FISHOS GET IN AHEAD OF CHANGE
ESTUARY and reef fishing picked up dramatically this week with some great catches reported off Tropical Far North Queensland.
Locally the Cairns Inlet has fired up on barramundi with several quality fish caught on live prawns and mullet along with salmon and trevally.
The Cairns northern beaches have seen good catches of king salmon on lures and live baits along with some big barramundi.
One barra hooked was estimated over the 1.2m mark. Soft plastic vibes have been the go to casting lures for both the salmon and barra while a few fish have also been caught trolling hard bodied lures like the RMG Scorpions.
Southern estuaries and rivers have all seen good numbers of barramundi and mangrove jacks caught with Mourilyan Harbour, Maria Creek, Tully River and Hinchinbrook Channel producing fish.
The recent rain off the low pressure system expected to form into a cyclone on Friday has given most of the southern creeks a good flush which will boost the fishing into the future. Some areas including Innisfail received over 150mm in 24 hours which will also drop the water temps that have been very high.
Fingermark have been caught on the inshore rocks over the tide changes with live herring and squid the best bait.
Mud crabs have been running in most of the estuaries and coastal creeks.
I set a few pots last weekend in the Cairns Inlet and caught a great feed but as the norm recently several pots were stolen.
Reef fishing saw the coral trout fire up on the big tides on the pinnacles and bommies holding bait, with some nice fish coming off Oyster Reef.
Surprisingly spanish mackerel also fired up on floated pilchards and live baits in the same locations. Spaniards are generally more prevalent in the cooler months but have been in reasonable numbers on the bommies and around the wrecks and inshore bait schools where casting metal lures are successful.
Nannygai were also on the bite along with cobia but with the big run best fishing was over the tide changes.
This weekend’s weather is going to be heavily affected by the low pressure system off the coast and possible development into a cyclone today or Saturday morning.
The system is expected to track SE away from the Queensland Coast but Saturday’s forecasted to see winds to 30 knots then easing into Sunday and dropping out. It looks like fishing will be restricted inshore.