Species

QUEENSLAND’S annual spanner crab closed season for recreational and commercial fishing commences at midnight on November 20 and runs through until midnight on December 20. Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol district officer Russell Overton said the closed season protects spanner crabs when they are most vulnerable during their breeding season. “The closed season gives the crabs a chance to spawn …

NSW Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair recently welcomed the passing of legislation through NSW Parliament with bipartisan support to expedite a trial of shark nets on five North Coast beaches. “Passing this legislation is an important step towards getting the shark net trial in place on the North Coast by the summer school holidays by streamlining the approvals process, …

The weeks after the event saw the fishing turn around and the impoundment barra come right on the chew. Young Damien Mills from Tamworth stayed for a week at Faust and was straight into the action with his first barra going 106cm after it inhaled a Zerek Flat Shad. With Damien was his good mate David Masters, who upgraded his …

Your gear will cop a lot and I’ve had endless trouble with my Daiwa Tatula baitcast reel. My usual kayak partner in crime, Brad, has also had the same issues. When chasing jacks, 20-25lb braid will be sufficient, coupled with a 1.5m, 40lb leader. While on leaders, there has been a lot of talk lately about the FG knot and …

CORAL reef fin fish will be off-limits from this Friday, October 28, as the first of two annual fishing closures that protect these fish during spawning season commences. Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol district officer Tony Loader said the two five-day fishing closures coincided with the new moon when key coral reef fish species aggregate to spawn. “October and November …

PROVING lightning can strike twice in the same place, one lucky Northern Territory resident has reeled in a $10,000 tagged prize barra in Tourism NT’s iconic five-month Million Dollar Fish campaign, season two. Kurt Baumann, the latest winner, also took home $10,000 last year during the inaugural campaign. Kurt, a local youth worker, caught the fourth $10,000 prize-tagged barramundi while out fishing solo …

WITH it being the last week of the school holidays families were out in force along the Noosa River. After last week’s rain the water now has a bit of colour to it and the fish seem to be feeding that bit more aggressively. Large flathead are still in great numbers and taking soft plastics like the River2Sea Chase Baits, …

My favourite snags are the ones out in the middle of the river that have washed down in previous floods and become wedged on the bottom. These snags rarely get fished and often hold good schools of jacks, including some really great fish over 50cm. I like to vertically jig these snags. Most of them are in deep water of …

The fish are starting to school up in greater numbers and feeding time brings massive catch rates of big fish. These feeding windows vary from day to day and can last from a couple of minutes to all day. You won’t catch fish if there aren’t any fish near you, so a sounder is a must when searching for these …