In quiet spell
The experienced local angler didn’t ind admitting his son out- fished him hen the lures also attracted strikes om a couple of thumping blue or ooktown salmon and a large tarpon.
almon give them the slip
CHOOL teacher Billy Green told me threadfin salmon within deeper orrissey’s Creek holes when he and a ate fished there last weekend. The barra- mad angler said he had odified fishing tactics since the ueensland East Coast Barramundi ason closure last Thursday and was ready reaping rewards with good auls of mangrove jack – 40cm type h – but he says he was most happy nding a large school of salmon. “I found them on the sounder … a hool of about 50 or 60 threadies. Big ches they were, but they wouldn’t ke anything,” Green said. “We tried lures – vibes, and live baits ut they just kept moving.” Green is one of the few anglers who n declare not catching a fish from ch a school but still remain happy. “We didn’t get one ( salmon) though we followed them around uring the change of the tide, roughout the last of the run out and e first of the rising tide,” he said.
Wise advice about sharks
HE shark attack that claimed the life a Melbourne doctor, 33, in the Whitndays has many in the fishing world aking their heads in disbelief. The fatality follows two shark tacks ( separate incidents) in the same ea in September – fortunately either losing their life – and those ncounters prompting the Great arrier Reef Marine Park Authority to lease Be Shark Smart educational aterial. The poster, emailed to all charter nd tourism operators, provided good advice on safety while doing your thing within GBRMPA waters and deserves space here.
The advice begins with the authority asking anglers, tourists and residents to note that sharks inhabit the Great Barrier Reef and the Queensland coast including freshwater estuaries, canals and streams.
To reduce the risk of negative interactions with sharks: Swim at patrolled beaches, between the flags and obey the lifeguard’s advice and signage.
Know that sharks are more actively hunting at dawn and dusk and these are times when swimming should be avoided. Always swim, snorkel or dive with a buddy.
Be mindful of water conditions and avoid swimming in murky or unclear water as this can increase the potential of mistaken interactions with sharks.
Never clean fish or discard food scraps over the side of your boat at anchorages.
Don’t forget to use on- board holding tanks/ toilets while in anchorages as even black waste can attract fish which, in turn, attracts the predators.
And do not swim near or interfere with shark control equipment.
This is commonsense advice and although never likely to be 100 per cent shark- proof, certainly positive steps to minimise shark encounters and risk.
Seaforth’s prolific poachers
MEANWHILE, the GBRMPA continues upping the ante on poaching within marine park no- take green zones.
No- take zones near the Seaforth township north of Mackay has officially earned the undesirable title of becoming the first no- take green zone to record 100 poaching offences and the GBRMPA is urging residents to report poaching in their patch.
“Seaforth has the largest noncompliance rate in the marine park, becoming the first no- take green zone to record 100 poaching offences.
As a result, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is targeting illegal fishing in the area throughout November, a spokesperson for the authority said.
While only a handful of Townsville anglers occasionally visit the Seaforth area, it is a timely reminder that greater Townsville waters boast more than its fair share of no- take zones and anglers need to be on their game when it comes to marine park zoning.
Zoning maps and applicable rules are available free from specialist tackle and boating outlets or online at www. gbrmpa. gov. au
Making most of mackerel
SPANISH mackerel are still about in numbers and particularly so when anglers fish wide at popular shoal and reef areas rather than inshore headlands.
Francis Johnson declared the species a year- round proposition after he and two mates each caught their three fish bag limit of spanish mackerel while fishing near Robbery Shoal last week.
Trolling garfish baits behind wog heads tied with red and white firetail, the trio caught their fish during the early morning hours as the sun eased over the horizon.
“First strike was just before sun up and we’d filled the Esky by 7.30am,” Johnson said.
“One was a beauty about 150cm long and the others just schoolies about 7kg,” he added.
Johnson was happy to predict that he would catch mackerel every month of the calendar year and rarely waver from his garfish and wog head tactics.
“Sometimes I’ll use wolfies ( herring) but that’ll only be for a few weeks in about May and in close to the headlands and islands,” he said.
Young Koen’s a natural
AND well- known angler Craig Allen recently ventured wide in search of spanish mackerel.
Allen, a deft hand catching mangrove jack, also has mackerel on a short leash, it seems, and fished with his best mate Tane Hutana, his nephew Koen Hutana and his own father Bill Allen.
The mateship was obvious when in his account Allen called fishing with these guys “a privilege”.
He told how a two- hour run from the boat ramp landed the quartet in a favourite spot where fish activity was immediately apparent and strikes explosive when wolf herring baits and lures were set astern.
“In the first 10 minutes Tane had one in that was at least 10kg and he was smiling like the Cheshire cat.”
Allen continued: “After many more strikes and many lost fish the hooks finally stuck in one and it was a screamer. It was young Koen’s turn.
“He pumped and wound the rod like a man possessed. About 30ft ( 9m) from the back of the boat I saw colour, and I also saw a nice size fin and a big bronze coloured shadow right behind it.”
With skills of only an experienced mackerel fisho, Allen slipped the gaff into a whopping fish and the crew celebrated boating Koen’s very first spanish mackerel.
“It was high fives all round … a team effort, and it was clear that the fish had more than one fight on its hands – us and the other from the big sharks below,” Allen said.
“The photograph shows a couple of marks but not how beaten up the mackerel was on the other side.”
The sharks didn’t go hungry, according to Allen.
Well done, Koen!