Fish Species Guide

THE forecast was for a 15-20 knot southeasterly wind and a 2-3m swell. As you can imagine I didn’t set the alarm and, being a Sunday morning, I rolled out of bed at the leisurely hour of 7.30am. As I was munching my cereal, I looked at the webcam site on my phone and, to my surprise, the bar was …

CLUB member John Hooker has finally moved to Rainbow Beach to enjoy his retirement and has asked Commodore Rob out on a number of trips that have all been ill-fated to say the least. Motor issues and the weather were the main players in the non-events, but this time with a great weather window and everything serviced on the catamaran, …

BEING from the sunshine state means our main freshwater targets are warm-water native species, with bass, barramundi, sooty grunter and golden perch topping the list. A novel change can be had by heading south to flick a lure or fly for a few of the acclimatised salmonids from the northern hemisphere that can be found through much of Victoria and …

I GET plenty of people asking me about shore-based fishing tips, thinking you can’t catch much without a boat. They couldn’t be more wrong. I may be biased, though I enjoy both, shore-based fishing can be especially satisfying without the technology of a boat. But to maximise your success from the shore you need to be prepared and either be …

WELL, it’s been a while between articles but after a crazy 2020, which I’m sure many experienced, I’ll endeavor to try a little harder this year. I did manage an epic trip to Swain Reefs in my 7m boat and followed this up with a drive to the central Queensland coastline near Yeppoon, where we fished from the Shoalwater Bay …

THE rain finally arrived, and as soon as the water cleared up, I was making my way to the top of the river. The clear water of the upper stretches of our river systems offer unique fishing opportunities, and it is with much anticipation that I await this time of year. Wet season fresh The increased water level allows you …

IT’S tuna time! Plenty of tuna are around but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee success. Tuna, as for any fish, can be fickle and I find the mack tuna are the worst. Throw shark attacks into the fray and what could have been a five fish day turns out to be a doughnut. Hervey Bay Tuna There are many things you …

WHILE long-range trips exploring remote areas are what I live for, to get a shot at our target species this sortie – the mighty dogtooth tuna – we would have to push further than ever before. These fearsome predatory fish have been on my bucket list for a long time, both on line and spear. Dogtooth tuna Their brutal fighting …

WOULD you be prepared to pay for better fishing? I’ll bet that as soon as most fishers are asked that question, they immediately think of a fishing licence imposed by the government, then imagine the funds for that licence disappearing into government coffers as per most of our other taxes. QLD fishing licence  Well, what if we were guaranteed that …

BY the time this publication hits there should be a chill in the air as we move well into autumn fishing in Gladstone. The change of weather means the fish species we target will slowly change from barramundi and mangrove jack to blue threadfin salmon and grunter. If we’re lucky enough, we’ll still be able to actively catch all species …