Fishing Articles

On the first cast another large coral trout ate my plastic and swam straight into a bommie. I have never felt so out-gunned when using such a high calibre of gear. After hits and misses, a few little reefies such as stripey seaperch, a spanish mackerel and various sweetlip, we left the area with a score of coral trout five; …

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 …

Over the next month or so, as the transition period continues, you really have to hedge your bets as to what to target and maybe even change plans once you are out on the water because you can connect to anything from a snapper to a marlin, all on the same spot. The highlight over the past month was feeding …

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 …

We find it is best to chase barramundi in the Great Sandy Strait during September and October and again shortly after the closed season (November 1 to February 1). With the warmer water temperature the barra become far more active and aggressive. Water temps around 25C are often best for chasing barra. Anything lower and they tend to be quite …

The 20,000-litre fuel tank provides plenty of fuel capacity for the long haul out to Wreck Reefs and back..  As for your freshwater needs, she holds 13,500 litres of fresh water for showers, cooking and hosing off gear and the deck. Upstairs on the bridge, she’s equipped with all the latest electronic equipment such as a 64 nautical mile Furuno …

Plenty of school size fish up to 70cm are still in the area but the big girls don’t seem to hang there as much as they once did. It is definitely still worth a throw though and you will come across far fewer boats as well. The water depth ranges from 6m in close to about 12m out wide at …