Hervey Bay – February 2nd, 2012
Better weather is expected over the next week, so pack the sunscreen, but don’t stash the raincoat away just yet. The tides are building towards the full moon next Wednesday, which will see big spring tides to 4m mid-week.
Sportsfishos chasing pelagics should be in for a good time up the inside of the island this week. Surface activity has been minimal over the past few days, but there is masses of bait up that way and the predators are likely to be just hanging deep waiting for more run in the water.
Spotted mackerel and longtail tuna are the main attraction for most anglers up there, but there are also school and spanish mackerel, along with small black marlin and maybe yellowfin tuna closer to Rooneys. Pick a day with easterly or light winds, the hotter and sunnier the better.
Local reefs will fish well in the building tides for a number of species, mostly coral trout, cod, sweetlip, blackall and blueys, with the odd squire also possible. Dirty water inshore from the Mary River outflow may affect the shallow fringing reefs around the bay islands somewhat, but the reefies become more viable over the deeper ledges and areas such as Moon and the Arti this time of year anyway.
Minor flooding of the Mary River catchment has seen a big inflow of freshwater spewing into the Straits. There is a significant cross-flow of surface water affecting the adjacent areas from about Ungowa to the Picnics. This big push of water moves a lot of bait and fish to the western shore of Fraser, where barra, threadfin salmon, jew, jacks, flathead, cod and grunter can be found at present.
A lot of jelly prawn has been flushed out with the flood, and although the river is very fresh, there are barra and salmon working pockets of jelly prawn from the Bunya junction in the Susan downstream, and from Beaver Rock to River Heads. Fishing the river will be challenging at best in the current conditions, so time your assault around the last of the ebb and first half of the flood away from the main current flow to increase your chances.
A couple of options for the river are to flick small prawn imitations around the mouths of drains and little creeks for both salmon and barra. Or, to work shallow hardbodies such as bombers, B52’s and X-Raps over the shallow rock bars and eddies in the lower reaches where you will see the nervous mullet if there are predators in attendance.
The Burrum system is also running very fresh, though the biggest freshwater flow has subsided. The lower reaches will be the go for a while yet. The mouths of the Cherwell, Isis and Gregory will be worth a look for barra, as will Buxton Hole and the Black Bank.
Fishing the Burrum won’t be easy with so much fresh combining with the big tides. Either soaking livies, or hopping vibes, prawnstars or weedless plastics through the deeper holes or over rock bars will be worth a try for jacks, but it could be a couple of weeks yet before the river returns to its best.
A feed of muddies shouldn’t be too difficult given the fresh and the upcoming full moon. Make sure your pots are duly weighted to handle the big tides and extra freshwater flows.
Dirty water along our local beaches will offer good cover for whiting and flathead to feed in close to shore during the bigger tides. Beaches running south from either Burrum Heads or Toogoom offer the better chance at whiting, just avoid any areas that are weedy. Working micro poppers for the whiting in knee-deep water will be productive now with the whiting feeding on jelly prawns.
For the latest on what’s biting and all the tips and tackle to catch them, drop in and see the guys at Fishermans Corner on Torquay Road in Pialba, or join us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/fishermanscornerherveybay).
