Fishing Tips

Baitfish bonanza brings big bites

WHAT a wild start to the year we’ve had with the La Niña weather event slamming the east coast and record rainfalls. The peak of the activity was a major rain belt extending for almost 2000km along our coastline, causing major flood occurrences all over, and my condolences go to all the people who have lost their properties and belongings. …

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Brown water at Ballina

HELLO all and welcome to this month’s edition. I’m not sure who broke a mirror or walked under a ladder, but it would appear someone has. We’ve had more bad luck this year as far as the weather goes. Another sizable amount of rain fell in the Northern Rivers region again and, at the time of writing this article, the …

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Techniques to tempt on the Gold Coast

There are still good numbers of mackerel about for those of you who troll lures or rigged bait. Deep diving hard-body lures between 150-200mm work well when trolled at 4-6 knots. The same sized lure with a smaller bib will be good on the troll at a faster speed of around 8-9 knots too. I use a 20cm length of …

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Bundaberg bags mixed offshore

KIND weather conditions provided offshore anglers the opportunity to head out to their favourite haunts and bag a few good fish. With sharks appearing to be an ever-present threat to a good fish – particularly if it is red – those anglers fishing less popular spots have landed a greater percentage of their hooked fish whole. Bundaberg bags Areas such …

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Tribute to Peter Conlon

WOW, unfortunately another month of interesting weather, with no work done trying to line up conditions and days clients could go out. I did manage a couple of days on the water myself where I basically did a little bit of trolling for snapper, which is a technique I usually do in summer. Peter Conlon I picked up a few …

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Gold Coast mackerel action predicted

AUTUMN is here, and that means the temperature will start to taper off, but not the fishing! As we head into the cooler months, the fishing on the Gold Coast will hit fever pitch in April and May. Traditionally at this time of year, the size of the fish you dare to catch is only limited to the size of …

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Huge variety off Noosa

Noosa mangrove jack

DO you remember this time last year? With COVID-19 closing many areas including freshwater dams, lakes and parks as well as beach access and restricting charter operations, this year is very different… with no closures. We sure are lucky to live up here in paradise! Noosa variety April is one of the best months to catch pelagics with North, Halls, …

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Iluka pelagics fire up

Iluka Bluff longtail

NOW, I’m not sure about you but I for one find it hard to believe that it’s April already, as it only seems a few weeks ago we were celebrating New Year’s Day. For myself, April 2021 has a special feel about it because it marks the beginning of my thirtieth year writing monthly columns for this great publication. Iluka …

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Tin Can Bay jack comp wrap-up

G’DAY crew, I hope you have all been keeping well over the past few weeks and keeping those rods bent! By all reports most of you have been out wetting a line or two and there have been plenty of stories told in the store lately. A pretty common one has been the number of squid people have been catching. …

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Transition time on the Gold Coast

HI everyone, we’re now into autumn and it’s a time of season transition. The marauding mangrove jack will still be on the prowl this month, while bigger flathead will return to the rivers to feed. This is the start of my favourite time for fishing the Gold Coast Broadwater and the Nerang River. Transition Gold Coast From April until September …

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