It was forecast to back off a touch the next day and everyone had the same idea. I reckon 50 boats went out the Brunswick Heads Bar and mine was one of them. Pretty good bait was around in the form of big slimies and a few pike. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I just threw the anchor …

Some good pearl perch were caught on the new moon in May, so definitely give them a go on the same moon in June if the weather allows. Pearlies really are one of the delicacies of the reef. The 50-fathom line is also holding a lot of squire but they are so small it’s not worth the effort and half of them …

I landed a couple and had several wipe-outs when I hooked what I initially thought was just another small kingfish. But then I looked over the side and saw something orange coming up. Perplexed, I gave the handle a few more turns and saw a mangrove jack of 4-5kg nearing the surface. In that split second when I recognised what the fish …