Species

QUEENSLAND anglers can get their rods and lines ready for the barramundi season, which reopens from midday, February 1. The barramundi closed seasons have been in force in the Gulf of Carpentaria since October 7 last year and November 1 for the east coast. Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol district officer Robert Ibell said the closed seasons were aimed at ensuring …

THE intensity of aggressive interactions between one of the nation’s most popular angling fish, Australian bass, and the invasive eastern mosquitofish, are dependent on the interplay between water temperature and salinity, a study by University of Wollongong PhD student Laura Lopez has revealed. Her findings provide valuable new insights towards efforts to preserve estuarine ecology, and the enjoyment of recreational anglers, …

QUEENSLAND Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers found a fisher at Tingalpa Creek in possession of five undersized bream and fined the offender $471. The fisher informed the QBFP officers that the undersized bream were given to him to use as bait. All fishers should be aware that fish used for bait must meet the legal size limit. Bream have a minimum …

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 …

After checking the water clarity, the tackle box was opened and a bright red Cod Lolly was clipped onto the leader. There were so many snags in the section I was exploring that fishing them all would have taken days. Paddling upstream, I dropped a light anchor over to hold position while giving the most promising-looking snags a few quick …

MY family and I recently made our annual trip to Hinchinbrook Island in north Queensland. The best barra of the trip (caught by yours truly) was landed off the bank at night. Good thing there weren’t any snapping handbags around because to land it I had to stand in the water. Yes I know the dangers of crocodiles but we didn’t have …

However we needed to find more fish. We checked a few different areas but the water clarity was fairly ordinary. And being the Gold Coast on a Saturday, the boat traffic was thick too. Eventually we found an area where the traffic wasn’t too bad and the water clarity was reasonable. We started trolling with small hard-bodies and it wasn’t long before …

NINE vessels and 22 people were caught breaking the law as part of a joint crab pot surveillance operation undertaken between Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol and Redland Bay Water Police targeting crab pot thefts in the Logan River. QBFP field officer Chris Watts said the operation was conducted following complaints by both commercial and recreational crab fishers involving crab pot …

GOSH I love barra fishing.

Using the Lowrance HDS-12 on my boat was a big part of our success. Insight Genesis mapping helped us locate and pinpoint the top and bottom of ledges as well as holes. It also helped us position the boat to either drift the right line or hold and cast to isolated structure. Using the Lowrance’s side imaging to locate bait schools was …