Fishing

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 …

RECREATIONAL fisherfolk who come across great waterway scenes or who land superb catches against stunning backgrounds can now make money from doing what they probably would anyway – taking a few photos on their mobile phones. An Australian-designed and developed photography app, PicTrax, has been engineered to create a unique Australia-wide catalogue of great mobile phone shots. Postcard-style waterway locations …

QUEENSLAND Government scientists will assess the population biology of black jewfish in a new research project to better understand stocks and manage the species. Minister for Agricultural Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said the three-year priority project would provide crucial information to help protect the sustainability of black jewfish. “We need to know more about black jewfish on the east …

QUEENSLAND recreational fishers, charter boat operators and other stakeholders in Queensland’s fisheries are being urged to take part and provide feedback in a survey to inform a project that is aiming to help rebuild stocks of snapper and pearl perch in the state. An assessment in 2019 found that in Queensland waters stocks of snapper and pearl perch were at …

WHEN it rains, it pours. And pour it did, with some parts of the Gold Coast shaken and stirred, copping 500mm or more. You can’t deny we needed it though, and boy was it good to hear rain on the roof. With all the creeks and estuaries in flood, the systems are receiving a well-overdue flush. The wet can really change things on …

IT has been a great start to the year and we have scored cracking weather between wet season squalls and thunderstorms. Boating during the wet can be a gamble, let alone boat camping, because you simply can’t trust weather forecasts and it can turn nasty extremely quickly. The wet certainly came late, with heavy rain and thunderstorms on Thursday Island from mid-February. That …

EXPLODING in the US, the Ned rig is basically a stand-up presentation built around a mushroom-style jig head and a buoyant soft plastic, meaning in the water the plastic is either fleeing on the retrieve or rapidly standing up in a claws-up ‘defensive’ pose or tail-up ‘feeding’ pose on the pause. On the pause, the buoyant plastic moves around naturally …

A NORTH Queensland barramundi farm will produce a million fish a year through an intensive fish nursery and support more than 20 new regional jobs with a funding boost from the Queensland Government. Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said barramundi farm Mainstream Aquaculture was one of 14 businesses in Queensland to receive a Rural Economic Development …

THE transition months where both warm and cool water species are on offer can produce red-hot fishing action. Fish that prefer warmer water such as mangrove jack will be feeding hard at this time before the water temperature rapidly drops in May. Some of the best jack fishing occurs during the season transition, with a lot of big fish over …

THE 2020 barramundi season opened at midday on February 1 and I was on the water ready for the abundance. The season opening coincided with good tides and after only an hour, at 12.55pm, the abundance was clear – we had the first barramundi measuring a respectable 80cm. With the neap tides building towards the quarter moon, the fishing in estuaries …