Now that’s what we
THE Idalia woman called it ‘Relle’s Philosophy’…
“We go boating and if we catch fish, then we’re fishing. That’s the way we do it and we always have a great day, fish or no fish,” Narelle Promnitz said with a cheeky grin.
Husband Craig Promnitz did as all good husbands do and just nodded his head in agreement.
The couple were taking a break from their busy Willows Pool Shop business and while spending a couple of days on Magnetic Island, decided they’d drown a worm or two.
Tides last weekend were inspiring few anglers, but the Promnitz’s were boating foremost, and a lack of bait in the shipping channel wasn’t a big worry.
Craig remembered catching a few doggie mackerel in the channel, closer to the harbour than the island, several weeks earlier and in quick time the couple’s boating day morphed into a fishing expedition when Narelle claimed a mackerel on her very first drop with one of few live herring baits fooled with a bait jig.
The mackerel, at a fat 65cm, was bled and stowed in the icebox while shortly afterwards, another few fish depleted the limited bait stock and made good their freedom when failing to find the point of the hook.
No bait, no worries – Craig tying on a Halco brand metal slice of about 30 grams and immediately into fish.
Another half-dozen mackerel were added to the tally before Craig hooked the biggest fish he’d ever encountered.
It was a brutal affair with the pool man negotiating the anchor rope more than once and desperately holding his opponent from a nearby channel pylon.
He didn’t dare give the fish a centimetre more than it could drag from a heavy clutch setting and wondered out loud whether he was ever going to steer the fish close enough to reveal its identity, let alone land the beast.
Near on 20 minutes had passed before the monofilament leader breached the surface and a whopping GT or giant trevally circled below the boat.
The sight of the largest fish Craig had ever encountered was just the impetus the rapidly tiring man needed to finish the fight, a few more minutes of judicious rod work allowing him opportunity to cradle his prize catch for a quick photograph for spearing it back into the water.
Exhausted, yet immensely satisfied with his prize catch, Craig shared several more mackerel encounters – some released – with his wife before both agreed a trout would make for an extraordinary finale to what many experienced fishers predicted ‘an ordinary day’.
And extraordinary it was when Craig lowered the last live herring bait and waited patiently for the rod tip to bow.
A significantly shorter, but no less brutal, battle ensued before Craig heaved aboard a beautiful 59cm bar cheek coral trout.
So much for boating Narelle…
FUN ON THE FLY
Last weekend’s neap tides were preferred by organisers of the AFO Hinchinbrook Challenge, North Queensland’s premier annual flyfishing event.
Nearly 40 anglers contested the 2021 event when they threw fur and feathers among the myriad of creeks, river
mouths, sand and mud bars within the World Heritage listed waterway.
Well-known flyfisher Daniel Collins was awarded Champion Angler for 2021, fending off first runner-up Jon Snell and Matthew Brady placing third.
The largest of 15 barramundi caught by competitors throughout the two-day event was measured at 57cm and caught by Martin Brennan, the next best measuring in at 55cm.
There were more queenfish caught than any other species, 86 in total while 58 cod and 44 trevally made up the bulk of 328 fish caught and released.
Champion angler Collins claimed a hat trick of ‘Largest of Species’ on his way to victory – a cod measuring 45cm, a tarpon or ox-eye herring of 59cm and a flathead stretching to 65cm – the largest fish of the challenge.
Kim Strathearn fooled the largest jack at 55cm while Jake Payne recorded a queenfish of 53cm and Ian Kucurs a 58cm trevally, to claim titles respectively. AFO Hinchinbrook Challenge Champion Team for 2021 was Kettafly, followed by Chillean Rawdoggers with Hewes Ya Daddy third.
And the tides didn’t matter much when Kevin Shephard recently caught a barramundi while fishing from Pallarenda Beach.
Fishing with renowned angler Ryan Tully, Kevin pinned the barra in the corner of the jaw with a Berkley brand vibe lure.
The barra was happily given its freedom following an obligatory portfolio of pictures.
FATHER’S DAY CATCH
Father’s Day has not been lost on families of local fishing dads; fishing tackle outlets busier than usual – in spite of the blustery conditions that have rendered most fishing opportunities near impossibilities this week.
Fishing Warehouse staff remained constantly busy when I visited and replaced terminals in my tackle box, although bait sales might have been at an alltime low – and they’d just sorted a fresh batch of wolf herring!
This weekend might be one spent pre-rigging wolf herring for a last shot at inshore spanish mackerel when winds drop enough to allow comfortable passage to hotspots like Cape Cleveland, Cordelia Rock and
Acheron Island in deeper Halifax Bay waters and perhaps Albino Rock at the southern limits of Great Palm Island.
SPAWNING TIME
Within weeks, the greater spanish mackerel population is expected to migrate to known reef breeding grounds to spawn. This is when the species are at their most vulnerable and, weather permitting, taken advantage of by both commercial and recreational fishers.
And it might well be the last time such fishing is permitted during a mackerel spawning event, the species considered by fisheries authorities as in steep decline and perhaps currently unsustainable within any fishery, stocks recently estimated at a paltry 17 per cent of original unfished stocks.
Assessment of the spanish fishery is currently under review and it is expected that any number of restrictions could be introduced restricting commercial, recreational and charter fishing catches in 2022.
Anglers should note in their diaries looming Closed Coral Reef Fin Fish periods commencing early next month.
Designated reef species including coral trout, nannygai, emperors, sweetlip, cod and jobfish, among a host of others, will be off limits to all commercial, recreational and charter fishers throughout the periods October 3 to October 7 and November 2 to November 6.
It’s no coincidence that these dates surround the new or dark moon periods when it is recognised that many coral reef species spawn and, like the mackerel, they are often found by fishers to be easy pickings.