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Les Marsh (Fishcairns)
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Username: Fishcairns
Post Number: 8
Registered: 1-2004
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 5:49 pm: | |
CAIRNS (Australia) FISHING UPDATE
Hi All,
Well I have been at it again……..tripping of to remote Cape York to get my fishing FIX and boy did I have an absolute ball. This trip was undertaken with a couple of good fishing mates in Keith Graham of Bransford’s Tackle Shop and Terry Holman of Fish Hunter fame (one of the best fishing guides in Queensland). Now Keith is a writer of some note so I cheated a little and let him do the typing.
His report on our exploits is now posted on the Fishing Cairns web site so if you want a good read, together with some excellent pics of our memorable captures, just follow the links to the Fishing Cairns reports pages.
And as for the local scene, here is a brief report on the situation.
River & Estuaries
Brrrrrrr!.......its cold. Only 12 degrees C early yesterday morning but thankfully the mercury climbed to a very pleasant 26C by mid afternoon. Ah, winter in the Tropics, don’t you just love it. This cool snap can have a drastic effect on catch rates however, and sometimes a different approach is required to give yourself the best chance at quality fishing. Subtle things like scaling down your tackle / line class and switch to smaller lures. Adjusting your targets too can make a huge difference to your day and if you want to experience the best this region has to offer at this time – well then spend a few bucks and go out with a guide.
The finest will still land you quality fish and show you some of the superlative country and waterways around our region to boot. Guys like Terry Holman can produce the goods when condition are a bit trying, with his last charter to the Daintree producing 6 barra, 14 mangrove jacks, 4 flathead (yes, we do catch them up here during the winter months) and 5 trevally. Now I’d be happy with that.
We should soon see plenty of silver & black bream enter our rivers & estuaries as they prepare for spawning along with the usual winter species including sickle fish, estuary cod, salmon (when calm conditions prevail) , trevally and queenfish. A metre long silver streak thrashing from the waters surface is a sight sure to get you heart pumping.
Blue water
The cooler waters should see our prime targets, coral trout, red emperor, large and small mouth nannygai and sweetlip move up onto the shallower reefs as the waters cool. Remember to check your chart and make sure you are not in a green zone though as heavy penalties apply if caught. There will be many visiting anglers in our region as hordes of southerners (and Kiwi’s) come up here to escape their winter and ignorance of the rules and lack of local knowledge is not an excuse for illegal fishing.
The light tackle scene is red hot at the moment, one charter operator reported a quadruple hook up on quality spaniards last week. They managed to land a couple of them with the best going to 20 lb, the best for the day being a very respectable 32 lb. They also landed two dog tooth tuna, arguably one of the toughest of tunas found anywhere and a humungous 1.5 metre dolphin fish (mahi mahi).
Cape York
If you read my above mentioned report you can get the drift………the cape is firing in both the rivers / estuaries and near shore blue water. No where else in Australia can you experience all of the different types of quality light tackle / sportfishing on offer, all in the relative comfort and safety of a 6m custom vessel. You see the prevailing winds blow from the South East and up there, this becomes a land breeze making it quite comfortable to fish offshore in relatively small craft.
But remember, this is absolute peak season and unless you are quick to book, you had better make plans for next year.
That’s about it for now…….I have another ace up my sleeve in the form of a report on my recent trip to the States chasing the “holy grail” of calm water fishing – the legendary large mouth bass. Its coming up soon.
Catch ya on the water, regards Les
www.fishingcairns.com.au |
Les Marsh (Fishcairns)
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Username: Fishcairns
Post Number: 7
Registered: 1-2004
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 19, 2006 - 7:02 pm: | |
DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN ON THE "PIKKUW".
Keith Graham.
I've been fortunate enough to fish some of the worlds best known 'hotspots' but can honestly say that I have never experienced full on sport fishing action of the magnitude found on my recent adventure. It was as though time had stood still and preserved a fishermans valhalla where numbers of fish, of all species, were available in almost plague proportions. And if you think I am exaggerating read on and then make your mind up!
The Aurukun Wetlands lie fifty nautical miles south of Weipa. Access has been restricted over the years to many potential visitors, hence the reason the area is so pristine and virtually untouched. Several_ charter operators have taken a select few clients to fish and explore this wilderness but now the area is due to be opened up by the local Aboriginal Council which in itself is a fascinasting story.
Three years ago a grant was obtained to partially fund an eco friendly operation that would eventually consist of a 25 metre aluminium cat complete with two tenders ...all of which were to be in survey. The mothership would position itself strategically at the mouth of the various rivers and the tenders would zoom off with clients to explore untouched waterways not only for fishing but birdwatching, bushwalking and cultural experiences conducted by the local aborigines.
A number of skeptics said it would never materialise but now they have well and truly eaten their words as this operation is a reality, due mainly to the determination of a few passionate believers and charters are beginning to book in earnest.
The rate is approximately $500.00 per person per day. That's great value as it includes all tackle, food, transfers and refreshments. Incidentally this operation is now a fully owned Limited Company that lease the boat from the Aurukun Shire Council and ongoing operations are funded by the Southern Trust who receive royalties from Comalco.
My workmate and fishing buddy Les Marsh and I arrived early May and were met at the airport by the Skipper of the 'Pikkuw', (which is Aboriginal for salt water crocodile), Wayne Brogan and his first mate and mad keen fishing guide Tim O'Reilly. These guys are full on enthusiasts for the project with a professional approach to their duties. We all hit it off from the start and couldn't wait to get going.
The three rivers that meet near Aurukun are the Archer, the Watson and the Ward. Our brief was to explore all three rivers from the mouth to the upper freshwater reaches checking out fishing opportunities and passing on any information gleaned. Both Wayne and Tim were with us most of the time plus a friend of Tim’s from Melbourne.. .Bob Bentley who was there to fish and take photos.
First day we decided to fish the Watson River which is wide.. .deep and has heaps of rockbars. The river was dirty as heavy rain had been falling in the region for several weeks prior to our arrival but were we deterred??? Never! Wayne motored upstream in the tender for 22 nautical miles stopping on occasions to let us toss lures into gutters and creek openings but not much was happening. Then, as we approached the upper reaches larger creeks we spewing out crystal clear water creating a colour change where they met the main river. Often there were drops offs at this junction giving predators the ideal ambush point to snaffle up any baitfish swimming out from the creeks. We tied on smaller shallow lures such as Gold Bullets and Leads jack lures .... the response was instant! Small mangrove jack savaged us...followed by archer fish.. .then tarpon and after a while working these areas barra began to chew, no doubt drawn in by the commotion. We had to work hard for our fish using the twitch and pause technique and it proved to us that even in extreme conditions this river could still produce.
It began hissing it down..just what we needed more rain! Our first day was interesting and an eye opener but.. .only a preview of what was to come.
The next morning the guys took us to the headwaters of a local feeder creek called 'Cockyella'. Their intention was to show us what a pristine creek this was and the native bee hives, built by Aurukun locals, dotted along the way. A top initiative and for those in the know 'sugarbag' is a real treat for aborigines and if you haven't tried it do yourself a favour ...it's delicious. Beyond this was their local swimming hole ...a waterfall and plunge pool they call 'The Spa'.
We jumped off the bank into this whirling white water and enjoyed a good soak before heading back to the boat ...feeling like a million dollars.
The Archer River is huge and is interspersed with islands just upstream of where it meats the Watson. We fished the main arm, which again was belting through at a great rate of knots, and managed to find a large back water. Anchoring the tender we tossed Gold Bombers and Leads Hijackers over the current and into the back water. Instant hook-ups. Les was giving his all to a feisty barra around three kilos when I hooked up just after him on a slightly smaller model ...there were fish zooming in every direction as we tried to control them against the rivers fast flow. After eight barra, everyone of which felt at least twice it's size as they had their way with us in the current, we decided to move on. There's no doubt we could have stayed there and pulled a heap more but the enticing Archer had more to to reveal.
One larger arm of this mighty river is referred to as the False Archer. It veers off between the Archer and Watson and is often mistaken for the main river by strangers. We motored slowly upstream in this waterway passing rockbars, open savannah plains and salt pans. At one point we saw six wild horses galloping off in the distance through flooplain waters. A closer look through the binoculars gave us a great view of this spectacle.
As the river narrowed waterlillies appeared on every bend and it seemed to become deeper.. .and much clearer. This was mangrove jack country if ever I saw it so the deeper diving lures came out like Storm Tundersticks and Rapala Shadraps. The first twenty casts were made on the run as Wayne slowly moved upstream against the current with no result, unless you count archer fish up to a kilo in weight. Then, as the water turned almost a blackish hue of crystal clear I had a mighty hit. My thumb hit the spool on my Calcutta 150 loaded with twenty pound braid ...I could hardly hold this animal! At the last minute before it reached a snag pile I managed to turn it's head and began to slowly crank it back towards us. Les shouted..." It's a jack ...a huge jack". We gently cradle lifted him into the boat and wow.... what a sight. Fangs like a mongrel dog and lit up in anger. It went 1.85 kilos on the Boga Grip .... my best inshore jack for the year, the action was just about to hot up a notch or two!
Les scored three more mega jacks using a sinking Shadrap.... all I could manage was the odd strike and hook pull outs. A magnificent river with a healthy population of jacks from hell. We we well pleased with ourselves as Wayne too us back to the Pikkuw.
Life on the Pikkuw is real cruisey. The food is excellent ...there is a Plasma T.V, if you wish to see a DVD or check out your own footage / photos taken during the day. My favourite relaxation was to sit on the top deck with an ice cold beer and watch the awesome sunsets..or...use the binoculars to scope white breasted sea eagles or jabiru's catching a feed of fish. We also put the crab pots out every night and as you would expect there are bulk muddies in these parts. The best pot we emptied over our five day trip had seven legal bucks in it did we pig out on muddies or what?
Being Eco Friendly the boat has a composting toilet that works a treat .... no smell.. .and no effluent pumped out into the river ...a brilliant idea!
A trip to the Love River had been organised with a group of the local Aborigines. The objective was to `Open' the river after a year long closure. I learned that when someone of importance dies in the Aurukun community they often close a waterway in respect and remembrance of that person, which is why there is no fishing there for the closure. Whilst they were conducting their private ceremony Wayne took us up the Love River to check out the local barra population - a day I will never forget!
Wayne was a professional barra fisho in his early days and knows the whole area like the back of his hand and remembered one particular creek mouth that always produced. We anchored at the mouth but again the water was so dirty Les and I just looked at each other and shook our heads, however we were here now so why not give it a try. I tied on a Tropical Rogue 3" and Les opted for his old faithful Leads Hijacker as our first casts hit the water the whole area erupted in a frenzy of foam. Bait scattered everywhere and we both hooked up on barra instantly.. .both feisty fish of around 3 kilos with bright yellow tails. They went ballistic in this shallow creek mouth and taildanced for all they were worth! As Les unhooked and released his at the rear of the boat I moved down to release mine, giving him the chance to stand up front and keep on fishing. We did this for almost two hours and released over sixty barra ranging in size from 2 kilo to 4.5 kilos. What an experience, then, to top it all off I latched onto a decent sized king salmon... .poor old Les had to make do with another barra.
Where in this tropical world can you experience fishing like that?? Amazing stuff, and yes we had to leave them biting as we wanted to check out some other flats areas.. .and guess what? They wee all teaming with barra too, some of them taking our lures in between small mangrove shoots in less than a foot of water. Incredible, unbelievable and I doubt we will ever repeat that hot barra bite.
The next couple of days we explored the Ward river with similar results ...so many double hook ups we lost count. Then we fished the flats on a run out tide near the outpour to the Gulf. Bob and Tim had a particularly good night using 3" poppers with Bob's best fish, ( and the biggest barra of the trip), going 90 cms.
We tried live baiting with mullet and caught good barra, in between the countless catfish. We caught bream up to 1.2 kilos on lure.. .flathead. .and Bob managed a saratoga using a Prawnstar lure. We did it all ...and enjoyed every moment exploring these incredible Aurukun Wetlands.
Our thanks to Tony Varnes who organised this trip and not forgetting the skipper Wayne and his trusty right hand and Tim for their hospitality and good sense of humour. I feel confident that this venture will succeed.. .and at this moment local Aurukun residents are learning the ropes so they can become more involved with the day to day operations of guiding and maintenance
Regards, Les
www.fishingcairns.com.au |
Les Marsh (Fishcairns)
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Username: Fishcairns
Post Number: 5
Registered: 1-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 6:43 pm: | |
CAIRNS FISHING UPDATE
Happy New Year!
After a couple of "failed" wet seasons on the trot, this year looks like returning to normal weather patterns. Last week the monsoon trough (the line that marks the convergence of cooler southern air with warm moist air streaming down from the equatorial regions) hovered right over the Cape and dumped a heap of rain on northern OZ.
The Daintree River / Mossman region, just over an hours drive north of Cairns, received over 600mm of rain in just 4 days. Now that certainly put a "fresh" into the system………Fresh, how often have you tried to fish in red tomato soup? Not a good mix I can assure you.
River & Estuary:
Well, as per my above report, trying to fish in swollen, dirty rivers just does not produce good results I’m afraid. However, after allowing a couple of days for the river to settle, to allow the sediment to drop out and clean up the water and hey presto – the fish are active and very hungry. Casting small surface popper lures around bank side vegetation, back eddies, fallen logs and small rocky rapids can produce surprising results on our jungle fish.
Sooty grunter just love these conditions and fish to 4 pounds can be pulled from surprisingly fast flowing, shallow water. The jungle perch seem to like the dark shady spots under overhanging trees. The juvenile barra love the undercut banks, swamp grass verges, swaying ribbon grass and any gutter or drain bringing discoloured water to the main river. While mangrove jacks are literally where you find them. Don’t be surprised to encounter tarpon and trevally species either – I just love fishing this time of year.
Scale down your tackle to match the targets of course – I use a light 6-7 ft high modulus rod with 8-10 lb braid, a 15 lb mono leader and 2 inch poppers in various colours. The Rebel Pop R range being one of my favourites along with Daiwa TD Poppers (if you can find them).
Be prepared to work the various river systems to find clean water though. Only last week I had to travel south to the North Johnstone, found it too dirty. Turned around and came back to the Russell River, launched and travel upstream for about half an hour until I was blocked at the Babinda bridge crossing (water too high to get under). Back out and travelled north again to the Mulgrave, another half-hour flat out upstream and again was blocked by one of the train tracks – the waters being too high to squeeze a match under the bridge let alone a 5 metre punt.
Oh well, we drifted downstream and fished the cleaner back waters and small creeks for a few prime jungle perch (one went to 2 kilos), cast at drains for barra using the ever reliable gold Bomber and missed six, hooked up to three and lost the lot………that’s fishing.
We still had a great adventure though and the client was able to analyse the situation and see what maybe one more days fine weather could have produced. But this was his only free day so we just went and had fun regardless. Fishing during the wet is like that, take it as it comes and do your best. Be persistent and you will eventually crack the code and score that big bag.
Blue water scene:
Unfortunately the conditions have not been god out on the blue, that monsoon weather pattern bringing variable SE, E, NE and NW winds to 20 knots keeping most boats in the marina. Confused, how do you think the average boatie is faring.
When operators have been able to get out there the fishing has been quite good. Still plenty of big loner spaniards about. Tossing chrome sliced lures near structure a few weeks ago produced a couple of spaniards, a cobia (black kingfish), some mack tuna and one of the biggest, meanest, big toothed barracuda that I had ever seen. It actually lunged at my mates hands as he tried to free the hooks.
Cape York:
All closed down for the "wet" – these guys need a break from the hectic, full on dry season so we don’t hear or see much of them for a few months. Makes it hard to confirm bookings however as they are probably spending time in a southern Pub, tackle shop or boat builders workshop planning that new addition to their fleet. One of the peak times to fish up there is just after the wet, early April to May BUT most guides are already booked out so you had better get cracking if you want to experience some of the best light tackle sportfishing available on the planet. I fished out of Weipa last year, a two-week stint on the Mantaray, and we landed over 800 barra for the fortnight. (All but a couple were released, keeping only a few for the table). That’s not counting the trevally, mangrove jacks, queenfish, bream, archerfish, saratoga, giant herring, spanish mackerel, golden trevally, longtail tuna……….
Hopefully I’m off to the Daintree River tomorrow with my fishing mate Terry Holman of Fish Hunter fame. If we can land a couple a dozen jungle perch, ten tarpon, a few sooties, maybe a handful of jacks and you never know a pesky barramundi or six may accidentally hit one of my lures – its still the closed season you know – I’ll have a great day.
See you on the water.
Regards, Les Marsh
www.fishingcairns.com.au |
Les Marsh (Fishcairns)
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Username: Fishcairns
Post Number: 4
Registered: 1-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 7:58 pm: | |
FISHING REPORT
Well summer is just around the corner and you can feel the temperatures creeping up along with the humidity. It won’t be long before we get a few afternoon thunderstorms and then, hopefully, we will have another good "wet" season with heaps of rain to flush our rivers and re stock our precious water supplies. It never used to be an apprehensive time, but with a couple of failed wet seasons of late, we now release that the world’s weather IS changing.
This is a fabulous time to fish Tropical North Queensland as many of our prime species are active and hungry prior to spawning. This applies to the blue water, estuary and river scene……obviously species like our famous barramundi are just waiting for that first fresh (that’s why we have a closed season for the taking of barra from 1st November to 1st February each year). But mangrove jacks, fingermark and of course our equally famous giant black marlin out from the Ribbons are here to do their thing.
River & Estuary:
Water temps. are certainly in the high range of tolerance right now, and at 30C its almost too warm upstream for the barra’s to be active. But they are certainly so down in the river mouths / tidal zone and its obvious that the bigger breeders, the headland barra, are starting to move into the estuaries. Its also pleasing to see that juvenile barra, results of recent stockings, are doing quite well in the rivers. Especially the Russell / Mulgrave and North & South Johnstone where these relatively small fish are hitting lures aggressively around the snags on the bottom of the tides.
Jacks, jacks and more jacks was the go recently where almost every snag held a good population of these lure crunching / prawn loving / sardine striking marauding brutes. The incoming tide seems to be working much better than the run off lately. Just anchor down stream of any likely structure, cast your offering as hear as you dare and hold on for a brief but spirited fight. Don’t be surprised to land a few of their cousins also, the beautifully marked and fabulous eating, Fingermark (chopper bream, golden snapper or whatever you call them). They have appeared in our estuary zones in quality this season. Deep water structure is one of their preferred habitats and I know from personal experience that many are "unstoppable" on standard light tackle outfits……..beef up if you want to land some copper beauties.
Other targets include trevally, queenfish, estuary cod, grunter, sickle fish and bream. And for lure tossers please note, there are heaps of small / medium barracuda in the systems. Be prepared for their sudden strike, often right at the boat, and a few lure losses as well as their dog like teeth often slice through heavy mono leaders.
I briefly mentioned that water temperature previously. I believe we badly need some rain right now to put a bit of fresh into our systems, cool things down by a couple of degrees and even cloud the water a bit. The water, especially upstream in our rivers, is too clear for our predators to hide and ambush passing prey (and lures) and a heavy downpour, overnight of course, will do wonders for the fishery.
Blue water scene:
Fishing has been very good; it’s the uncertainty regarding the new 9-day reef closures that are causing the most headaches. Guides and charter operators are just tearing their hair out. Having to turn away customers during some of the calmest offshore weather of the year, when you know your absolute viability / survival is reliant on these satisfied customers and repeat business and the continuity of business that comes form booking agents, travel agents, inbound operators etc that have confidence in your business………….well, its absolutely devastating. "Sorry, I can’t take your clients fishing until next week" is not the answer these agents want to hear after having done the hard work in selling the option in the first place.
There is even some evidence coming to light that the authorities have GOT IT ALL WRONG anyway and that the dates involved, these special times to allow coral trout to spawn in peace, are in fact not correct. The actual spawning takes place in August and September………there are a lot of unhappy anglers / skippers / agents / tackle shop proprietors etc out there at the moment and they want some answers.
When the light tackle anglers have ventured outside, the rewards have certainly been there. Monster spanish mackerel, trevally, cobia and large mouth nannygai are making many an angler very happy indeed.
Heavy Tackle:
As you know the black marlin season is in full swing, anglers come from around the globe to tangle with monster fish, many over that magic 1,000lb mark. Modern game boats, luxury motherships, the finest of tackle, expert skippers and crew and the expectations of skilled and highly motivated anglers in a mix of camaraderie that is rarely matched anywhere in the world. These guys fish and play hard.
Although the actual number of marlin tagged and released this season is down slightly on last years brilliant results, the skippers are telling me that the consistency of catches has certainly made up for the lack of cumulative numbers. We are not seeing many fishless days said noted skipper Kim Andersen. Both extended live aboard options and day trips out of Cairns are producing quality marlin, Rick Eustace of M.V. Billfish advised having one of his best seasons on record.
The ladies only Ribbons tournament gets under way early next month and for the fist time my wife Pam has decided to brave the open seas and signed up with Rick & crew on Billfish. Unfortunately I’m only invited as an observer and am only allowed to watch the ladies fish, have a few drinks and socialise……how droll!
Cape York:
The season is starting to wind down now, the live aboard options and day charters out of the likes of Weipa & Seisia close for the traditional summer wet. Its not that the fishing is bad, but rather that the conditions are too severe for the average visiting angler. Hight temperatures, stifling humidity and torrential rain and thunderstorms, make for an unpredictable fishery. This past year has been an excellent one by all reports. I was fortunately enough to fish from the Mantaray this past October and although fishing was a bit slower that my trip in April, we still landed over 200 barras for the five days………still not bad eh!
Bookings for next season are rolling in with a lot of pent up demand from anglers who missed out on prime conditions this year. The post wet season run off is best for creek work if barra is your go or the middle, cooler months is best for the nearshore tuna and trevally fishery. Peaking again for the barras in October & November. Don’t overlook the quality nearshore & estuary fishing (lure & fly) for giant herring, queenfish, golden and other trevally, spanish mackerel and longtail tuna………..but please don’t delay in booking, as the guides are absolutely flat out for most of the year these days. The quality of this fishery has seen demand from experienced anglers from around the globe skyrocket this past two seasons.
Reef Zoning:
Many anglers will be aware of the massive changes under way within this World Heritage protected marine park. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the natural wonders of the world, the only living thing being able to be seen from space. The authorities have deemed it to under severe threat from various man made and natural influences and locked away over 30% as green zones. For all the up to date information on this and other related matters please check out the Great Barrier Reef Marina Parks official web site.
Personally I can’t wait for the wet season to bucket down, some of the best fishing of the year can be had way upstream in our flooded rivers chasing barras, jacks, trevally, sooty grunter, tarpon and jungle perch….send it down Huey!
See you on the water.
Regards, Les Marsh
www.fishingcairns.com.au |
Les Marsh (Fishcairns)
New member
Username: Fishcairns
Post Number: 3
Registered: 1-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 2:59 am: | |
FISHING REPORT
Brrrrrrrr!……its cold up here. Well it is for our locals anyway, but I’m sure all those southern and international visitors appreciate "winter" in the tropics. Day time temps are in the mid to late 20’s while the nights have dropped right down to 10-12 degrees, even colder up on the tablelands. We had a very cold snap last week which has certainly had an adverse effect on the fishing in the rivers & estuaries (refer below).
River & Estuary:
The waters are very clean and quite cold. This has really put the main river species into lock down mode and it has been very difficult to extract much of quality while the water temperature has fallen below 16 degrees. The usual winter targets have even slowed down apart from the pikey bream, which are spawning on every bit of deep-water structure at present. They are active and hungry and take quite large baits meant for other quarry.
Prior to this cold snap however there were plenty of medium size queenies and trevally in the estuaries along with quality grunter to 60cm and flathead to 70cm coming from the gutters and shallow sandbars. I also know of one guide who managed a hall of a dozen barra from a deep-water snag using big live prawn baits. Just on the top of the tide did the trick and it was just before the mercury plunge.
As soon as it warms up a few degrees, and probably on the next moon phase, we will see quality queenfish and trevally enter these systems.
Blue water scene:
There is a real buzz about at the moment…..the only problem however has been the constant southeast winds blowing at 20-25 knots most days and keeping all but the larger reef vessels in port. This is a typical winter pattern and anglers must be patient and well prepared, to get a quick days fishing in when the winds drop between those ceaseless high-pressure systems travelling across the bight and into the Tasman.
Those lucky enough to time it right have been rewarded big time – we are seeing one of the best winter fishing seasons for ages.
For starters the cooler water is bringing the prime eating reds (coral trout, red emperor & nannygai) into the shallow reefs and they are fat and hungry. Make sure you know the new reef zoning’s though…there is no excuse, and heavy fines, for fishing within the new green / conservation areas and its every anglers responsibility to know these new areas and more to the point, know where they are on the water.
Charter skippers are reporting huge numbers of quality spaniards, the biggest I know of weighing in at 35kg’s……..multiple hook ups are the norm lately so get your floating pillies, trolled gar and bibless lures out into the water. These are quality eating fish too so handle them correctly and have the rewards on the table.
Other targets include dolphin fish (mahi mahi), queenfish, various tuna and juvenile black marlin – some of the smaller boats are having great success on these baby blacks to 50kgs.
Heavy Tackle:
Its not long to go before we will be right into another Heavy Tackle season and the skippers are itching to get amongst them after two years of quality fishing. The current catches of juveniles are a sure sign of bigger and better things to come. The fleet comes under very heavy pressure during September / October & November, with anglers from around the globe descending on our region to sample one of the most reliable big fishing zones in the world.
One of our mates, Kim Andersen, is as I write heading to the Gold Coast to take delivery or a new vessel for the season. The 40-ft Blackwatch "First Class" was custom built for a southern boat show and only has about 70 hours on the clock. If she scrubs up as well in the flesh as she does in the images, she will be a fabulous addition to the fleet and we are looking forward to helping Kim fill her up with keen anglers.
Cape York:
The cooler months are prime time for big queenfish, trevally, spaniards, longtail tuna and salmon up the cape. Sure the barra can be a bit slow at this time of year, but casting poppers to metre long queenies, having them gyrate all over the ocean prior to landing and release is a lovely way to raise a thirst I can assure you. We still have a few vacancies for our live aboard charter options out of Weipa and Princess Charlotte Bay so get in early to experience some of the wildest fishing in OZ.
The peak pre wet season period (October & November) is almost booked while the "run off", arguably the best time of the year to target barra is coming under very heavy booking pressure indeed. Many anglers missed out this year and have got in early and already committed for April / May 2005. Don’t miss out again!
(Read my report on the Mantaray trip I undertook this year – over 800 barras in 14 days!)
We are very pleased to welcome a new addition to our charter stable, operating out of Cooktown, Gone Fishing, offers calm water charters to the local rivers up there. Cooktown is a magic place; steeped in history and a place every Aussies should get to once in a lifetime. We will be adding other charter options to the Cooktown section in time to cover the productive reef and offshore blue water marlin scene – watch this space.
Reef Zoning:
Many anglers will be aware of the massive changes under way within this World Heritage protected marine park. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the natural wonders of the world, the only living thing being able to be seen from space. The authorities have deemed it to under severe threat from various man made and natural influences and locked away over 30% as green zones. For all the up to date information on this and other related matters please check out the Great Barrier Reef Marina Parks official web site.
Although these measures will effect some operators, closing down some of their traditional fishing zones, the industry as a whole are confident of sustaining the quality fishing that anglers have come to expect from our waters. In fact most of the Cape York operators are not effected one iota by these new measures apart from the east coast spawning closures – a set of three 9 days total reef closures to allow coral trout spawning – which will limit blue water operations for this period.
We are looking forward to some very exciting fishing in the coming few months, winter is almost over and we will soon be complaining that the weather is too hot and the barra are busting us off in the snags…….Ah! Life in paradise.
See you on the water.
Regards, Les Marsh
www.fishingcairns.com.au |
Les Marsh (Fishcairns)
New member
Username: Fishcairns
Post Number: 2
Registered: 1-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 14, 2004 - 2:04 am: | |
FISHING REPORT
Where did the last four months go………..summer and the wet have been and gone and we are now very much into "autumn" mode here in Tropical North Queensland.
We have just come through the best "wet season" for years and the countryside is looking magnificent. The tropical rivers all had a decent flush at last and the bigger rivers like the Daintree actually flooded four times this past three months.
River & Estuary:
While the rivers were flowing high and dirty the fishing was an absolute yawn……..but after waiting a few days for the waters to clear the action was red hot. The best guides were averaging almost 20 barras a day, I actually had a day out with Terry from Fish Hunter, and we landed 31 barra to 71cm. That did not include the jungle perch, sooty grunter, mangrove jacks and tarpon!………..I just love fishing during the summer months.
Cape York:
I have just returned from a fortnight up at Cape York (Late April 04)..........guiding with Kim Andersen on the Mantaray. We fished the flats near the Wenlock, the fresh way up Tent Pole Creek, the gutters in the Ducie and the mouth of the Jackson as well as Kerr Reef about eight k's out, the Pine and the Embley & Hey systems that make up Weipa Harbour proper.
We had an absolute ball, caught heaps of barra (and although not monsters), most were in the 60-70 cm range. One morning on the "flats" we fished the last of the incoming tide. Literally hundred of thousands of mullet were being "boofed" all around us in about half a metre of water along a 2 km stretch of mangroves. I have never seen a system so alive.
The three dories had two clients plus guide and each boat landed on average 20 - 40 barras per session. We left them biting on several occasions, so we wouldn't get stranded on the flats, and headed back to the mothership for a few cold beers (comfort!)
We fished the small gutters draining the mangroves and caught heaps more.
One day we travelled approx. 30ks right up into pure fresh water (rainforest and palm lined banks) and found more barra, saratoga, tarpon, monster jacks and as many pesky archerfish as you could handle.
We travelled up small side creeks on the bottom of the tide and cast to any remaining structure and landed 20 odd barras in a few hours.
The cook was dropped off on a sand bar with his #8 fly rod and landed 23 giant herring in a few hours one morning, the previous day over 20 queenies.
We set crab pots one afternoon and caught 32 prime bucks. Sat on a sand spit near the top of OZ and watched prime barra slowly cook on the coals along with big muddies, cooked, thrown into salt water and scoffed down with some cold beers.
We landed monster cuda, spaniards and a few tuna from Kerr Reef.
In all we landed over 30 species - all on lures and light spinning and baitcasting reels. Possibly over 800 barra landed in 14 days.
And each evening we slept in air-conditioned comfort onboard the Mantaray. Now that was a fishing / working holiday.
I am back to reality with a real thud I must say; guiding back in Cairns has not been the same since, however my last trip out had a moment to savour. Tossing lures up the top of Trinity Inlet a 75cm permit smashed my lure right at the boat. It tore off in the right direction, out into the open channel, and the only real worry was the rapidly diminishing line peeling form my baitcaster. Shigaeto, the Japanese guide, was quick off the mark and started the main engine and headed the boat in the right direction. After a prolonged and dogged fight the beautiful permit was gently brought on board, photographed and slipped back in the calm water.
Anglers from around the globe generally rate permit as the No 1 light tackle sportfish in the world, I have caught quite a few on peeled prawn baits but this was my first on lure.
Just goes to show that after such a rewarding journey to the tip of OZ, fishing in your own back yard can still produce wonderful fish - a real buzz, a fighting capture that will last in the memory banks for ever.
Extended Charters & Packages:
The MV Boomerang will again be running charters out of Princess Charlotte Bay this season. The mothership has just undergone another re fit and has commenced operating in the northern waters. After such a good wet the promise of great fishing is sure to be realised as the year unfolds. Anglers please note that a series of nine-day reef closures have been introduced by the GBRMPA this year, which will effectively cut the season short by a few weeks. Anglers punting on the quality reef / blue water fishing previously available during October & November will not be able to fish these waters in the future.
Coral Sea Adventures - Doreen Too is a magnificent purpose built timber charter vessel based in Port Douglas. At 55ft she is a classic, weighs 75 tons and underwent a major refit in 2003 / 2004. She is registered to carry a maximum of 12 passengers for charters of up to two weeks duration. Travel to the remote Cape York waters where the fishing is simply 'awesome'. Little fished reefs including the famous 10 Ribbon Reefs on the continental shelf, Princess Charlotte Bay, the productive grounds near Lizard Island and the Bathurst Islands are just some of the options you can choose to visit.
So if you’re into fishing remote Cape York, either land based or on an extended live aboard charter, we have just the trip to cater to all tastes, angling desires and budgets. Drop us a line and we’ll put you into the fishing of your dreams.
See you on the water.
Regards, Les Marsh
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Les Marsh (Fishcairns)
New member
Username: Fishcairns
Post Number: 1
Registered: 1-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 12:09 am: | |
FISHING REPORT
I trust you had a great festive season, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.
Its very much summer time here in Tropical Australia, sure is quite hot and humid. We are receiving average rainfall (summer is also the "wet" season here) but not enough to flood the rivers as yet. They are certainly higher than they have been for the past few months, which is appreciated, but as yet they have not had a really good flush. Its natures way of renewing life, many prime angler species as well as prawns etc. multiply in this time of plenty – these are the conditions that send our prime light tackle sportfish, the mighty barramundi, into heightened activity.
But please be patient, the annual closed season for the targeting of barra opens at midday on the 1st February……….get your gear ready NOW!
River & Estuary:
Even though the rivers are flowing a bit discoloured, there has not been enough rain as yet to force the salt water from the systems. Although not looking the best to the visiting angler (who wants to fish in coffee coloured water) the waters are really excellent for our prime summer targets. There are plenty of fingermark about and I reckon these are the best eating fish to come from our calm water estuaries. Fish the deep structured areas in our rivers & estuaries around the turn of the tide with fresh / live sardines and you will be rewarded. Jacks too just love these conditions and can be found along the mangrove edges. Large grunter are feeding on the flats at high tide and the ever present GT population will take prawn or fresh strip baits. A few medium sized queenies are also hanging around.
I can’t wait to get upstream and target sooty grunter, jungle perch, river trevally and juvenile barra on light popper gear.
Blue water / Reef / Light Tackle:
Summer time is usually the calmest period of the year, apart form dodging a few localised tropical storms and thunder-heads, conditions have been ideal to get amongst the reef dwellers. The warmer water means that you should concentrate your efforts on the deeper grounds and you will be rewarded with quality fish. Coral trout, red emperor, nannygai, tricky snapper and big spanish mackerel have all been caught.
And if sportfishing is more your bag, there are huge schools of tuna about along with sailfish, monster wahoo and mahi mahi. There should also be a few blue marlin on the wide grounds some 100ks off the coast.
Blue Water Game fishing:
Another very productive heavy tackle season has come and gone which this year extended into early January. I know that several quality blacks between 500 & 600 lb were tagged during the month, with anglers very excited about this late bonus. During the peak months of October & November the fishing was back to its absolute best. The winning boat at the annual Lizard Island Classic scored sixteen tags for the tournament with three monsters estimated to top the magic 1,000lb mark. Do you reckon the Japanese angler will be back next year……you bet ya!
Cape York:
Most operators have wound down for the traditional "wet" season, using this time of year to have a much needed break to escape the severe heat and humidity, service / repair their valuable equipment and come back south with the family for a well earned holiday. That’s not to say that the fishing "aint great" …………its just not practical trying to dodge the storms, plan a trip when the rivers might not be flooding, keep away from the monsoon or cyclones that occasional brew in the Coral Sea & Gulf waters. Locals and some well prepared southern visitors have experienced some magic fishing though but at this time of year you really need to DIY.
Bookings are already heavy for the prime "run off " season, if creek fishing for barra, jacks & salmon is your go you had better get in quick to secure a guide. Our live aboard options out of Weipa & Princess Charlotte Bay are filling fast. April & early May being preferred times.
As the warm food rich waters run from the flooded plains, any gutter, drain, creek junction or soak is prime feeding stations for these hungry predators. The dinner gong is ringing loud and clear……cast a lure nearby and it gets crunched. Spectacular fishing with soaring leaps from monster barra.
The MV Boomerang will again be running charters out of Princess Charlotte Bay. The mothership has just undergone another re fit and will commence operation on Sunday 28th March 04. A series of nine day reef closures have been introduced by the GBRMPA this year which will effectively cut the season short by a few weeks. Anglers punting on the quality reef / blue water fishing previously available during October & November will not be able to fish these waters in the future.
Send her down Hughie………..I just love the wet season.
See you on the water.
Regards, Les Marsh
www.fishingcairns.com.au |
Fishcairns (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2003 - 5:40 pm: | |
FISHING REPORT
Many of my readers will know that I was a calm water fishing guide well before I started this web site thing and still love my fishing dearly. About four months ago my mate Terry Holman from "Fish Hunter" asked me to help him run his calm water business…..Terry has two boats, is probably the best and busiest guide in the Cairns region.
Thinking this would be great, hell I could get my fishing fix, get paid for doing so, meet heaps of interesting people (even get to take some of my readers / clients out on those trips that I’m enthusiastically selling)……….do it probably three / four days a week…..have plenty of time to keep up with the web enquiries and everyone is happy.
WRONG!…after a fairly lean couple of months following the SARS virus, tourism and International travel to Australia and Tropical North Queensland has come back very strongly. This past few weeks has seen me guide for eleven out of thirteen days (part time indeed!).
And the reasons for telling you all this – so that you’ll understand why I have been a bit slack in typing my fishing updates…..very sorry !
Cairns, Tropical North Queensland & remote Cape York are now right into our peak tourist season, its also time for some of the absolute best fishing of the year to be had up here. The weather is absolutely fabulous, mostly calm sunny days, day time temps. nudging the 30’s, cool nights for a great sleep and the fishing….just brilliant.
River & Estuary:
The increase in water temps. (its now approx. 26 C in the Daintree River) has seen the arrival and increased activity of the prime summer species. Quality barramundi are showing up in the tidal estuaries and on the bigger tides are moving back upstream to the weed beds. Mangrove jacks too are hungry and aggressively taking small lures and baits drifted to the snags. And while all this is happening there are still heaps of trevally, queenfish (although we did not get a run of big metre long queenies this season), grunter, bream, cod and barracuda to target.
We do need a big "wet" however, the rivers are badly weeded up (the salt water penetrating way upstream is killing off vegetation normally living in fresh water). Barra numbers too, right across the top of Australia, are down due to two failed wet seasons in a row. It’s a simple fact, the bigger the "wet" the greater the recruitment of all manner of critters in our tropical waterways. Lets hope we get a good one this year.
Blue water / Reef / Light Tackle:
What a brilliant run of fine weather we have had this past month. Those persistent SE winds we so often suffer during the "winter" months have eased and are now only an occasional inconvenience. The nearshore and offshore scene is firing.
Toddy from Aqua-Cat has reported great fishing out on the reef, coral trout, big & small mouth nannygai, sweetlip, emperors and spaniards are sure keeping his deck hands busy. Great to see a change after the past two months of very depressing wild and windy weather.
We are pleased to announce the arrival of a brand new inshore light tackle sport fishing venture. The Reef Runner, a 7.7 metre custom built Javelin fibreglass runabout, purpose built and fit out right here in Cairns for our friends at Fishing the Tropics has taken this inshore fishery to new levels of quality and comfort. They are absolutely braining them on some very special marks not that far off the coast, I mean quality big mouth nannygai to 20lb, big trevally (goldens, bludgers, big eye and G.T.’s), cobia, oceanic queenies, monster cod, mackerel, barracuda etc. These guys, the vessel is skippered by Justin Gibbons, offer share and sole charters and have the speed / comfort and flexibility to target many blue water options …….they even landed a 50lb marlin last week. Check out the full picture on the web site.
Cape York:
And speaking of new options, another reason for my inactivity on the key board, Kim Andersen of New Moon III fame has just commenced operating a five to seven day live aboard light tackle sportfishing charter out of Weipa (remote Cape York), Mantaray Sportfishing Holidays. Well Kim asked me to come up and check out the operation, an invitation that I had to think about for a millisecond before I said yes!
I flew up to Weipa on a Saturday morning, a comfortable one and a half hour flight in a Dash 8 run by Qantaslink, was met at the airport by Kim and by early afternoon we were steaming north up the western side of the cape. We were headed to some wild and remote rivers rarely fished by the masses and offering the promise of spectacular light baitcasting and spinning angling for barra, jacks, salmon, queenies, cod, tuna………check this out.
Well it went something like this:
Day 1 - 46 barra, 5 jacks, 1 salmon, 2 archer fish, 1 barracuda, 2 catfish
Day 2 - 51barra, 1salmon, 1 jack, 5 catfish, 1 barracuda, 1 saratoga, 26 sooty grunter, 19 archer fish
Day 3 - 10 queenfish, 3 wolf herring, 2 small couta, 69 longtail tuna, 4 monster barracuda, 2 monster spanish mackerel, 3 grey mackerel
Day 4 - 11 tuna (got sick of the 10 minute fight each time), 14 barracuda (all over 1 metre), 1 spaniard, 3 big eye trevally, 5 bat fish, 20 cod, 6 jacks, 1 coral trout, 1 emperor, 5 parrot fish, 4 hussars, 10 sweetlip
And so on, and so on, and so on...................bloody terrific I must say.
Not only was the fishing great, but the variety from tidal rivers, sweet water river, crystal clear fresh, beaches, nearshore reef, offshore reef, rocky headlands etc.
The mothership was fantastic, the food great...........hell its hard fishing back here.
I hope to do a full trip report once things settle down here again so watch for some great pics.
I know our other guides up at Seisia & Weipa are absolutely flat out too, and the fishing has been fabulous apart from that little hiccup with barra numbers being down. But the beauty of these remote places is that you don’t just focus on one species, there are heaps of piscatorial targets to put a serious bend in your rod and a smile on your dial.
NOTE – The prime "run off" period, early April to May (arguably the best time to go if barra are your bag) is already very heavily booked. Get in early if planing a trip north at this time of year.
Blue Water Game fishing:
We are also well into our peak Heavy Tackle black marlin fishing season. From mid September to mid December these monster fish gather off the Great Barrier Reef / Continental shelf to do their thing and most skippers are very heavily booked again. The big mothers are a little slow this year however, plenty of juveniles have been around for six weeks or so but the 500 – 1000 lb fish are just showing up now. The southern grounds have produced best this past week also but the skippers expect the normal run on the Ribbons will commence on the next moon.
Phew, that wasn’t so bad once I committed and started to type!
See you on the water.
Regards, Les Marsh
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