Wet drizzly weather continues to hold anglers in the comfort of their own homes, but there has been a small amount keen to persist in these unfavourable conditions and they have been rewarded with some great catches. From barra up in the cape to jungle perch in the freshwater streams south of Cairns it has been a busy week for these anglers.
Staff member Bryce had a great afternoon fish pitching the Chasebaits Flick Prawn 95mm through the mangroves.
Reef and Offshore Fishing
The trade winds have kicked off hard with persistent south east winds causing very unfavourable conditions for many punters. Earlier in the week we had a nice weather window open up where those who set out managed to get stuck into some great fish. Large and small mouth Nannygai are in great numbers being plucked out of the wonky holes, where fishing the reef coral trout, red emperor and many other reef species have been caught as well. Floating whole pilchards or live baits out the back while bottom bashing has seen some anglers some great Spanish as well. Those keen to chase these pelagics, trolling wog heads or divers around wonky holes or wrecks covering ground could potentially see you one of these delicious fish.
The crew onboard Dragon Lady Fishing Charters managed to find their fair share of reef species earlier in the week.
Joe with a great Spanish mackerel caught off the sheriff earlier in the week.
Cape York Fishing
More and more roads are finally opening up through the northern cape areas allowing more opportunities for the keen anglers heading up north, Weipa has been one of these popular destinations for many as the numbers of barra continue to fire up but not forgetting the threadfin salmon and mud crabs that are hot there as well. Mapoon is another hot spot where the numbers of fish are in the 50-80 fish days for some lucky punters!
Brittany had plucked this great barra from the snags, looks like perla conditions over there in Weipa!
Isaac has been around the place recently, while at his stop in Weipa as well he had caught many barra from the sticks. Great photography on this Baz!
Rivers, Estuaries and Beaches
Barra are having their lock jaw moments this week as this inconsistent weather persists to chop and change, but these fish do have to eat at some point. Natural lure imitations have convinced a few of these smaller rats to have a chew, small mullet or prawn profiles will potentially see you one of these barra. Jacks and tarpon have been on fire through the inlet, and the Russell river reaches, skip casting prawns or frogs through the mangroves is always a fun visual way of chasing these fish but if the fishing is slow unweighted pilchards commonly fool these feisty jacks. Mudcrabs are still on the crawl, it is still worth dropping in the pots while going for a flick in the rivers.
Isaac with another ripper coloured jack caught out of the Inlet.
Kynan from Outtathebluefnq caught these nice little rats from the Barron River and the inlet. Even with a buggered knee he's still out there getting amongst it! Once again both with natural lures hanging out their gobs.
The boys Joe and Charlie with some great bucks.
Freshwater and Dams
Cooler water in the dam has been seeing these bigger barra moving slowly and conserving their energy as the temps continue to drop, whilst they may have lock jaw in these moments the big girls have to eat again at some point. Persistent anglers sticking out the chilly nights have been getting stuck into some bigger models strolling the old riverbeds. But if you're just wanting to tick off one of these larger barramundi for yourself, live baiting off the banks could convince one to have an inquiry.
The freshwater streams have been fishing exceptionally well as the water levels continue to drop and clear up further, where the local young groms have been finding many jungle perch, sooty grunter and some nice tarpon as well from the streams. Keener anglers that are venturing to the top pools off these systems are finding the larger sizes of these jungle perch, choosing to throw poppers or walk the dog style lures is a great way to get that top water bite from these incredible fish.
Daniel fished the southern streams plucking this great Jungle perch while venturing to the top pool of this river system.
Weekend Outlook
From what we can see ahead on the forecast we may have a few days in a row there without any rain, it could be a potential to leave the rain jackets at home for a change. But hey we live in FNQ so that could all change by then. There will be neap tides on the way for mid to the end of the week, this weather combo could be perfect for fishing the larger freshwater rivers such as the Daintree or Mulgrave for barramundi.
This coming Thursday night we have Mark Berg coming in for an event talking all things fishing and tackle across Cairns and the FNQ fishery. Mark froths his top water fishing from barra in the rivers to GTs on the reef flats, this could be your opportunity to meet Bergie himself and get some great information from him. There will be prizes to be won from Wilson Fishing and we will be firing up a BBQ to raise funds for the Cairns Area Fish Stocking Group, helping put barras back into our cherished water ways. Limited tickets are available, register here before it's too late! Get your tickets here: https://cairnstackleworld.com.au/pages/in-store-events
James and his boy Rohan had convinced this XL barra measuring 114cm from the dam to have a chew while fishing aboard Gerkens Boys Fishing Charter.
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.