This year we received an unusual 300mm plus of rain at the very start of june which is very unseasonal. Plenty of freshwater run off and dirty water has changed the habits of many species for a few weeks until the water clears. Snapper have come on strong with the dirty water and bream,whiting, grunter and flathead will have a bumper season after the fresh, fishing today we caught plenty of stud whiting and bream over 40cm on poppers.
Most tuna have dissapeared from the surface but will be found hunting deep on larger baitfish but larger longtails will still be about around the edges of dirty water and current lines needing a stealthier approach to get a hookup.
Here is a very recent picture of John Haenke, producer of the famous FISHING DVD series on one of his days off hooked up to a big longtail tuna.
Hi everyone, the forecast for this weekend is for freshening south winds reaching 25 knots by sunday so offshore fishing will be limited. Inshore the waters are dirty from the rain last weekend and areas like river heads are running pure fresh towards low tide so fishing will be tough. This rain will set us up for a terrific winter season and everything from snapper, whiting and flathead will bite well as the dirty water clears.
Any mud crabs still in the systems will be flushed out and some nice muddies were taken last weekend as the fresh came out. A few mac tuna schools are about towards wathumba and some nice snapper have taken plastics around the rooneys area.
Last week I managed to get out for a fish myself and caught some big snapper, sweetlip to 4kg and some pearl perch on 7 inch berkley gulps just off the wide bay bar. We also hooked a few monsters that were just too big, possibly big cobia. Big whiting are becoming active and are taking small poppers in ankle deep water, a fast retrieve is the key to getting bites.
Lenthalls dam is now at 100% and has had a good overflow so hopefully the recent stocking of barramundi fingerlings have not escaped over the wall, fingers crossed and this spring should see good numbers of baby barra caught from this impoundment. Water temps are about 20 degrees and dropping.
The new polycraft is brilliant! Spray chines added up front and minn kota wired up and already the quietness of the boat is proving a winner! This a quick snap of a quick test run.
Finding shows like this, bigger fish following bait schools and then dropping soft plastics among them can lead to some great fish like this 8.2kg snapper caught by Alex Seritis from the gold coast.
Long tail tuna have been abundant with fish up to 18 kilo’s on soft plastics and 15 kilo’s fish on fly caught by Japanese anglers. These are a tough fish and make for great sport. may and early June is a great month for long tails if you know where to look and this is usually the best month for a big trophy long tail!
