A wet drizzle kicked off the beginning of our week keeping most anglers at bay, but cleared up through the end of the week with winds even dying down opening up a somewhat fishable window for the reef. A large variety of species were caught from desirable table fish, hard fighting sports fish plus another rare capture caught from the blue this week. Light-tackle billfish captures are consistently rolling in with rigged swimming garfish being the go-to bait for most anglers, a good sign leading into the Innisfail Billfish Tournament held early next week. Off the beaches and piers, anglers seeking some larger line pulling fish have soaked bigger baits catching bull sharks and even a giant Queensland groper took a liking to the shark bait! Some avid barramundi fishermen have managed to find themselves some quality fish from the beaches timing the short bite windows perfectly. Into the mangrove estuaries, jacks have been notoriously hungry this week with some giant models getting caught from the mangrove edges on topwater plastics. Mud crabs are on the move and grunter are still on the chew with anglers finding them on small soft plastic prawns and paddle tails. Plus the queenfish and GT schools still in the rivers are keeping anglers occupied with their explosive topwater hits.
Dexter with a cracker jungle perch caught from a freshwater river down south on a small paddle-tail plastic.
Local Estuaries
Mud crabs are still on the crawl with some cracker bucks getting captured, one angler brought in his biggest from his bag for a weigh, ticking the 1.42kg mark on the scales. Soaking your pots whilst going for a flick through the rivers is a great way to keep the anticipation high for the day, especially taking the young kids out to pull the pots, they absolutely love seeing what they’ve caught. Nets getting stolen and checked are still unfortunately leaving anglers empty handed and disappointed. Hiding your nets with a black rope or even lead line, tying them off deep into the mangroves, almost guarantees no one will be finding your pot and stealing your prized catch or gear.
Mangrove jacks have been extra hungry this week with some solid models getting caught from the estuaries and even more from the rocky headlands. Topwater lures have been convincing the bigger feisty fish to chew, with the new Mintoss Johnson soft plastics being the pick of the bunch for anglers of recent. Off the headlands paddle-tail and prawn imitations have been working well for the jacks on the calmer afternoons. Barramundi have been slow over the windy weather and cooler water temp, but those who persisted managed to get stuck into some great fish. The beaches fished well for anglers on foot with the sand between their toes, it’s all about timing for the avid barramundi fishermen and for the land-based anglers it’s even more important. Tide changes and natural lure profiles are always going to be your best bet in catching a barra from the shore. Structures like rocky areas, fallen trees and river mouths are ideal locations to find some hungry barramundi.
Staff member Kynan proving that you don’t need a boat to catch some great barra, getting himself some perfect eating-sized barra from the beach. All these barra came from a short and sweet bite the boys timed well.
Richy with a cracking barra from the beach pushing the 83cm mark from a quick hour bite window on the sand.
Daly from OuttatheblueFNQ with a cracker local mid-80s barra on an Irukandji Prawn.
Young gun Finn outfished his brothers pulling in this cracker jack pushing 53cm on the mat, well done young fella!
Jhett with another cracker jack from the mangroves, these boys are using the new Mintoss Johnson plastics and convincing some great jacks to bite.
Brock once again with another great jack on the Johnson.
Queenfish schools are still moving through the estuary systems where anglers seeking a bit of excitement and adrenaline are casting topwater lures through the schools triggering that explosive surface bite. Some large river-run giant trevally are still in the mix creating even more excitement, once these brawlers smoke the lure and take off like little steam trains then the adrenaline really kicks in. A few unique trevally species were caught from the Inlet this week consisting of golden trevally and some diamond trevally. Both are unique in their own ways, but the diamonds have to be one of the coolest looking trevally species. With their iridescent colours and unique body shape, plus they pull a bit of string too, it’s no wonder they are on a lot of anglers’ bucket lists.
Ryu fished down south and managed to get this cracker queenie to bite on a shallow-diving hardbody lure.
Another queenfish caught by the boys from Spin Out Fishing up in Port Douglas.
Ryu finding a nice little GT in the southern rivers.
A solid golden trevally caught in the Inlet from Fish Tales Charter.
A pair of diamonds caught on board Fish Tales.
Reef Fishing
Some fishable weather rolled through the middle to end of this week where the large boats were comfortable heading out in the chop. Some cracking coral trout have been caught whilst anglers work their way around the bombies, working jigs or the very effective Nomad Squidtrex has proven to be dynamite this week claiming a variety of species. Another capture of a barramundi cod came in this week, a rare capture from the Great Barrier Reef that is quite the unique-looking species. With a cod-like body and polka-dot patterns similar to a cod, plus a concave head profile shaped like a barramundi head hence the name barramundi cod. This particular species is like the barra but the opposite, changing their sex from female to male to help with reproduction within their groups if needed. Casting the reef flats has been another hot topic for those who did make it out to the reef, GTs, red bass, chinaman and even some nice trout have been plucked from the flats, all some great line burners that are always welcomed to the average sport fishing angler. Although bass and chinaman are riddled with ciguatera there is nothing wrong with a nice little arm stretching when one of these things smokes a lure.
Marcos managed to find this little gem from the reef, a little barramundi cod. A rare and unique capture from the Great Barrier Reef.
Imogen managed to score her first trout in the better weather window and it’s a cracking trout at that. Once at the reef, finding sheltered water to fish is quite easy.
Marcos with a rippa trout jigging from the bombies.
Another shot of the rippa trout from Marcos.
This fella is on fire. He managed to find another trout from the reef.
A cracker red bass from Marcos on the Nomad Squidtrex.
Another bass caught flicking the flats.
And a cracking GT from Marcos, this fella has been busy!
Game Fishing
Spanish mackerel have been slow from reports this week, whether or not it’s between moon phases and not much current or just less boats fishing for them the mackerel reports have been scarce. Marlin and sailfish on the other hand are keeping anglers hot on their toes with many fish raised over the week, but only a small handful convinced them to bite. Those who did manage to get the nibble and capture fish ended up effectively switch baiting a garfish back into the faces of the fired-up billfish. Rigging with a neat little inline circle hook ensures that the chance of it pulling hooks or even gut-hooking them is very slim, but increases the chance of a capture and the overall health of the fish as catch and release on these prized billfish is beneficial to future stocks. And potentially, one day, someone else will have the joy of catching the same fish somewhere else around the world, or in the same location in years to come.
Further from Town
Weipa has been a hot destination for anglers of recent, with both fly and spin anglers trying their luck on the barramundi and even on the flats in pursuit of permit, tuskfish and blue bastards. The barra front has been fishing exceptionally with a few anglers reporting back after their trips managing to tick off their first ever barra and even better targeting them on fly too. With the calmer mornings and using a decent set of polaroids anglers have been walking the beaches and sight-casting some incredible sports fish such as the blue bastards. A hard-fighting inshore species that can pull some serious string but takes quite the convincing to eat and needs a very well-presented fly. Same goes for permit and blue bones as well, stealth is a major factor as they are all wary fish, sometimes even a small amount of fly line slapping the water is enough to spook these fish. It’s also a happy medium with the conditions you want too, too glassy calm and the fish can be spooked easily and if it’s too windy you can’t spot the fish from a distance. Finding the sweet spot with the weather is tricky, and using natural flies plays a bigger part too. Small crab and prawn flies are both natural imitations that are quite hard for these fish to turn down and have a quick snack on.
Freshwater rivers around remote areas of Cape York have been producing some exceptional fishing as well. Saratoga have been another species high on anglers’ bucket lists where those venturing to the remote waterways around the Cape have managed to tick them off. The odd bycatch of a barra and sooty grunter is always on the cards too in these areas. Even better, a catch and cook of a barra over the coals whilst on a bush trip in the remote parts of Cape York. There isn’t much better than that.
Liz went on a recent trip up the Cape and managed to catch herself her first saratoga! Can tell she’s stoked with this one!
Another shot of her prized toga.
And a third snap for good luck before the release, hopefully more togas on the horizon for you!
Week Ahead Outlook
Anglers chasing marlin have been stocking up their light tackle gear through the week in preparation for the Innisfail Billfish Tournament kicking off this coming Monday. The weather will be fishable for all of the three days allowing anglers to maximise their time on the water and rack up more numbers of billies hoping for a better chance at the major prize. The reef will likely see anglers fishing over the weekend and leading through the majority of the week with the bearable winds being suitable for the larger boats and charters. And the building tides with the coming new moon will likely see more barramundi on the chew with the larger models hopefully wanting to come out and play the game.
Father’s Day is this coming Sunday, if you need any last-minute gift ideas for Dad before his big day pop in and see us in store. We’ve got deals on our new Shimano Sakana rod range with some free goodies, plus we’ve got only a handful of Yetis left with Father’s Day themed engravings. Whether you’re taking your Dad out for dinner or even better out for a fish somewhere, enjoy your weekend and Tight Lines!
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.