Species

Tips for catching mud crabs

crabs

Hi folks, well summer is upon us and with that comes seafood season! This means mud crabs, sand crabs and, as summer progressives, banana prawns in southeast Queensland. I’ll save the banana prawns and sand crabs for future articles, with the focus for now being on catching a haul of beautiful mud crabs. December crabs December is a great time …

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Interesting facts on coral trout

Coral trout fishers provide some of the freshest sustainably harvested seafood to Queenslanders. The firm pearly white flesh is considered to be the finest eating of all of our reef fish. Interesting facts: Don’t be fooled by the name – they’re not a trout at all, they’re actually a member of the grouper and cod family They’re ambush predators that …

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It’s barramundi closed season on the east coast

season

Our Fisheries Queensland East Coast fisheries manager Daniel answers some questions about barramundi closed season: Why do we have closed barramundi seasons? Closed seasons are typically developed to reduce pressure on fish stocks during a period of vulnerability. Typically closed seasons are determined around the time when the fish is most likely to be spawning, migrating or aggregating. Do we …

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Tips for successful flatty trolling sessions

trolling

With the successful Gold Coast Flathead Classic out of the way for another year, again the results speak for themselves. Flathead are a great option on lures – be they hard-bodies or the ever-popular soft plastics. However, what stood out for me as a distant observer was reading that the four top-placed teams in the Flathead Classic were all in …

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2023 Gold Coast Pest Fishing Classic

pest

City of Gold Coast and My Catch Australia need your help removing tilapia and other introduced fish – goldfish, Texas cichlids, koi and European carp – from waterways in the region on Saturday November 11 from 6am to 5pm. This is the first year the Gold Coast Pest Fishing Classic – formerly known as Tilapia Busters – has expanded to …

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2023 Flathead Classic round up

flathead

Hi everyone, the 2023 Flathead Classic was held at the end of September, with 639 anglers and 257 boats competing in this time-honoured tournament. Bush ‘n Beach Fishing Magazine had two teams entered and both did well, finishing a respectable seventeenth and thirty-second in the overall team rankings. The ‘OG BNB Fishing’ team consisted of magazine chief Ben Collins, Brisbane …

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Time for a mahi mahi switch up

mahi

Haven’t had a crack at a mahi mahi or two off the fish aggregating devices yet? Why not? It can be very easy to drive right past the FADS in search of your usual reef fish as the temperature starts to rise slightly, but as a novice to this species and different style of fishing, if there’s something holding you …

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Near extinct trout cod fight back

trout

By the time trout cod were identified as a species in Australia, they were almost extinct. But, according to renowned fish ecologist Associate Professor Mark Lintermans, thanks to decades of conservation efforts, they are on the verge of being upgraded from endangered to vulnerable. University of Canberra’s Centre for Applied Water Science, Freshwater Fisheries Ecology and Management, Assoc Prof Lintermans …

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Anglers fined for ignoring bans on Mary River cod

Recently two campers were fined $619 on the spot and others cautioned after breaching a freshwater fishing ban designed to protect the critically endangered Mary River cod. Fishing in southeast Queensland’s upper Mary River catchment and adjoining creeks was prohibited from August 1 until the end of October to safeguard Mary River cod during its breeding season. The species has …

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Targeting saltwater barra in spring

barra

October is an exciting month, though it’s a bit of a sad time too. You see, it’s the final month of the open saltwater barramundi season on the east coast. Which is not easy if you’re an absolute barra nut like me and many other local anglers – to stop chasing a fish you love so much – so make …

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