Page 14 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing magazine
P. 14

Beach, bay and estuary Aoptions around Brisbane
S I write this article, the so- called Queens-
Fishing Tips
by SEAN THOMPSON
Berley Gulp Sandworm soft plastic lures in Blood- worm colour are a great option on winter species still available.
The author with a nice bag of winter species caught with his nephew in 3.5m of water.
Spring is a great time to chase  athead before the water gets too warm.
Page 14 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, November 2020
land winter species of tailor, winter whiting and bream are still fish- ing well.
off the bottom, to help avoid hooking weed as you drift.
been fishing very well around estuary mouths and should continue to do so.
These were still avail- able during October, though the schools will start to thin out.
When it comes to tai- lor, bigger fish are re- placing fewer schools and these make top targets with flesh baits such as a strip of bonito on gang hooks.
Trolling or casting lures has been produc- tive around low tide.
For winter whiting, I find the schools can move around a bit as the seasons change and the water gets warmer.
The fishing has been hot and cold at times for tailor this season, but the good news is – at the time of writing – numbers were good off Ngkala Rocks at Fraser Island, and my son and I got onto a few nice fish recently from South Stradbroke Island.
Unfortunately, as the weather warms up, strong northerly wind kicks in, which brings dirty water and weed, and that makes things tougher, especially for trolling lures.
For this reason, I GPS as many fish as I can during a session and then change the name of one of the waypoints in the centre of them to the month and year.
Choose your day, calm wind and low tide – even better on week- days without the boat traffic.
On my trip the oth- er day, I searched for ‘winteries’ in my way- points and then selected a corresponding month from previous years I’ve caught good numbers.
The usual rig involves a short 25cm trace to 3x size 4/0 Tru-Turn gang hooks.
Another great option for spring is summer whiting from the beach- es and entrances of the big bays off the tips of the four big Queensland islands.
I have snared these fish in fair quantities right up to Christmas Eve, though the schools do spread out in summer.
These are not only great for ease of put- ting hooks on – with the swivels in between the hooks – but the bent cam design of the hooks is brilliant for better hook-ups, as they turn upwards with any pressure.
Several of the beaches have been on absolute fire recently, particu- larly up around Teewah Beach, with fish to 43cm.
In my most recent winteries session, the fish were in water of about 3.4-4m, around the top of the tide.
Night fishing in es- tuaries for whiting has been successful too, especially on their fa- vourite bait of live bloodworms.
As usual, drifting produced the most fish for us, because of a preference for moving bait.
Then I run a 70cm longer trace up to an- other swivel, to avoid line twist in my Alvey reel.
For those keen on chasing a few northern species closer to home, the barramundi fish- ing at the Bli Bli Barra Fishing Park has been getting better as the weather warms.
My mainstay baits of red-dyed frozen worms and 2” Berkley Gulp Sandworm soft plastic lures in Bloodworm colour do the trick.
I run a 6-9 ball, de- pending on the condi- tions, and I cushion its impact on the bot- tom knot by running a soft bead between the sinker and the bottom swivel.
I run these on a pater- noster rig with a sinker on the bottom and the two droppers of about 15cm sitting higher
In addition to these species, spring options such as flathead have
As I’ve said a few times, this place is ad- dictive.
It presents a chal-
* continued P15 www.bnb shing.com.au


































































































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