THIS month I found myself sitting around whinging about the weather. The spring northerly wind has given me plenty of time to get my article written and in on time! We’ve had plenty of storms, so I hope many areas are getting decent rain. Ironically, I spend most of my year hating rain because my house turns into a swamp, …

AT the time of writing, tuna have slowly made a start in the bay. Though the catches have been quite patchy and not in substantial numbers, there have been enough all the same. The majority are mack tuna and a few longtail have made their presence felt in mixed schools, with most fish being less than 90cm in length. tuna …

IT’S September already and hard to believe we’ve been in restrictions for so long. It’s now the new norm and I’ve noticed more and more anglers are visiting Hervey Bay for the fishing action. This is good for the local economy, and we are blessed that Queensland’s rates of infection remain low enough for us to continue business in our …

WINTER is definitely here now. Very cold weather in May made temperatures drop quick. Sharks seem to be less active or not present, I can’t really be sure. Best of all, restrictions have been lifted to allow travel around Queensland. Hope this kicks a few more punters my way. Typical winter species have started to move and it’s exciting to …

WELL we’ve gone from heat and humidity to serious southeasterly wind and showers blasting the Fraser Coast and Hervey Bay, something we really do not need. But rain is a regular occurrence in autumn here, so I’ll just have to suck it up and wait until the wild wind and poor weather pass. On the plus side, tuna numbers have …

IT has been a wild couple months of weather. So much rain, so much humidity… it was a ‘real’ summer. I can’t remember the last summer with prolonged humidity – I have even considered buying an air-conditioner. I wish the fishing was just as hot! It has been patchy and at times tough. Particularly when dodging massive rain squalls that …

THE wind continues, but it has settled a bit. With the prevailing wind coming from the east, we’ve beem able to get out and catch fish. Plenty of bait has moved in closer to the shores of Fraser Island and it’s not too small, predominantly being white anchovies and blue pilchards. The dominant successful lures have been soft plastics and …

WITH an increase in surface activity on the Fraser Coast during spring, I find myself hosting many new guests. Often they have had very little experience with this style of charter. It’s lures only, and with little to no trolling involved it can be a bit daunting, particularly when the unsettled weather of mid-spring is thrown into the fray. There’s …

IT is mighty chilly, and my fingers would prefer to be tucked under a blanket, not tapping a keyboard. The weather change has started to affect the fish. We are finding big schools of non-committal fish on the sounder and not getting too many bites. Occasionally a fish gets stupid, but we never really see it become a pattern. However, …

You can sometimes track these fish around the surface schools with side-imaging sounders. You then require good boat positioning and lure presentation to turn interest into a strike. If you are lucky, they will stay in the area and allow you multiple shots and hence more fish boated. Some of these bigger fish loitering around are difficult to land though, …