Fishing Tips

Fixated on flathead in snapper closure

WELL, another month has passed and, with the tricky weather and the forecast all over the place, it’s definitely been difficult to plan trips. Let’s hope by the time this issue comes out the weather has settled into a nice winter pattern. With the snapper ban on, most of my charters have been focussed on chasing flathead because there’s a …

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Collecting bait for beach and flats

AS we enter the final month of winter, the beach fishing season in Queensland and Northern NSW is seriously heating up. So too are the shallow estuary flats, particularly as we head towards the full moon in August and into spring. When it comes to light line bait fishing from the beaches or flats, fresh live bait is best. Let’s …

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Dealing with windy weather

IT has been incredibly tough weather so far this winter. I cannot remember such a windy year and a few of us commented about it via Messenger one woeful day. From the Sunshine Coast to Bundaberg – yuck, just yuck. As if COVID lockdowns didn’t make it hard enough already, and just before our school holidays. woeful wind Throw into …

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August options on Capricorn Coast

HOW time flies – it seems only yesterday we were dusting off the winter woollies and now it’s almost time to pack them away again. I believe we have been very lucky – we have received only a couple of fairly cold snaps but apart from that Jack Frost has been all but absent. This means we are probably in …

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FNQ mackerel numbers discussion

LIVING on Thursday Island, I’m fortunate to be able to explore remote parts of Cape York and the Torres Strait regularly. One of my favourite species to target and cook up is the magnificent spanish mackerel, which has certainly been making headlines recently. Spaniards tick many boxes because they can be caught using a range of techniques, they grow big, …

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A lesson in patience

MY favourite pastime is having a joke with people. Interestingly, I always find it funny, however occasionally my quarries do not. As an example, when I hide their phone or car keys they begin to panic and worry. For me that’s the fun – to see the look of fear on their faces is priceless. patience lesson Also, I often …

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Soapies at Iluka despite swell and gusts

IF nothing else, fishing along the Clarence Coast of northern NSW has been consistently inconsistent, thanks mainly to the recent spell of 30-knot gusts that have been blowing from all points of the compass. Sure, there have been the occasional few good days to get out among the fish – along the beaches and headlands – however, large swells have …

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Targeting tailor in the rivers

G’DAY everyone, over the past two months we have seen huge schools of tailor enter our local rivers and bays. While this is not uncommon for winter, this season has been a cracker and is probably due to the massive amount of rain we have received. The abundant numbers of tailor should still be around this month too, so let’s …

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Sounding for trophies

SO, here’s a question. How many of you have a great sounder on the boat and don’t really know how to use it? How many of you turn it on and look at it wondering what all the pretty colours mean? I guess a lot of people are afraid of pressing too many buttons in case of wiping out a …

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Brisbane River revisited after hiatus

LIVING on the Discovery coast offers a diverse range of fishing options and I feel I’m blessed, but it was good to find myself back in Brisbane and flicking a lure around my old haunt on the Brisbane River. Unfortunately, I only had a small window of time to reminisce and try my luck, so I launched my tinnie at …

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