark.
Chopper tailor are smashing every bait that hits the water on the top of the tide across the boardwalk but still provide heaps of fun for all those trying to catch the big one. Two beautiful tailor were taken from Wurtulla Beach on Tuesday from a well formed 400 metre gutter. The first weighed in at 4.3kg and the other at 2.6kg.
So they are around but you have to get past the dart. Remember most of the tailor you will catch will be full of eggs ready for spawning, so limit your numbers and think of the future. Best baits are mullet and dart fillets because they are tougher and last longer. Retire the gang hooks and the pillies and set a 4/0 or 5/0 hook flesh side down and tie it off to hold it better. It will work a heap better because the tailor are very touchy.
I remain amazed at the number of anglers who throw dart back into the sea and discard them as both bait or eating. Whilst I’m not a big fan of the flesh I can tell you that their fillets are really tough and not many fish can get them off.
Outside is full of success stories with good catches in close enough to allow tinnies to have a crack at them. On our way back from Barwon Banks we counted at least 12 boats around the blinker at Murphy’s and another dozen spread further out towards Cartwright. It is great to see the smaller boats coming out because the seas are calm. We all started there. Snapper to 4kg seem to be all over Murphy’s, along with parrot, and the very odd pearlie and sweetlip, which make up the catch. Caloundra 12 mile was hit pretty hard during the good weekend and reported strong catches of squire, pearlies and a few parrot.
There are still schools of slimies around and lots of yellow tail out off Point Cartwright, so give live bait a go. If you have not got the gear or don’t know what gear to use then drop me an e-mail and I will put you in contact with the experts free of charge to set you straight. Alternatively I am happy to assist with generic GPS marks on all the reefs and explain direction and the look of the bottom to you.
Closer to home, Currimundi Reef and Brays Rock are still the spot for big bream and an odd squire or two. Be aware that there are a lot of undersized emperors as well, so be sure you stick to the size limits. If you don’t, you will be caught.
This week I have included a picture of a few fish we caught last week at Barwon Banks. It does not include the biggest snapper or pearly but take a look at the size of the best parrot.

Don’t forget the River to Reef Fishing Classic is fast approaching with applications now being taken. It runs from 12 midnight Thursday 23 September to 2pm Sunday the 26 September. There is an early bird entry fee of only $30 seniors and $10 junior, as long as you register before 3 September 2004. This is a big fishing competition and is worth you packing the boat and heading up this way. Contact: Greg Balfour on Mobile: 0418 256 536 or Home: 07 54931998.
Come and say hello at the weigh in.

Brad McKendrick
Raine & Horne - Caloundra (07) 5491 3555
Compiled by Brad McKendrick from local fisherman with local reports.
brad@caloundraproperty.com.au
Currimundi to Coolum
The pick of the spots would have to be the river mouths, especially the Maroochy, with some nice bream being caught on the run out tide, both just inside the mouth and in the first couple of gutters to the north. By far the best bream have been caught using fresh mullet gut and fresh mullet flesh. It's important here to walk the bank looking for where the bream are holding and remember fish light (light line and light sinker) just heavy enough to do the job.

Some guys are cast netting about 1/2 a dozen live mullet and fishing these live in and around the mouth on the last hour and a bit in and the first hour and a bit out . They are chasing mainly good greenback tailor and hoping for a jew. The jew have been a bit late but there has been an odd small whaler to play with. As the tide starts to drop pretty fast it's off to the beach with the mullet in strips and six good fresh gut baits.

Another very good spot to fish if you’re a soft plastic or fly fishing nut is around the fishing boats in Mooloolaba . At the moment there are quiet a few fish in the channel, so use your sounder and look around a bit. As yet the tailor have been a little quiet around the moorings but that could change any minute. Last year at this time we had great fun using small fly rod poppers at night when schools of small choppers came in to feed under the lights . So keep an eye out!

Currimundi Reef has been a little quiet since the water’s been very clean. This increase in swell and wind over the next few days will certainly bring a few fish in to feed. Just before the water went clear there were some nice snapper and sweetlip caught there, mainly on the rubble behind the reef. It’s definitely worth a look after this blow. Fish floaters with a nice berley.

Mudjimba Island has been a bit of fun around the front using small Clousers for small trevally, which were hanging in the washes on the run out tide. Best bet here is to fish the lower tides so the small washes work. Be careful of the swell. Use your sounder and always have someone else driving. Always keep your motor going as you fish. The driver watches the ocean.

With the way the weather looks right now it'll be a couple of days before much fishing will be done. If you’re really desperate to stretch some mono, river mouths will be the go.

Gavin Platz
Tie ’N’ Fly Outfitters - Ph 07 54440611, tienfly@sun.big.net.au
Northern Sunshine Coast

Luderick have at last been successfully targeted in the Noosa River. Catches of quality fish were recorded along the lower estuary section of the river, using weed and small size 12 hooks.

Elsewhere in the river, flathead, whiting and bream are the bread and butter species that are well spread throughout the system. Tailor and trevally are best around the Woods Bays and Munna Point.

The coastal surf beaches are fishing well, particularly the North Shore, for quality tailor around the Cherry Venture, and all other gutters for dart and whiting.

Offshore, quality snapper continue to dominate many catches on most visited reefs, with North Reef currently one of the better destinations. Double Island Point and Chardon's Reef are worth the visit for those prepared to go the extra distance.

Davo's - (07) 5449 8099
www.fishingnoosa.com.au

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Hervey Bay

Jim Sullivan
Fisherman's Corner - Ph (07) 4128 1022
fishco@bigpond.net.au

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Bundaberg
Cold nights and clear water have slowed the fishing down a little but there are reports still trickling in of monster flathead on lures and the occasional bream. One nice black bream weighing just over 1.5kgs was taken in the Burnett near Kirbys this week.

Reports of mackerel have been filtering in, starting at Woodgate through to Agnes, with most haunting the inshore reefs.

Tailor, queenfish and trevally are being caught at the entrances of most estuaries on metal slugs and poppers at the start of the run out tides.

For those of you who like catching your own bait, now is the perfect time to collect and freeze wolf herring, pike, yakkas, bonito and tailor. Most of the species can be easily caught on bait jigs and small trolled lures around the heads.

A few bass have been taken in local impoundments. Most are being caught right against the weeds with light coloured spinner baits.

Make the most of those good days of weather.

Cheers,
Ben Shorten

Tim Mulhall / Matt Costar / Ben Shorten
Salty's Fishing Team
Salty's - Ph (07) 4153 4747
info@saltys.net


I have no report for the Burnett River, but the ISIS Impoundment is fishing well with bass to 50cm. The best time to be out there working these fish from the bottom is between 11am and 1 pm when the sun is high in the sky, as it tends to bring the fish into more of an attack mode.

We have been trying a variety of lures and techniques. The best to date is to slowly jig the bottom with a 6g to 9g head coupled with Squidgy fish shaped soft plastics and Berkley Powerbaits. Find the weed edges or a drop-off and if you can couple this with a bit of warmer water {only has to be one degree warmer} keep working these areas and you will soon be hooked up.

See you at the ABT Bream Comp in Bundy next Friday.

Brett Jones
Still Water Charters
stillwatercharters@yahoo.com.au
www.stillwatercharters.homestead.com

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Yeppoon

Fishing hasn't made the Olympic sport's list yet, so you're going to have to get your jollies by going out and doing it still.

I'm hearing that the grunter are still slowly increasing around the place. So the estuaries remain a reasonable bet. You'll stumble over a few decent whiting, bream and flathead while you're there, so it can't be too bad.

The old Fitzroy River is still giving up its share of nice king salmon and as I said last week, I'd be hunting early season barra late this week as the tides drop off towards the last quarter.

Offshore has been a bit hit and miss from all reports. Mackerel are around, but you'll need to locate a school, or you'll go home disappointed. I'm still expecting them to gradually move into the northern bay over the next few weeks.

Olympics look the best option for me though.

Kim Martin

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Stanage Bay

Von Ann Ireland
stanagebaymarine@bigpond.com
www.stanagebay.com

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Mackay

OFFSHORE:
With the spell of good weather the best catches have come from well offshore, fishing over shoal country in 30-40m of water. Young Tony from Northside Fishing Centre, with his mate Andrew, cleaned up on red fish using 24 kilo braid. A total of 11 largemouth nannygai, eight sweetlip and a 3.5kilo trout made up their catch, which had them filleting well into the night. Other similar reports have surfaced, which indicates given the right conditions the fish are there to be caught.

INSHORE:
Slade Island, which can be found directly in front of the Mackay Harbour, has been kind to visiting anglers with mixed catches recorded. One of the notable catches went to Keiren Ryan who baited up as he described with “a smelly old bit of mullet flesh,” not thinking that any fish in its right mind would eat it. How wrong he was. The final outcome was 14.5 kilos of prime black king, which was very popular on the barbecue that night.

CREEKS:
Reports have not been as encouraging as just described about the bluewater, although some success has been gained fishing Sandy Creek at night for whiting, bream and grunter. With S/W winds heading our way this is not going to help our cause at all. Also with September just around the corner anglers will be looking for the warmer water, which will see a return of the barra in both the creeks and the dams.

May all your fish be BIG ones.

Tight lines

Bruce Nash / Tony Lisciandro
Northside Fishing Centre - Ph (07) 4957 2272
Peter Faust Dam / Eungella Dam

Andy Thomsen (Fishing Guide)
www.andysfishing.com.au
0409 466 336

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Airlie Beach / Whitsundays

Andy Thomsen (Fishing Guide)
www.andysfishing.com.au
0409 466 336
Whitsundays - Bluewater

Capt. Ken Bryant
Marlin Blue Charters Ph 07 49465044

www.marlinblue.com.au

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Townsville
It hasn't happened for a while (two weeks of good weather in a row that is) and looking at the chart there might be a few more days of flat seas to look forward to this week.

Last week was fairly quiet offshore but last weekend was more productive as a consequence of the dark moon on Monday night. Most of the action over the past week came from the estuaries where consistent catches of barramundi have been keeping clients of the charter guides very happy.

The bream have also been very aggressive and there hasn't been the need to measure them for size, as most of the fish have been between the 30 and 40cm mark. Northern anglers are not usually noted for getting excited about catching bream but this year’s product has certainly got a few tongues wagging.

This time of the year is well noted for crocodile spotting, as the cool water forces these prehistoric monsters onto the river banks to warm themselves in the sun. The photo is of a croc that was sited on the bank of the Haughton River only a few weeks ago and is estimated to be 4.2 metres or 14 feet. You can tell by the thickness of the tail that this croc is in good health. Be sure to keep your toes out of the water next time your down the creek.

Until next week,
Good Fishing.

Tony Katsaros
Tackle World
Ph. 0747251266
tackleworldtsv@beyond.net.au

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Hinchinbrook

Al Goodwin
Crackajack Sportfishing Adventures
Lucinda Ph/Fax 61+07 47778365
crackfish@ozemail.com.au
www.crackfish.com

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Mission Beach

Malcolm Hills
FNQ Fishing Adventures- Ph (07) 4068 9000
fnqfishing@bigpond.com
www.fishingnorthqueensland.com

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Cairns

Robert Erskine
Erskine's Tackle Shop
51 Mulgrave Rd Cairns
Ph (07) 4051 6099
erskinestackle@bigpond.com
Cairns - Reports compiled by Garry Smith

Two weekends in a row of perfect weather has seen many anglers on the water again with good results. The reef has been fishing well for a mixed bag, with trout and large mouth nannygai the main species on the chew along with patches of spangled emperor, long nosed emperor, red emperor, mangrove jack, small mouth nannygai and Spaniards.

The mackerel have been biting with all the usual locations turning it on at various times.

Closer to shore the fingermark are biting and the barra continue to surprise.

All up it’s been a magic fortnight.

Garry Smith
lavallesmith@iig.com.au

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Port Douglas

Lynton "Heff" Heffer
Ph (07) 4098 5354
www.fishingportdouglas.com.au

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Cooktown

Leonard Todaro
Reel River Sportfishing.
PO Box 829 Cooktown Qld 4871
Ph 07 4069 5346.
reelriver@hotmail.com

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Karumba

Jason Jesse
Gulf Sportfishing Adventures
P.O. Box 228 Karumba
Phone - (07)4745 9434
gsakarum@tpg.com.au
www.gulfsportfishingadventures.com.au

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Weipa

Barra Dave Donald
Dave Donald SPORTFISHING - Ph (07) 4069 9064
DDSPORTFISH@bigpond.com
www.weipafishing.com

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Archived Weekly Reports

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6/11/2000
13/11/2000
20/11/2000
27/11/2000
4/12/2000
11/12/2000
18/12/2000
25/12/2000

Queensland Tide Times

Bureau of Meteorology