mackerel

Once again the smaller queenfish took little to no interest in my perfectly placed lure, but as I blooped it beyond the frenzy it was engulfed by a queenfish well over a metre in length. I thought to myself, ‘of course, I manage to hook two of the most brutal fish possible on the smallest, weakest popper while trying to catch …

Bassman Spinnerbaits is a family owned and run business, with Glen and Sue putting in many hours a week to keep up with the demand for this great product. Bassman also offers custom-made spinnerbaits and I have seen many fishers order their own colours. I have even called Sue requesting colours I want to try. When I fished the Flathead Classic …

At the time of writing only a couple of longtail tuna have been hooked and every fish to date has been taken by bloody big sharks. Ashby angler Ted McLean hooked a big longtail well over 20kg on a live gar only to be left with the head after just one bite. Naturally, with the number of big pelagics patrolling …

I HOPE everyone is enjoying the Christmas break and getting plenty of time on the water. The Tweed River Bar is getting really shallow out the front and starting to collect any sort of swell, so pay attention when coming in or out. Currumbin Creek Bar is still very shallow out the front. The dredge left recently, so that’s it for this …

Some people think you need to travel many kilometres offshore to catch big snapper, but that is not always the case. My PB 88cm snapper was caught in Moreton Bay in just 3.5m of water. Fishing the bay is a lot harder than fishing the offshore reefs. Fishing the correct tides, moon phases, with fresh baits and the right technique …

they have been avoidable and the more preferred reef species have hung about. It is simply a matter of identifying a school of leatherjacket on your sounder and moving somewhere else. As I sit here and write, they seem to be leaving anyway, so that’s good news all round. Solid squire and jewfish are being caught on Windarra Banks. Teraglin …

Mud crabs were running after the rain, with the kids getting the adults a good feed of four to eight crabs each trip. We had a visit from NSW Fisheries officers, which was unexpected, as someone who can’t count or doesn’t know the new rules for NSW must have made a complaint. I suppose having 17 traps stacked up may have …