Ost of cooler mornings
She didn’t groan or say a word… ’ t even know she was hooked up,” dley said. It was the biggest and darkest jack ver seen… almost black it was,” he ed enviously. Anglers are reminded that mangrove often known as red bream, are ected by a 35cm minimum legal size a maximum in possession bag limit ve fish per person.
aking off busy barras
D angler Chris Wilcox told me a lar yarn this week when he spoke of grove jack in serious numbers. Wilcox, of Wilcox Excavations, said s were about in numbers ughout most Cleveland Bay creeks foreshore hot spots. He said nothing of the size of the s but he did admit the hot ditions also encouraged barramundi te, the well- known angler having to ke several barras free of his hooks ng recent trips.
c fills fishy bucket list
NBERRA couple Zac and Cassie hin celebrated Zac’s 24th birthday Monday while fishing within veland Bay shallows. he pair sweltered in the recedented heatwave conditions e attending a friend’s wedding last kend and hoped conditions on the er would be a little more forgiving, assie surprised her husband with a - day trip with my Fish City Charters ration. Waters registering a fish ching 29C and a stiff northwesterly breeze did little to incite a hectic bite at any number of inshore hot spots, and there was a distinct lack of surface activity, however, the husband and wife fishing team hooked enough fish to stretch their arms.
Both lures and live baits fooled fish hanging close to structure and accordingly, large fish were difficult to drag free of the treacherous terrain.
Zac had earlier admitted to his wife that GT or giant trevally was at the very top of his fishing bucket list and he was a very happy birthday boy when he nailed a respectable fish on light line.
The fight was considered a delicate one when Zac carefully encouraged the trevally to swim free of line shredding barnacle encrusted boulders and then the fight protracted when the fish stubbornly stalled just metres below the boat. Eventually landed, it was obvious that Zac enjoyed a little birthday luck with the leader shredded to near breaking point early in the fight.
The pair caught and released several doggie mackerel and both were astonished at the fangs of an oversized military or sergeant’s barracuda – one of the biggest I’d seen in recent times – but it was the GT that made Zac’s birthday one to remember.
Going distance for muddies
FIELDING calls from plenty of mates looking for crab bait this past week, I’ve had to disappoint them telling them to look elsewhere.
Ideas of fresh mudcrab for Christmas lunch is a mouth- watering concept not lost on this fisho and I’ll be setting my pots within local waters during the next couple of weeks.
I won’t be Robinson Crusoe though with plenty of crab pots – both commercial and recreational – certain to punctuate the shallow waters flanking Cleveland Bay and the creeks within.
Recent reports lead me to believe that the foreshores within the Long Beach to Cocoa Creek area have been given a good going over and best results might be had when pots are set deep into the mangroves within the mouths of the creeks.
Creeks and rivers to the south however, including the Haughton River, are said to be giving up great hauls of mudcrab to those prepared to work their pots at regular intervals and move them twice a tide or at threehourly intervals.
One monster buck crab caught near the Cromarty Creek boat ramp measured an incredible 19.5cm, the minimum legal size for mudcrab 15cm when measured across the widest part of the back or carapace.
Female, or jenny, mudcrabs are protected within Queensland waters and anglers bound by an in- possession limit of 10 male crabs per person.
Windy and rainy weekend
WEEKEND fishing options will be largely limited to prevailing weather conditions including the possibilities of substantial rain forecast.
Stiff winds are almost a certainty following strong wind warnings issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for yesterday and today and will have shelved offshore aspirations by anglers keen on doing the offshore and reef thing.
Temperatures should be significantly cooler than those recently experienced although high humidity could also present difficulties for anglers new to North Queensland, so stay hydrated.
Might be a good weekend to check out some tempting Christmas deals at your favourite bait and tackle store.