Blue Ribbon Calendar Period in FNQ
With a continued persistence of strong south easterly winds this year It’s pure and simple, with weather on your side we can go far and wide to the most productive grounds on the Great Barrier Reef. Avoid fishing right on the full or new moon is the main advice from our end. Outside of this it is usually quite responsive in dealing with a variety of reef fish.
The large mouth nannygai in deep water 35-40m have been our friends and they've tended to be your solid types from 5-7kg. A combination of old fashioned pilchard and squid is all you need. A bit more squid on the hook does help as they can slurp as opposed to strike and you need them to take it in their own time. There's been some good sized coral up a touch in shallower water 25-30m of depth and you can’t argue with 4-5kg models. Naturally in the same territory you come across other usual suspects such as spangled emperor and cod varieties. As days go by the trout will congregate on certain parts of the reef up into the shallows in preparation for spawning. With the first run of reef closures starting at the beginning of October this call looks on the money as water temperatures have quickly increased.
Interestingly in recent times we've pumped out quite a few spanish, spotted and school mackerel just inside the reef. Trolling between spots, floating pilchard whilst at anchor and also the school mackerel were keen on the bottom fishing rigs. At legal size all these mackerel pretty much taste the same on the plate, crumbed, battered or natural on a light fry you can’t knock back mackerel as one of our best fish to eat in the Far North. They are also a heap of fun to tangle with on the end of a line.
Inshore and particularly on the Daintree River, there’s been a mixture of species to keep everyone entertained and it’s coming into that time of year where’d you expect that.
We've seen a return of some great big queenfish come back into the system which did go missing for a bit. They tend to stick to that deeper channel section and like an incoming tide right up to the top. Suspended live sardines and even at times a surface popper has done the trick. Typically they travel in a pack so when they are in the mood you can pick up a few of them. As always it’s a quick photo, handled with extreme care and released before you can say, ‘how’s your father’ ! It doesn’t take much to turn them belly up if not dealt with efficiently and properly.
Down toward the river mouth where there’s a sandy river base the golden trevally have added value. They will come into the system digging up crustaceans and the like with their big trumpet lips. They will take a live bait but also typically a nice quality peeled prawn or squid always seems to work. They've been getting up to 5kg nd you can always pick up a nice javelin fish or two applying the same approach.
Back amongst the snags our wonderful system of fingermark rarely disappoint and there’s been some nice estuary cod in amongst the mix. Live sardines are a premium for this style of fishing. Fingermark to 55cm and cod to 50cm have been common.
Also at certain times the barra strike rate has continued to roll along nicely. They were staying in certain holding offices but are now venturing around as the water temperatures have jumped up. Quality fish to 80cm have been encountered consistently. October is a real focus for the barra before their closed season on Nov 1st.
Hold onto your hats we are entering into our heavy tackle season for the big black marlin as well, so there's plenty on the cards in tropical Far North QLD.