Fishing

It’s the saddest time of the year for saltwater barramundi enthusiasts. The start of a long three month wait begins on November 1 as the East Coast barra closure comes into effect. Many barra anglers turn to impoundments to get their fix. If you live locally near Yeppoon or Rockhampton, you only have a few options close by. You can …

The 2024 Gold Coast Flathead Classic reeled in a fantastic few days of fishing, fun and fierce competition, all blessed by near-perfect weather. Anglers hit the water with enthusiasm and, as the final day wrapped up, the weather held long enough for a full day of fishing and an exciting evening of presentations before a dramatic turn, with wind and …

G’day everyone, Seventeen Seventy would have to be my favourite destination to go fishing. The variety of fish there is insane, including the iconic red emperor, coral trout, redthroat emperor and many more. Roughly, it’s a seven-hour drive from the Gold Coast, which includes refuelling and toilet breaks. On arriving, you can almost sense how busy the boat ramp will …

Saltwater river and estuary systems are loaded with structure, bait and a wide variety of fish species, including bread and butter basics like whiting, bream and flathead, and more exotic species such as snapper, trevally and grunter. When exploring new systems or hitting my local waters, one key structure that I like to target is saltwater yabby beds. In this …

The long-range weather forecast has not looked promising for me recently, which is just a bit stressful when you have multiple tours lined up, with some clients coming from abroad and no flexibility in their schedule. But for once Mother Nature smiled on me. I sit here now marvelling at the weather, but also grateful to take a rest. The …

Barramundi will be on just about every estuary angler’s mind as we move into October and closer to the closed season for this iconic fish. These chrome-sided fish are a majestic sight when they jump. Even people who have caught plenty still get that hit of adrenaline when a good sized barra surfaces. Central Queensland houses a great population of …

Fishing along the Clarence Coast of northern NSW has been above average in recent times, unless you’re a beach tailor fisher as these toothy critters have continued to play silly buggers by biting their heads off one day then disappearing for a week. One of the main reasons for the erratic tailor fishing is that stinking salmon have appeared in …

Paradise Stocking Association held its annual Catch a Catty Family Fishing Competition at Mingo Crossing on the weekend of August 17-18 on the Burnett River. It was a magic weekend weather wise given the fresh in the river system after 5-6 inches of beautiful rain just days before.   We had 168 senior anglers register and 94 juniors, which was …

New research is using genetic techniques to assess populations of the protected narrow sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidate) in northern Australia. Commercial fishers in the Northern Prawn Fishery are working with CSIRO researchers to better estimate the narrow sawfish population and understand the stock structure of this protected species. They are considered one of the most threatened families of marine fish in …

Round 2 of the fishing competition between the Power Boat Anglers Club and the Bribie and Rainbow Beach fishing clubs was held in late August. Initially there were to be two boats from the PBA taking part but with a forecast that was very hard to lock down it was decided to take just one, settling on Willpower, a 1992 268 …