Fishing Monthly - Latest Fishing Reports - Updated Weekly
loading sponsors banner ... please support our sponsors
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

Top
Moreton Bay
Once again, there are not a lot of reports this week due to the wind, which has limited the fishing opportunities a lot. There has been a surprising number of quality squire and snapper around the eastern side of Mud Island. The best results have come early morning and evening, especially when there are only a few or no other boats in the area. Drifting soft plastics has produced some of the better quality fish.

Scattered schools of spotted mackerel are still being reported from all corners of the bay although the better areas to look are between Mud Island, the Four Beacons and the Measured Mile as well as Middle Bank, Western Shipping Channel and The Sand Hills. Reports have filtered in from Gilligans Island, Peel Island, Naval Reserve Banks, Rainbow Channel and Rous Channel. The moral of the story is to keep your eyes open while travelling around the bay as you could come across a school anywhere.

Tuna are in a similar situation however the best concentrations of longtails have been between the Four Beacons and the mouth of the Rous Channel. The area a few kilometres west of Lucinda Bay has definitely been worth a look.

It has still been worth setting a few pots up in the creeks if you like a feed of muddies. Most creeks have been producing the goods.

There are plenty of sharks out in the bay at present and it is looking good for the Moreton Bay Game Fish Club’s shark fishing classic on the 12th and 13th of February. Contact Noel Webb on 32865762 if you are chasing a tournament brochure or some information. Next week, I am heading out in the bay to catch a shark over 50kg and insert a satellite tag to help a marine biologist gain some tracking information. It should be interesting to see where the shark travels.

Quite a few jacks have been caught on live baits in the Raby Bay Canals over the last few weeks. Small poddy mullet fished in the deeper holes at night seem to do the trick with a by-catch of estuary cod, trevally, flathead and large bream also being reported.

Live baiting around the beacons should produce good quality longtails as well as a few school and spotted mackerel. The occasional cobia is still showing up at times but they are starting to thin out.

Jigging slugs around the beacons will also attract a few school and spotted mackerel, however lure losses are often high due to the mackerel swallowing the slug and biting it off as it sinks. Using wire to prevent this will generally mean that you won’t catch any fish either. The TT Assassin slugs are ideal for this pursuit as they sink tail first and don’t flutter down like others. This rear weighting also helps when casting and will give you extra distance, especially when it is windy. The best bit is that the fish like them also.

May your bait be nervous.

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

Top
Moreton Bay - Wide
Finally the winds have eased a little and the fishing offshore is superb. Trolling is being rewarded with marlin, cobia, yellowfin tuna and wahoo in numbers off Cape Moreton and in the Trench. These fish are also falling to livies drifted around bait schools.

There is too much current wide to successfully bottom bash, however the shallow reefs are on fire with almost every colour of fish and species taking hooks. These include squire, gold spot wrasse, coral bream, hussar, fusilier, goat fish, parrot, pearlies and undersized red emperor. If you want fun and a feed, offshore is the place to be.

Regards

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

Top
Southern Freshwater

Well, I didn’t go shark fishing but a few mates of mine gave it a go. At the junction of the Brisbane and Bremer rivers, they were using mullet and small catfish. Result - more catfish. Over the years I’ve heard of, and experienced, good sharks from this stretch. Colleges crossing also has its fair share of sharks.

A good point to be made at this time of year is the presence of bullrouts in the rivers. Very nasty if you happen to step on one, not to mention the clowns who throw/smash stubbies in some parts of the river. I always wear shoes in these days.

Another Brissy River trip soon. I’ll keep you posted.

Rob Clouten & Paul Cass
Fishin Essentials
robdinga@gil.com.au



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

Top
Lake Boondooma
Fishing is improving rapidly after a fairly quiet Christmas (lots of ski boats which are now gone). Great catches of quality bass have been taken on trolled Jackalls in the main creek beds.

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
Fishing is again number one priority on the Sunshine Coast. The weather has improved out of sight allowing us all to get the boat into action and get out on the reefs.

Sunday last saw us out on Murphy’s having a bottom bash on dusk. This exercise proved to be very fruitful with good numbers of small snapper, sweetlip, pearl perch and one of the nicest fingermark bream I have seen for quite some time, coming in at 1.92kg. There were quite a number of boats out on that first tolerable evening after the cyclonic weather, as one would expect.

Two nice Spanish mackerel were caught using shallow diving and Christmas Tree lures. We considered the capture of these two to be quite lucky after 2_ hours of trolling. No birds were to be seen but it won’t take long for them to come back into action.

Bottom action may slow down considerably now in close and we will all find the bigger boys traditionally a lot further out until around Easter time. Prior to that, the coral trout come in to lay their eggs and feed in the shallow waters off the Gneerings. We are hoping for a bumper season this year because it is well overdue.

Reports in from Caloundra Wide indicate that things have quietened down a bit of late. That would hopefully only be due to the recent poor weather. There are still however some good schoolies around Currimundi Reef and Brays Rock, but certainly not in the plague proportions they were before the bad weather.

From within the Pumicestone Passage, strong showings of mangrove jack and big bream have been the talk of the week, with an odd flathead and trevally showing their heads. Live prawns in the passage are no doubt the target of these predatory fish, and there seem to be a few around for those in the know.

Some big whiting are also starting to nod their heads, with one in particular this week that reached 16 inches and weighed in at 609 grams. I called it at close to the kilo mark and so did Old Mate. We were both way off. This fish looked every inch a kilo fish. He was caught at the Cod Hole, in the evening, on worms.

The next best fish that I witnessed through the week was a 1.45kg drummer which was captured down the back in Bell’s Creek on a live yabby. The small chopper tailor are still creating a feeding frenzy in and around the Boardwalk. Most anglers probably don’t even know why they are loosing their bait because they are so small. Most are lucky to make the 3 inch mark but they don’t lack ticker.

If you are in for a good trip then I would suggest a run out to the 80m mark at the Banks. There have been some unbelievable catches out there, as you would expect. Snapper well over the 8kg mark, and some fierce looking pearlies, along with pelagics galore have been taken. It may be a fair trip but is it usually a good one to do with another mate in his boat, so if there are any problems someone can bring you home. It is another dimension in fishing out there so be sure to have your equipment working well and ready for action.

Normally just find the 80 metre mark and drift or anchor when you spot the fish. I don’t use any GPS marks out on the 80 metre mark and have always found the drop-off easily by heading east.

While the weather is good, get out there and enjoy!

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
Here on the Sunshine Coast the fishing improved dramatically after the bit of rain that was dumped on us during the tropical low that visited us earlier this month. There are reports from all the close reefs of nice quality snapper being caught - yes even on flies and lures. The type of area to look for at this time of the year is the gravelly areas adjacent to and down current of the main pinnacles. A good example of this are the areas where the last swell was breaking - Currimundi, Moffat and Brays have all seen some nice fish, mainly on floaters and a good berley trail.

There's also been some good action from all the good washes on Mudjimba Island, Cartwright, Arkwright and the Noosa National Park, which are all producing some nice bream, squire and an odd tailor. This is good fun but you have to be VERY careful. Get to know your area first - use your sounder, check the ocean before getting close, keep your eye on the water. Fishing the washes was really popular in the 70's and early 80's but you don't see many doing it nowadays. You can fish them with all methods. In the early days we used to use long rods so we could stand off and make very long casts into rough washes with safety and we mainly slow swum gar or chucked Joe Gospel Irons around. I don't think they exist today but with names like "Undertaker", "Coffin" and "Assassin" you knew they were good. Today there's a stack of good stuff on the market to chuck, but a well rigged gar is dynamite, especially in Jan/Feb.

The Mooloolaba and Maroochy rivers saw a little bit of mud crab action during the rain and did word spread quick. The life expectancy of a legal sized muddie is 5 secs after he reaches legal size. At one stage it was very hard to find a spot to put your pot. Anyway, my score was two legal sized crabs and only two lost pots. Ah ! The face of mud crabbing in 2005.

The bream are still active but mainly when a little clean water pushes in with the tide. Burley has always helped here, even if fishing with artificials.
Flyfishos will be glad to know the tuna are here and at the moment are outside the dirty water line all up and down the coast. There are even a few reports of some very decent yellowfin in amongst the bait schools. One group of fly anglers saw a couple of small black marlin in and around the bait schools off Caloundra. Good stuff !!

Well that's about all. Catch ya later,

Gavin Platz
Tie ’N’ Fly Outfitters - Ph (07) 5444 0611
tienfly@sun.big.net.au
Northern Sunshine Coast

Mangrove jacks have been up in numbers this past week. Some local lads, using live biddies, caught some good fish averaging 2kg+ amongst the snags at Woods Point last week. The guys were fishing the high tide late at night and also managed some quality whiting.

Other jack catches have been reported around Noosa Waters, using gold deep diving lures and live baits between the two lakes. Flathead and whiting are on the bite around the river mouth, Weyba Creek and up around Tewantin.

On the southern surf beaches the weed has cleared and the catch is mainly whiting. The North Shore beaches from Teewah to the river mouth seem clearer of weed, but the fishing has been slow.

Offshore, Sunshine Reef is the best choice for quality Spanish mackerel, with mixed reefies at most other visited reefs. Visit our website www.fishingnoosa.com.au for lots of photos and fishy tips.

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

Top
Hervey Bay

Fishing has been a little on the quiet side over the past few days. Along the beaches, whiting are fairly prevalent but the majority are undersized.

Flathead catches on the inside of Fraser have been reasonable with lots in the XOS size. The reefs have been fairly quiet with coral bream making up the bulk of the catches.

In the river systems, things have been fairly quiet with the odd jack coming from the Burrum system, along with salmon in the Mary and Susan. Prawns and crabs are available but have to be really worked for them.

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

Top
Bundaberg
After the cyclone passed us last week, the winds dropped off very quickly from 30-40 knots to around 10-15 knots and a lot of people took the opportunity to get out amongst the action.

Mackerel were a hot target, with spotty, school and Spanish all being landed. Most of these fish were caught around the river mouths by trolling spoons and other metallic lures – a great way to catch a feed. If bait fishing, live herring or floating pillies are another great option.

In the rivers some good king salmon, jew, jack and big grunter have been taken. Using live prawns or sprat as bait should get results. There have also been a few prawns about.

Barra in Monduran are another favourite but the fish seem to have moved up the dam a bit. One angler last week still managed to hook six in one day. Shallow and mid-diving lures in fluoro colours are the go.

Bass have also been doing well on plastics, or even better, the T.D. Daiwa Jackalls have caught heaps more bass. Gary and I landed 56 bass in a morning session, and 90% of these fish were caught on the Daiwa Jackalls, so go and get one and give it a go.

Best breezes,
Tim Mulhall

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

Hi folks,
Sorry I do not have a report this week but my computer had a virus wipe it out at the deadline time to get my story in. I have just got it back up and going, but I will have a report from Awoonga and Monduran for next week.

My apologies,

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

Top
Yeppoon

Once again the weather prognosis for this week isn't great.

We've got a public holiday on Wednesday, the day after the full moon. That should see the Causeway run-through shoulder to shoulder before lunch. The jacks just seem to keep coming out of the place, so one or two should be caught during this week's run-throughs I'd expect.

The tides aren't as big as the new moon tides, so estuary fishing will be possible. Try the upper reaches and holes for grunter, school jew and the odd cod. Live baits around the rock bars very early in the morning, or at night, should deliver a fingermark or two. It's probably still worth dropping a couple of pots in while you're fishing, but all estuaries have copped a hammering over the holiday period, so crabs may be hard to find.

The Fitzroy River is still quite fresh and dirty in the city reaches, so catfish may be what you'll catch there.

Offshore fishing has been excellent on the few occasions when the weather has been kind. Good catches of reefies have been made almost everywhere - around the Keppels and out wide. There have also been reports of schools of Spanos around the wider islands and grounds, but sharks continue to be a problem.

The water along the coast is taking a while to clear up after the big blow recently, but as it does, beach fishing is likely to improve.

Good luck!

Kim Martin

Top
Stanage Bay

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

Top
Mackay

Bruce Nash / Tony Lisciandro
Northside Fishing Centre - Ph (07) 4957 2272
Peter Faust Dam / Eungella Dam
21/1/5 (Water Temp 27-30c)
The dam is fishing pretty good at the moment. We have had a little rain which has stabilized the level of the water. Many people are catching fish by trolling and casting, both during the day and at night. I fished with Colin Slade today and between us we hooked eleven fish and landed four, ranging from 98cm - 110cm. We saw a lot of action even though the wind was rippling the water.

17/1/5 (Water Temp 27-30c)
During the past three days the wind hasn't let up, so it was no surprise that the barra were a bit more active than usual. Again there were big barra splashing around on the surface, but a lot less action than last week. It took a while to raise a strike, but two in half an hour heightened our spirits.
At about 11am I caught a 115cm barra. Dean lost a good fish to no fault of his. Then something spectacular happened. As we snuck through the trees I noticed a fish cruising on the surface. "Cast there!" I said, pointing wildly. Dean’s second cast raised not one, not two, not even five fish. Suddenly there were about ten big barra from 20 - 50 pounds darting around his lure. I threw in also, hoping for a double hook-up. Again and again the pack came to the side of the boat. I finally hooked one which apparently didn't like the green Storm Deep Thunder down its throat. The fight was very short lived. There's yet another free lure floating around the dam!
It must have been the adrenalin, but poor Dean managed to miss his next two fish, just pulling the lure out of the water as they sucked in nothing but air and water. - A day we will dream about for some time!

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

Top
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

Top
Townsville

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

Top
Hinchinbrook
Hi Friends,
Resent rain has most of the creeks and rivers really running this past week. There has been a lot more rain up around Innisfail than down here at Hinchinbrook. The rain is just what’s needed here in the north to ensure propagation and enhance fish stocks.

The Herbert River is only up about a metre and will fall quickly unless there are further falls in the catchment. The inclement weather has not been too much of an inconvenience for Crackajack as we had planned a total refit, paint and repower for our vessel “Alurer” at this time anyway.

The catch cry this week is crabs - big rusty bucks and plenty of them. They sure don’t like a dose of freshwater down their holes, and this event sees them heading for salty water. This is one time of the year when crabs can be trapped in numbers out on the flats, a long way from any mangrove structure. Don’t forget the old beef bones as they will attract crabs long after fish frames have gone rotten. It is not a well known fact that muddies are not all that keen on rotten bait. Fresh is best.

On the fishing scene there is not a lot to report except for a couple of crews visiting from down south. Armed with bailing buckets and raincoats they spent a few days out of Fishers Landing early in the week. Conditions were not all that pleasant but they managed some nice grunter and blue salmon with a couple of reasonable fingermark thrown in. They fished around the sheltered Roundhill Creek area.

The service wharf at Lucinda was fishable for those prepared to lash themselves to the railings, but hey conditions can calm extremely quickly and the fish will be on once again.

With the consultation process for the inshore finfish draft not too far away, it might be timely to once again raise some awareness on an activity that is blight on recreational fishing as a whole. - This being the spearing of barramundi with the aid of a spotlight. This activity is legal in the eyes of Queensland Fisheries but is treated with disgust by most angling communities right up and down the north Queensland coast. Because the activity is conducted at night there is little or no surveillance by authorities and the general public. Most individuals involved in this spotlight spearing of barra probably do not have the skills to catch them by a fairer means anyway.

How’s this for a scenario. A couple of boats are luring a nice set of snags during daylight hours and around the corner comes a snorkel disappearing into the snag. We all know what would happen. Don’t we? The wider community strongly disapproves of this practice, and I know one thing for sure you will not see any of these characters sending in photos of spotlight speared barra for publication with their names attached.

So when the inshore finfish draft comment papers become available make mention of your thoughts on the spotlight spearing of barra. If enough negative feedback is received managers might just not consider it in the best interest of communities and most of all the barra themselves.

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

Top
Hinchinbrook - Cardwell

Once again the big tides have made luring difficult, and with the afternoon sea breeze getting up to 15 knots plus, the window has been small. But for all that the fishing has been good to very good, with yours truly and his number one grandson, Kale, enjoying a real hot bite in Missionary Bay. Queenie's, GT's, jacks and barra, it was on for young and old. The creeks in the bay have been on as well, with No. 7 producing some nice jacks (all legal plus) on the run out tide, at about a half tide again. The flats seem to work better on the run in tide. Look for large mobs of bait.

The channel has been going off too, with good sized barra being hooked on any of the snags and mangrove roots, mainly in about one metre of water. I have had a report that Damper Creek has been fishing well on the low tide.

That's all for this week. No report next week, as I'll be in South Australia fishing for King George whiting and doing some surf fishing, chasing salmon.

Safe Boating and I'll See Ya on the Water and Remember "Fish for the Future, Practice Catch and Release".

Jimbo.

Un-Reel Sportsfishing Adventures
Ph (07) 40660032
0408 842691
jimlee@qldnet.com.au
www.un-reel-sportsfishing-adventures.com.au
Cairns

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

Garry Smith
lavallesmith@iig.com.au

Top
Port Douglas

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

Top
Cooktown

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

Top
Karumba
Jason has supplied us with his 2005 Newsletter. You can download it as a .pdf file here (260Kb)

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

Top
Weipa

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

Top
Archived Weekly Reports

5/1/2004 12/1/2004 19/1/2004 27/1/2004
2/2/2004 9/2/2004 17/2/2004 23/2/2004
1/3/2004 8/3/2004 15/3/2004 22/3/2004 29/3/2004
5/4/2004 12/3/2004 20/4/2004 27/4/2004
4/5/2004 10/5/2004 17/5/2004 24/5/2004
1/6/2004 7/6/2004 15/6/2004 22/6/2004 28/6/2004
5/7/2004 12/7/2004 19/7/2004 26/7/2004
2/8/2004 9/8/2004 16/8/2004 23/8/2004 30/8/2004
6/9/2004 13/9/2004 20/9/2004 27/9/2004
4/10/2004 11/10/04 18/10/2004 25/10/2004
1/11/2004 8/11/2004 15/11/2004 22/11/2004 29/11/2004
6/12/2004 13/12/2004 20/12/2004



1/1/2002
7/1/2002
14/1/2002
21/1/2002
28/1/2002
4/2/2002
11/2/2002
18/2/2002
25/2/2002
4/3/2002
11/3/2002
18/3/2002
25/3/2002
1/4/2002
8/4/2002
15/4/2002
22/4/2002
29/4/2002
6/5/2002
13/5/2002
20/5/2002
27/5/2002
4/6/2002
10/6/2002
17/6/2002


1/1/2001
8/1/2001
15/1/2001
22/1/2001
29/1/2001
5/2/2001
12/2/2001
19/2/2001
26/2/2001
5/3/2001
12/3/2001
19/3/2001
26/3/2001
2/4/2001
9/4/2001
16/4/2001
23/4/2001
1/5/2001
7/5/2001
14/5/2001
21/5/2001
28/5/2001
4/6/2001
11/6/2001
18/6/2001
25/6/2001
2/7/2001
9/7/2001
16/7/2001
23/7/2001
30/7/2001
6/8/2001
13/8/2001
20/8/2001
27/8/2001
3/9/2001
10/9/2001
17/9/2001
24/9/2001
1/10/2001
8/10/2001
15/10/2001
22/10/2001
29/10/2001
5/11/2001
12/11/2001
19/11/2001
26/11/2001
3/12/2001
10/12/2001
17/12/2001
24/12/2001


3/7/2000
10/7/2000
17/7/2000
24/7/2000
31/7/2000
7/8/2000
14/8/2000
21/8/2000
28/8/2000
4/9/2000
11/9/2000
18/9/2000
25/9/2000
2/10/2000
9/10/2000
16/10/2000
23/10/2000
30/10/2000
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