River barra stay tight
WATERS are warming and barramundi are emerging considerably more active than they have been during recent weeks.
Still, local real estate identity Wayne Nicholson and Charters Towers counterpart Henry Slaney recently fished hard at the wrong end of enduring winter conditions to find Cleveland Bay barramundi with a good dose of lockjaw.
Bites were few and far between as they used lures and baits to entice just a couple of legal size barra.
A lethargic strike from a fish encouraged Nicholson to remark at how small a fish he had seemed to have hooked during the early part of a rising tide.
Such was the insignificance of the fish, the rod tip barely bent and Nicholson sounded like anyone but his well-known self as Nico from the Triple M Cowboys Call Team.
He became a little more excited though when, near the boat, the little fish rolled near the surface of the coffee coloured water to reveal a chrome flank and yellow tail.
Quickly netted, a very welcome barramundi stretched the tape to a bit better than 60cm before the gold Bomber lure was removed and fish slipped into the ice-box.
Slaney, not to be outdone, chose a live mullet bait to open his barra account but not before fooling a couple of fat blue or Cooktown salmon and silver or river jew.
Nicholson enjoyed watching his mate pull a procession of fish and showed his versatility dragging a solid 35cm pikey bream from among a handful of barramundi detected on the sonar.
Grunter soundbites
Grunter or javelin fish have proven hungry within the Hinchinbrook Channel during recent weeks.
The popular sport and table speci are frequenting the southern reache of the channel where landbased anglers are taking full advantage during the evening hours when fishin from the Lucinda fishing wharf.
Fish to a thumping 70cm and shoulders of gold have been falling to squid and large prawn baits for those casting their lines from the furthermost extremities of the wharf while a smaller class of fish to about 50cm seem to prefer the shallower waters.
Dave Woods said he and mates fished the wharf last week and were surprised by a savage grunter bite.
“The light had just about faded long after the sun had set and then it happened,” Woods said.
“We were using handlines and we had a couple each and they started spinning and going everywhere.”
Woods said he and his mates wer in hysterics trying to control their handlines – two each at a time – whi also trying to avoid tangles.
“It was so funny but we landed six fish between us and lost just as many The biggest was 65cm and the others somewhere around or just over 50cm Woods said.
And as quickly had the bite starte it had stopped, Woods attributing th savage bite to a tide change.
Channel success
Meanwhile, Townsville’s Luke Neill fished within the bowels of the Hinchinbrook Channel to find barra and grunter hungry, both species falling to soft plastic prawn imitation
Neill used Atomic brand prawn lures to good effect when casting the close to any number of gutters and drains.
First Queenslander
Queenslander Carl Jocumsen made history early this week becoming the