January Fishing Report

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.) 

Wyatt Lee with an entry into the 2020 Mangrove Jack Comp

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.

Megan With a nice Snapper from a recent trip on Keely Rose

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.

Mitch has got Crabs again….

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

	Australia, Bait, Cooloola Coast, EjTodd, Fishing, Fishing Tin Can Bay, Fraser Coast, Fraser Island, Molix, Tin Can Bay
WINNER WINNER!!!!! Lester Cross took out the January Photo Comp with the cracker of a photo!!
Rae has been getting a few the last few weeks also
Karl on board Keely Rose with a beautiful Red Emperor

December Fishing Report

Happy New Year to everyone!!  We trust that you have all had a very merry Fishmas and were able to get out on the water.

So what has been getting caught in the area throughout December and the Northerly blow? 

Lilly & Grace Muggleton with a nice feed of Summer Whiting

Summer Whiting have been around in good numbers with Yabbies & Worm working the best.  Fisho’s that have been sneaking into a few of the small less fished creeks and fishing the tides have been well rewarded with good numbers and sized fish being caught.  Mixed in with the Whiting there have been a few nice Lizards & some good size Golden Trevally.

Now if we didn’t talk Mangrove Jack in December it would be a travesty!  The water temp is right up there now and this means that the Jacks are firing.  I had a water temp of 29.8c the other day while flicking up a creek, it was almost cooler in the boat.  A lot of the crew prefer to fish for Jacks at night it seems, with fresh bait being the preference for a lot people.  But the lure fisho’s have been getting some runs on the board the last few weeks with the water temps creeping up. 

4.5’’ Molx RT Shads rigged on the OH1500 Tungsten Swimbait Hooks

The 4.5’’ Molx RT Shads rigged on the OH1500 Tungsten Swimbait Hooks have been a great seller and are proving themselves as a great soft plastic and hook combo.  Running the 5/0’s in a 1/4oz on the 4.5’s for skip casting into the back of the snags has been having good results.  Poppers like the Lucky Craft 80mm G-Splash and walk the dog style stickbait like Sugapens thrown into the shadows and overhung mangroves around low light periods can be explosive fishing when Jack is home.  If you are keen to give lure fishing for Jacks a go, or any fish, pop in and see our new range of plastics, hardbodies & popper that are pretty Mangrove Jack specific for this time of year.  The boys will even show you how we rig them so they swim dead straight.

Young Bec had a great holiday in TCB
boating a number of good Mangrove Jacks for the week
Bret with a nice Snapper Creek regular

On the topic of Mangrove Jack, we are running a two month Mangrove Jack fishing comp that kicked off on the 2nd January and runs until the 29th of February.  This is a catch and release comp and there is a 1st prize rod & reel combo worth $600.00 up for grabs.  The total prize pool for 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th place will total just over $2000.00.  For more details pop into the shop and have a chat to the boys to get registered.

For the nocturnal fishers trying to avoid the heat there have been some good sizes Grunter being caught on squid bait and Mullet flesh in the creeks.  Bird Rock has been a popular spot with the holiday makers reporting some nice catches of Cod, Jacks, Bream and Flathead.  All taking a mixture of lures & baits.  Teebar ledge has been producing some great Tuskfish, Sweetlips and Cod also.

Offshore there are reports of some good Spanish coming over the side and there are large schools of Cobia out there too.  Summer Snapper are making an appearance and there have been some cracker fish being caught mid water on floated baits.  Have not yet had any reports of people fishing the new FAD off DI.  Personally, I’m keen to get out there and pin a few Dollies on the flyrod when it starts to fire up, I’d be happy with a Who or even a small Billfish LoL.

So we also had the Flathead comp running during December. The fishing was a
little slow to say the least.

The Winners were;

Biggest Fish: Ron Cox 66cm

Mystery Length was 49.5cm: Rio Took it out with a 50cm

Lucky Tag Number: #17 Tom Head

Well done guys and thank you to everyone that participated in the Christmas Flathead Fishing Competition.

That’s about it for now Crew so enjoy the rest of your holidays if you are lucky enough to be on them and don’t forget to get in and register for the Mangrove Jack fishing competition!

Find us at the Tin Can Bay Marina, Emperor St for all your boating and fishing needs.

Cheers & Tight Lines

Chris

December Fishing Photo Comp Winner was Tom Head
With this nice Jack Caught on lure