Species

Fishing flathead with soft plastics

flathead

Flathead really are the people’s fish as they are readily available, eat a wide variety of bait and lures and the next trophy fish could be caught land-based next to the boat ramp. In this article I want to look at key areas to target flathead, a few of my favourite soft plastic presentations and a handful of tips to …

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Maximising mackerel mayhem

mackerel

Hi everyone, sorry I missed an article last month. Right on crunch time, when it was due, I had my appendix removed. A very common procedure I know, yet it had me out of action for a couple of weeks, on doctor’s orders. I’m still on light duties, though the doc did say I could go fishing… if I had …

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Tips for catching sand whiting

whiting

Hi everyone, well we are coming towards the end of a hot, wet and windy summer, which is a relief! On the plus side, the fishing has been epic. I know I’ve been talking about sand whiting a lot lately but this month I will share again some tips for targeting these hard-fighting and delicious fish. Summer rainfall at the …

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Northern Territory must act to protect barramundi fishery

Barramundi

The Amateur Fishermen’s Association of the Northern Territory, the peak body representing the recreational fishing sector in the Northern Territory, is calling for urgent weight-based barramundi catch quotas to be introduced for key Top End catchments, including the Daly River and Roper River. This follows concerns that commercial fishers were targeting bigger harvests from important recreational and Traditional fishing areas, …

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Cracking catches on Capricorn Coast

on

This month I was going to cover the Shimano King of Kings competition but unfortunately, I’ve run out of time. Keep an eye out for an in-depth run-down next month. For this issue, we’ll have a good look around at what’s been happening locally. With the warmer weather, the estuaries have all been about grunter, fingermark, mangrove jack and barramundi. …

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Surprise snapper success

snapper

Well, what a dismal start to 2024! snapper With all the rain earlier in the year, the water around the southern bay islands was very ordinary, to say the least. Throw in the wind and trying to coordinate dates when people can go fishing with the days and weather windows available and we’ve managed only one day on the water …

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Spotted mackerel ring netting update

netting

The recent commercial netting activities in Moreton Bay, initially raised on social media, has triggered a reaction from many recreational fishos. With most of these anglers having fished the bay for years, they no doubt saw the damage ring netting did to fish stocks back in the 1980s – which has taken years for the fishery to recover from. Before …

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Mackerel pre and post closure

G’day everyone, I hope you found my previous article useful in trying to get yourself onto a spanish mackerel or two. As most of you would know, we have two separate closures for Queensland tidal systems – one was February 1-21 and the second closure starts March 1, finishing March 21. Up until this point, I’d been right into the …

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The Great Aussie Crab Pot Recovery

crab

Lurking below the surface is a growing threat to marine habitat and your next big catch. Piles of lost, abandoned, and discarded crab pots, known as ghost gear, are accumulating in popular fishing spots. In partnership with with OceanEarth Foundation, through its Ghostnets Australia program, OzFish Unlimited are on a mission to remove abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear (ghost …

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Barramundi are back

barramundi

It’s been a long three month wait but I’m pleased to report that the east coast saltwater barramundi season reopens as at midday February 1. So, I’ll kick the February Capricorn Coast write up off with a few barra tips to get you ready for the season. The first thing you must do is research the gear you need to …

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