Once again in the tropics we find ourselves in turbulent times with the Covid situation. For several months we were tracking nicely and now we have found ourselves watching tens and tens of thousands of dollars of bookings fall by the wayside with cancellations from right across the country. In a manner of speaking it has been one step forward and two steps back for tourism and our recreational charter industry. 

It's a damn shame because the fishing has been nothing short of exceptional and will continue in the same vein for the next few months including offshore and within our larger river systems. We are just so keen to show off to visitors who are lucky enough to get up to FNQ. The days have notably warmed up to a very comfortable level which brings all manners of fish on the bight. It is a very enjoyable and productive time to be angling with us. 

We'll start with our reef fishing exploits which have been impressive. Barring the ultra neap tides and fishing right on the moon, it has been fairly plain sailing to secure a good feed of fish. With water temperatures favourable for most and some really settling weather there's no better place than to be fishing on the Great Barrier Reef. We've seen it all when it comes our main target species, the high end as we call it. Big red emperor, quality coral trout, thumping large mouth nannygai and many, many spanish mackerel. All these fish have tipped the scales to their biggest ability and many anglers have secured personal bests and a fish of a lifetime. When you start to top up the esky with an array of other hard fighting and excellent eating fish it has been a smorgasbord coming back to the docks. These fish have included cobia, spangled emperor, cattle dog cod, baldy bream bream, small mouth nannygai and gold spot trevally just to name a few. Our expert fleet of boats at Fishing Port Douglas have delivered time and time again wonderful holiday experiences for visitors and also great times for our loyal locals. Our reef trips are well suited for the beginner angler or the more seasoned type. 

Not everyone has the stomach to travel offshore and our calm water fishing has been great value. Once again the really neap tides and fishing right on the moons has been a bit more difficult. The Daintree River is by far our best system to chance your arm producing big 1m queenfish, golden trevally to 5kg, javelin fish to 55cm across the flats and fingermark to 70cm on the deeper snags. All these fish go like the clappers on lighter sportfishing gear and well worth the adventure. With the days warming up we'll start to see more barra and mangrove jack getting more active and will be targeted more often knowing they'll be keen to play. The croc spotting has been a real bonus of the cooler months as well a top run on the mud crabs this year. These last two opportunities will gradually start to taper off as the days move forward. 

If I has to choose a well rounded month to go fishing in the tropics the coming time is right up there on the calendar. We just hope to share this with as many as possible.