A lot of people say they would love a job in weather forecasting: “Pay me in a job where 50 per cent accuracy rate is good enough to maintain a job”.
This summer we say they have been pretty well spot on.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology suggests “La Nina increases the chance of above average rainfall across much of northern and eastern Australia during summer. Significant weather can still occur as La Nina weakens, especially as the peak of the Australian tropical cyclone season is around February/March”.
Producing a fishing editorial when La-Nina is here would be one hell of a task were we not blessed with our amazing fishery across Wide Bay and The Great Sandy Straits.
With that said, it has been tougher fishing across the board. Since Santa gave us a visit, offshore fishing has been limited to very opportunistic windows of two to three days, at best. Our beaches have been pummelled by large swells that made deep fishable gutters become sand flats at best. Our sheltered estuary has been the fishos saviour.
Top of the list for January is the amazing captures of Mud Crab. Despite seeing crab pots almost everywhere, customers have reported consistent catches of quality crab. Mud crab migration is now in full swing. This means two things. Firstly, most of the crab will have shed and despite their impressive size, they may be empty. If your crab has a particularly clean carapace, handle them with care. To check for quality, apply gentle pressure to the centre of the crab. If it’s soft, let it swim.
Last season’s crab will be full of meat and often carry a decent covering of moss or algae. Their carapace will be hard and generally a much darker colour. Secondly, the biomass is moving. Relocate your pots regularly, even if only 50-100 metres. By the end of March, this year’s biomass will have migrated from offshore and into the estuary and the cycle repeats. The quality of crab we see from May until August eliminates the ‘you can only catch good crabs in months with an R’ theory. It simply does not apply to our estuary. Crabbing in our waters is productive all year round.
Mangrove Jack, Cod, Bream, Whiting and Flathead have been in abundance. Throw in a few great Barramundi and massive Grunter and our estuary again proves just how productive it can be in testing times. We know where they are because we fish. Live baiting for the bigger species will produce quality fish. Whether those live baits be our beach worms, your own freshly caught yabbies or bait fish from a cast net; they all work. Productive dead baits have been our salt brined mullet fillets, pilchards, herring, flicker mullet and diver whiting to entice the always angry Mangrove Jack and associated by-catch. Fat Bream, Estuary Cod well over 60cms and massive Grunter, have kept punters smiling. Many fish have been caught land based and tucked in tight to structure.
Land based snapper! You better believe it. With howling SE winds and exposed coffee rock, quality reef species seek shelter. Regular customer Barry loves using our live worms and his patience and persistence has been reaping the rewards. His photos speak for themselves; beautiful examples of Snapper and Whiting, caught on our live worms right out the front of Rainbow Beach.
Rainbow Beach Amateur Anglers fishing club members battled the elements in January to produce some outstanding catches in the first competition for 2022. Weather conditions for their January comp favoured estuary fishos and the ladies in the club made their presence known as a force to be reckoned with for 2022. Top water pelagic fish and shallow water predators saw the girls take out the trophies. Rainbow Beach Amateur Anglers have established themselves as a seriously competitive club. The grading system adopted accommodates the casual fisho and they welcome one and all who are new to the sport of fishing. Members can fish as hard as they like or simply embrace the fishing club friendships.
If you’re considering joining a fishing club then find them on Facebook and rock up to a weigh-in. If you’re undecided, they welcome people to register and fish as visitors for their first comp. The next club competition will be held on 26-27 February. With a dedicated Junior Mentor and several Juniors Clinics held throughout the year, the next generation of fishos are well supported.
Weather conditions over the past two months have not been favourable for offshore fishing. When the brief weather windows allowed, we have seen impressive catches of Snapper, Pearl Perch and Tuskfish.
It has been an incredibly testing time for our offshore charter operators so as conditions improve be sure to get behind our local blokes. The upside of these prolonged weather conditions is a cracking autumn and winter bite.
At Gardiner Fisheries, our staff have one main goal and that is to help you land a fish. With daily updates and our own team out on the water, we will always give our best to help you land your own catch of the day.
For the best local bait, product range and genuine local knowledge, call us on 0404 853 232 or drop in and see the team at Gardiner Fisheries. 6am to 5pm seven days. Find us on the corner of Carlo and Karoonda Roads, Rainbow Beach, on the way to the Carlo Point boat ramp. Just look for our orange flashing light.
