G’day Crew hope you have all been getting out and wetting line this past month. How good was the rain we got mid month, saved me washing the car for another six months.
I know I said it last month but to say the Mangrove Jack are on fire at the moment would be an understatement!! Now if you thought December’s catches were up there with the numbers and quality, January is giving it a touch up that’s for sure. Kauri has been producing the goods and fishos have been catching fish from just under legal size to the well and truly legal high 40s. It’s great to see such a range of fish being caught in out system. It shows that they are breading well and there is a healthy population in our local water ways. Carlo & Bullock Point boat ramps have also been hot spots especially for the land based fishers. Mixed in with the Jacks there have been some pretty impressive Barra bycatch and the fish that we were shown looked to be all over a meter mark (fish were all reported to have been release.)
Speaking of Barra as of the 1st of February Barra are now back on the cards for a target species. Here’s hoping that we see some good catches in The Bay this year. There are more Barra here than most people know. If you actively target them & fish for them in their prime bite times and put in the hard yards I’m sure you will be rewarded in the long run. Feel free to pop in and have a chat if want to get out and chase a few Barra this season.
Besides the very welcome rain we had in January we also got some cracker days on the water and the fishing didn’t disappoint. Mackerel made an appearance offshore in numbers and everyone capitalised on them. Spanish and Spotties were all on the menu. While in good numbers the average sizes of Spanish were around the 8kg mark with a few bigger models in the mix also. The trick has been to get them past the Shark which seem to be in plagues at present. Good catches of mixed reef fish filled the eskies with Tuskies, Trout, Pearlies, Grass Emperor and some solid Reds all coming home for dinner.
We had a lot of holiday makers come through the shop the last couple of months reporting good catches of Squid. Not in the numbers that we see in Winter but most days consisted of double figures. Most of the action was from around the Carlo cardinal marker when the tide had some movement to it. The ever loved YamashitA jigs were again a popular choice with the punters.
Mud Crabs are also on the menu now. The quality of the crabs we have been seeing in the last few weeks are A grade. The better crabs have been coming from up on the flats. The catches in the creeks seem to be smaller empty C grade crabs. If you are unsure on how to tell the difference between an A grade crab & an empty crab swing in and see us and we can run you through a few pointers to get the crabs with the best yield.
We have not had too many reports of flathead and whiting this month, maybe it’s because everyone seems to be out hunting Jacks while the going is good…
On that note, our Mangrove Jack competition is in full swing now and the race to the top is tight. 1st & 2nd place is likely to come down to the time the fish was registered. So sit tight and we will announce the winners next month as the comp runs till the 29th of February.
That’s about it for now Crew so till next time take it easy and get outside and wet a line.
Find us at the Tin Can Bay Marina, Emperor St for all your boating and fishing needs.
Cheers & Tight Lines
Chris