Cairns Fishing Report | July 10th

Local Waterways

The local Trinity Inlet has been producing a wide variety of species through the windy week, from queenies off the pier to threadies off the stones, plus many mangrove jacks and barramundi in between. Queenfish have been taking a liking to small micro jigs off the pier, where others have also sight cast schools deep in the inlet on small slugs, winding them flat out through the hungry schools. Threadfish salmon or king threadfin have been captured consistently off the northern beaches and rock walls. Vibes hopped along the bottom or live prawns have fooled a large number of fish, also seeing some large blue salmon taking the bait. Golden snapper are still congregating around the wrecks through the inlet where live mullet, live mud herring and vibes are convincing these fish to have a feed.

Jack McGlashan with a queenie off the Esplanade

Rick McGlashan with a queenie from local waters

Barramundi and mangrove jacks have been patrolling the snags through the inlet, keeping many punters occupied. The lazy barra have been taking a liking to deeper lures, either paddle tails and prawns sunk right down or a deeper diving hard body that can get down into the strike zone, as they are sulking with the cooler water. Mangrove jacks are loving the classic frog or prawn skipped deep into the mangroves on the dusk and dawn bite windows.

Freshwater Streams and Dams

Scenic freshwater streams have seen a lot of foot traffic this week as the juniors have their last crack at the jungle perch and sooty grunter before school comes back. The young groms who have been putting in the miles have been getting stuck into some quality sized jungle perch and sooties over their time off. Travelling anglers from interstate are finding themselves travelling to these freshwater streams to chase an almost guaranteed catch and a new species off their bucket list, but also to see the picturesque scenes these streams have to offer.

Reports from Tinaroo have been on the slower side of things, with barramundi sulking in the deeper timber runs through the dam. Slowly working vibes close to the bottom of the deeper pockets of trees can be an effective method this time of year, leading them into a reaction bite. Koombooloomba Dam has been a nice little getaway destination for families over the holidays, where a nice campfire is very enjoyable this time of year. Sooty grunter have been caught walking on foot through the streams flowing into the dam, as the fish are heading into new pools coming from the dam. In the dam itself, hopping vibes through the trees, just like Tinaroo, has seen some quality sized and great numbers of sooty grunter caught over the week.

Banjo finding the sooties while on school holidays

Abijah landing a cracker sooty while walking the streams

Reef Fishing

We are all reminiscing on the glass-out days. Unfortunately we haven't seen any favourable weather for a while and we can't see any down the pipeline just yet. Photos of the glamour conditions we had a while ago are still getting sent in, and it's great to reflect on them and get us all excited for the next weather window opportunity.

Zac and his mates were out during the glass out and nailed this Spaniard

A nice trout from the perfect weather from Zac and crew

Zac's crew with a long nose

However, boats are still out in this consistent south-easterly wind and they are all managing to get onto some quality catches. Some solid golden snapper and large mouth nannygai have been pulling some string on the inshore wrecks and wonky holes north of Cooktown. Locally, coral trout and red emperor are still finding the baits on the isolated rocks and bombies, some as shallow as fifteen metres, certainly some shallow ground for some large reds! These coral formations can produce a wide variety of species, from big GTs sizzling some string and Spanish mackerel as well, to some nice eating desirables like the trout and emperor. Imagine it like one small little town in the middle of nowhere with many roads going in; most people stop for a break, a feed and a drink. It's a similar situation for fish. Finding these locations can be difficult when sounding around in the middle of nowhere. Trolling around for mackerel is a great way to kill some time and potentially find these marks. Once you find one, setting up a drift line is a great way to cover just a little more ground around the mark and maybe even find more honey holes around it.

Game Fishing

The game fishing front has been getting more chatter throughout the week as it's coming closer to the first lot of competitions for the year. Kicking off with the light tackle season, more and more anglers are heading out to practise, fine-tuning their skills and putting their gear to the test before it's put on the line in the NQ Billfish Shootout. Reports of sailfish have been seen free jumping where anglers have driven past and done a lap of the vicinity, hooking up on a skirt but unfortunately cracking the fish off. Marlin are still being captured mostly out wide off the outer reefs, with trolled gar and skirts being the convincing baits. Teasing them up on large teasers then pitching a garfish in front of the inquisitive billfish has seen another one captured through the week.

Spanish mackerel have been an easy capture once again, filling the bag limits quickly and keeping clients onboard charters quite happy, getting a good arm stretching and some delicious fillets with their time on the water.

Cape York and The Gulf of Carpentaria

Barramundi have been chewing off their heads from right in the thick of the gulf, in Burketown and Karumba, up and around to Pormpuraaw and Kowanyama, where barra have been a very easy find for most anglers travelling across. Large profile lures have been a popular choice for many trying to score themselves a trophy fish. The smaller rats will still climb all over anything they can fit in their mouth, yet a large lure putting out a huge presence in the water can still attract the attention of one of the XL models. Continuing further up into the Cape York region:

Tom Henley with a 110 up the Cape

Emily with a healthy 104 released back into the Gulf

Emily with EBM Sportfishing with another cracker at 122 released back to the Gulf

Weekend Outlook

The south-easterly winds look set to continue through the weekend, so inshore options remain the most accessible. Target the inlet for queenfish, barramundi, mangrove jacks and golden snapper, and look to the northern beaches and rock walls for threadfin salmon. For those willing to brave the swell, the reef is still producing solid coral trout and red emperor on the shallower isolated bombies. Keep an eye on conditions for the next glass-out window, and make sure your gear is ready to go when it comes.

Crew aboard Zulu with a cracker trout

Joe and the crew aboard Zulu Game Fishing Charters still finding the fish

Couple of nice reds aboard Zulu

Joe with a nice fingermark on Zulu

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.