Reef Fishing
With a solid start to the week, many anglers were able to head out to the reef and inshore patches to try their luck, with plenty of good catches reported. Solid coral trout were landed close to reef edges and bombies, with reefs such as Arlington Reef out of Cairns and Batt Reef out of Port Douglas producing mixed bags of coral trout, nannygai, red emperor and spangled emperor.
Fishing fresh squid and pilchards aboard Dragon Lady Charters saw some quality red emperor hit the deck.
The usual suspect following a red emperor, this large-mouth nannygai was pulled aboard Dragon Lady Charters.
Not to be outdone by the old fellas, this young gun managed to haul up a solid coral trout aboard Dragon Lady Charters.
All smiles as this young lad had his arms stretched by a nice spangled emperor.
Rivers, Estuaries and Beaches
Hot but beautiful conditions on the waterways saw anglers fishing Trinity Inlet and the northern beaches, with some nice catches of grunter, fingermark and queenfish. Slow winding large paddle-tail soft plastics and vibe lures also produced some solid threadfin salmon along the northern beaches.
With beautiful weather on the water, the boys enjoyed a great day fishing Trinity Inlet aboard Fish Tales Charters.
Also fishing aboard Fish Tales Charters, it was big smiles after landing this nice queenfish.
Local fisho Bryce Chapman enjoyed a solid session, landing some cracking threadfin salmon on vibe lures.
Freshwater and Dams
Heavy rain and storms last week have filled Lake Tinaroo, creating excellent fishing conditions. Dirty water runoff flowing into the dam has provided great cover for big barra to feed, with local anglers landing fish well over the metre mark by slow winding large soft plastics in the dirty water. Bright colours such as white and chartreuse, or the classic Guns N Roses colours, stood out well in muddy conditions.
Tackle World staff member Brayden Rodley fished the runoff flowing into Lake Tinaroo using soft plastic paddle tails, landing this thumping 110cm barramundi.
The big smile says it all, landing this beast of a barra aboard DBM Sportfishing at Lake Tinaroo, with fish sitting in the dirty water.
Weekend Outlook
With more fine conditions forecast this weekend and good tides expected, most anglers should be able to get out on the water to try their luck. Offshore anglers should see plenty of coral trout around, with warm weather and recent rain pushing bait wide and giving blue water species a good chance to feed. Keep an eye out for birds or fish working bait on the surface, as trolling lures around active bait schools has been producing Spanish mackerel in good numbers.
Check out the chompers on this absolute horse of a bar-cheek coral trout, landed aboard Exceed Sportfishing Port Douglas.
Need gear, bait or just a bit of local advice?
Swing by Cairns Tackle World at 172 Aumuller Street, Bungalow to chat with your local independent fishing experts.