A tropical low threatening the coast before the weekend certainly kept many boats in the shed. Once the storm had passed, the weather cleared up and the fishing was hot, with some good catches from both the reef and rivers.
Reef Fishing
Most boaties left the boat on the trailer leading up to the weekend, but once the storms had passed the reef fishing was hot with some great catches of coral trout, cobia, reef jacks and some extra large mouth nannygai.
Taking advantage of the drop in conditions saw some nice coral trout aboard Dragon Lady Charters.
A red reef jack caught with fresh squid while fishing rubble patches off Port Douglas with Dragon Lady Charters.
A nice cobia caught on bait while on a good session with Dragon Lady Charters.
Finding some monster large mouth nannygai fishing in the open paddocks caught aboard Exceed Sportfishing Port Douglas.
Game Fishing
With lots of freshwater around pushing bait out of the rivers, the Spanish mackerel were out in force with many good catches trolling lures in between reef marks and bait schools being worked by other pelagics like juvenile black marlin.
A cracking Spanish mackerel caught aboard Dragon Lady Charters off Port Douglas.
One to fill the esky, a solid Spanish mackerel caught aboard Dragon Lady Charters.
Rivers, Estuaries and Beaches
Dodging the rain squalls in the estuaries went well for plenty of anglers, with some nice catches of mangrove jacks and fingermark using live bait and fresh dead baits like prawns and mullet. Casting lures along the overhanging mangroves during wet season can be very effective, with lots of mangrove frogs being a natural food source this time of year. Skip casting frogs can be a lure they are tuned into eating and are very reactive to the frog lures this time of year.
An angry mangrove jack caught using live baits aboard Fish Tales Charters.
Finding some nice fingermark fishing flats landing some nice fingermark aboard Fish Tales Charters.
Freshwater and dams
Fishing Tinaroo Dam has been a hit following rain and a low pressure system off the coast has fired up some big barra, seeing some great catches just after dark on topwater and slow rolled paddle tail soft plastics.
Fishing after dark in Tinaroo after the low pressure system had started rising, the big barra got biting. What a fish caught aboard DBM Sportfishing.
Weekend outlook
With the weather forecast for the weekend looking to spike to around 15 knots in the afternoons, it may indicate some later rain and wind. This will most likely see larger reef boats heading offshore or reef fishing, but in turn will bring good estuary fishing for those chasing jacks or barras up the creeks with lures. Soft plastic frog lures can be very effective during wet season conditions. Those fishing live baits should look for dirty water and clean water lines out the front of creek mouths or mud flats. This can be a great way to find fingermark and grunter when there is lots of freshwater being pushed into the rivers.
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.