With the cooler weather and persistent winds setting in, it has been another wild week wrapping up. There has been plenty of fish on the chew with the local jacks and fingermark showing up in some great size and numbers as well as the good old barra proving to be tough, but anglers are still getting stuck into them. Some small weather windows also opened up for the anglers that headed offshore earlier in the week, allowing them to get some quality fish.
This whopper of a barra was caught by Staff Member Bryce. Measuring 111cm he is properly stoked with this one, I'm sure this one left his knees weak!
Reef Fishing
Some fishable conditions opened up, allowing anglers to get some pretty good mixed bags. The wonky holes have been producing some solid large mouth nannygai and the occasional Spanish mackerel while floating out live bait. Bottom bashing has also produced many coral trout and even a surprising barramundi cod for the crew aboard Dragon Lady Fishing Charters. Young anglers chasing a thrill have found some good schools of golden trevally casting plastics into the hungry schools.
Barramundi cod are a unique capture here in FNQ, the crew aboard Dragon Lady Fishing Charters had managed to capture this stunning species.
This solid large mouth nanny was one of many onboard Dragon Lady Fishing Charters.
As you can see in the background the conditions really turned it on here allowing the crew to get stuck into this coral trout and many others coming over the side.
Young angler Jaxon managed to find a school of some great sized golden trevally casting the 5 inch Nomad Jerk Squid into the school.
Rivers, Estuaries and Beaches
The inlet has been on fire the past week with a range of many species coming through, keeping the locals entertained. Fingermarks have been moving in thick, seeing many off the flats and even the local pier. Mangrove jack are still in some large numbers with many people snag bashing along the mangroves with weedless presentations finding these feisty fish. Barra have been quite slow this past week, but persistent anglers are finding the hungry ones in the mix along snake drains or thick timber edges.
Nicholas has scored his first barramundi on the first cast of the trip while fishing a narrow creek deep in the inlet.
Keen angler jack and his dad had a snag bashing session seeing many mangrove jack and grunter coming over the gunwale for him and his dad.
Freshwater and Dams
Water levels are finally stabilising in the rivers and clearing up. Many anglers throughout the freshwater streams have seen their fair share of jungle perch, sooty grunter, khaki grunter and some mangrove jacks. Walking the miles across unfished waters will see you more numbers of these fish, and fishing natural presentations will fool the smarter of the bunch. Tinaroo has produced some monster barra over the past week, with a few of them pushing the highly prized 120cm mark. Our next closest dam, Koombooloomba dam, is seeing a bulk number of sooty grunters caught from the scenic blue waters with the occasional barra being caught in the mix of sooties.
The boys from Tackle World Tully Daniel and Ryan have been scouting their local rivers and streams seeing many jungle perch and even some large mangrove jacks from the fresh.
This dino of a barra was caught up tinaroo dam with Clayton sinking hooks into this 121cm model aboard Gerkens Boys fishing charter. The fellas would have to be chuffed with that one!
Weekend Outlook
Large early morning tides but heavy winds will most likely see anglers resorting to the local rivers and estuaries instead of the trips out to the reef. Persisting along the mangrove coastline with weedless presentations or even some pilchards or sardines could see yourself with some mangrove jacks, barra or a nice fingermark to top it off! Yes, it's already cooling down, but a nice walk through the freshwater streams would be a great way to spend the weekend cooling off and be a great escape from the wind off the coast.
Kynan & Jake from Outtathebluefnq found these quality fingermark fishing off of the local pier. Some pretty solid fish there and a nice backdrop of our local city!
Kynan & Jake from Outtathebluefnq found these quality fingermark fishing off of the local pier. Some pretty solid fish there and a nice backdrop of our local city!
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.