A smorgasbord of bay species on offer

We’ve had fairly ordinary weather over the past three months – so much rain and wind.

Some people look at it in negative way, but I see it as Mother Nature enforcing her own closed season.

Almost all species have had a chance to recover, so now they should be ready for the picking.

All that rain floods our waterways with much needed nutrients for the smaller species to feed on.

So look at bad weather in a good light – more healthier fish to be caught!

Now that we’re all super keen to get out there and make up for lost time, stop and check this out… some cracking money saving ideas!

A heads up:

• Out-of-date flares or no flares – a fine of $309.00 (that’s a new Shimano Stradic reel)
• No life vest, unserviceable or unsuitable – a fine of $309.00 (a new G. Loomis rod)
• Not having your 360 light on while underway or at anchor after dark – a fine of $309.00 (a new Daiwa Saltist rod)
• Driving unlicenced – a fine of $619 (a new Daiwa Certate reel).

These are only a couple of the things Water Police frequently charge people with – don’t be one of them going forward, particularly when it can so easily be avoided.

 

Now, the fun stuff.

We recently had the opportunity to help the Sandgate Scouts and Venturers out with gaining skills on fishing for their achievement badges.

Plenty of fish were caught and most of the team achieved their goal.

This was the first time that most of them had been fishing, so baiting a hook and catching a fish was not only a challenge but also an adventure.

We all had a cracking time and I think a few will go on to more fishing activities.

So, thank you for allowing us to be part of this activity and we look forward to the next great night out.

Jessie and son Ozzy had an awesome fish on the platform at Nudgee recently, spending quality time together and learning new skills.

Ozzy caught his first bream, which came in at 15cm!

Not bad at all for his first one, I am sure it will be the first of many to come.

At this age, the young ones take in so much information, it’s a great age to learn how to do things right.

 

Thank you for the photo, Jesse and Ozzy.

A couple of young female anglers, Lilly and Vivian had an awesome day on the water with the family.

Vivian was armed with her infamous pink rod, which out fishes everyone else five to one.

We all need a rod like that in our collection!

A 57cm grunter was caught by Lilly – an awesome effort because at that size they can really test your weaknesses.

Well done Lilly!

Another great catch was a 40cm grass sweetlip, taken on Vivian’s pink rod.

Well done, you’ve both made some awesome memories there.

Please check your safety gear, do your maintenance on your trailer and motor and prepare yourself for what you hope does not happen while you’re out on the water.

Be safe out there, lose lots of lures and make memories.

 

A young gun in the making is a junior angler called Winston.

He took his dad Brodie out for a session on Moreton Bay tuskfish recently and came home with a couple of crackers.

Even though Winston wasn’t able to complete the mission without help from his dad and Captain Jack, he still got the prize in the end.

Winston sure looked excited with his catch.

And not only were they both great fish, but Winston’s was a little bigger than his dad’s.

Well done Winston, an awesome catch and an even better smile!

There is nothing better than sneaking out of the office and ducking down to Cabbage Tree Creek for a quick session to try out some new lures.

You’re in the process of lining up your third cast and you hear, “Mark, what are you doing?” yelled from above.

You look around knowing you’ve been busted yet again by Harvey.

I love fishing with this youngster, he always brings a positive vibe to the session.

 

Well, that was the end of lure testing for me.

Harvey has the distinct knack of getting you to rebait his hook, and take his fish off for him.

I know he’s more than capable of doing it all himself, yet he still manages to get you to do it for him.

Anyway… he totally out-fished me and most of the others in the area, again.

Harvey is always proud of his catches and he is an absolute pleasure to be out-fished by.

Thank you Harvey.

Young gun angler Guy Lambert, who wrote his first piece for me in last month’s issue, is keen to share more with you.

This month, he talks about his techniques and ideas on catching whiting on lures, which I for one am struggling with.

Thank you Guy.

 

How to tame whiting on surface and sub-surface lures

Gear

Whiting are near the bottom of the food chain.

With their smaller size, you need look no further than a 1000 or 2000-sized reel, which will have the weight capacity and best gears for fishing the lighter lure weights and will handle common by-catch.

The 1000 Shimano Sedona and a step up 2000 Daiwa TD SOL display a good arrangement of gears, with a faster paced rotor that will improve comfortability, smoothness and ease to fish faster retrieves.

Both reels incorporate strong designs to prevent corrosion and last longer due to the lighter stronger materials.

The step up with the TD SOL has a great Magseal system through the bail and internal gears that seal, preventing the internals from getting salt crystals and silt in them, which can deteriorate and corrode reels.

Rods in the 7’ range help when facing a headwind and frequent strong wind gusts.

A bit of length assists penetrating the wind, making for seamless casts, and a soft tip allows fast-paced actions that tempt whiting with surface lure retrieves and to get the lighter lures working with a more natural action.

The Atomic Arrowz Bream Surface and Whiting Tip come in that length and a lightweight 1-3kg, with a soft backbone to prevent resistance against hook ups, giving a more natural hook set with the whiting’s softer lips and capabilities to spit hooks.

Braid gives an advantage over monofilament as it is generally thinner in diameter and rounder, which increases casting distance.

Due to both reels I’ve listed having long-cast spool designs, line will evenly disperse off the reel for a more accurate long cast, which is helpful to cover more ground and find fish.

The lighter the leader the better because it’s less visible to the fish, so 6lb is my staple when it comes to whiting and in a mono leader, which helps elevate the lure presentation.

When fishing surface, this ensures a belly isn’t created in the line causing more drag, which makes the lure nosedive with an unnatural action.

As whiting generally inhabit shallower pockets in the rivers, a faster sinking material is not needed.

 

Lures and retrieves

Atomic Hardz K9 Walker hard-body lures stand out in the surface category, matching the natural fleeing patterns of jelly prawns in the shallows as they dip, dive and cause a commotion, making it easy for fish to locate and feed more aggressively.

Due to its natural profile and surface movement, a larger lure with more dominant splash and better fished as a slower retrieve is the 70mm MMD Splash Prawn.

For a freer livelier take on whiting fishing with lures, try micro plastics.

It’s hard to go past the subtle beating vibrations of 2.5” Z-Man Slim SwimZ and the Ecogear Maryuku Isome Worms fished on a jig head weight suited to weather conditions.

A good surface retrieve is a ‘walk the dog’ action, which consists of constant sideways twitching of the rod to make the lure swivel, duck and dive or a simple twitching of the rod tip.

To get the Splash Prawn working, fish the soft plastics in the lower reaches of the water column using smaller bumps of the rod tip to get the tail dancing and the fish interested in striking aggressively.

The speed of the retrieve depends on what the fish want on the day, so don’t be afraid to mix it up.

Hope this helps, Guy.

Maintain the passion.