Fraser Island – The Chandlery Bait & Tackle

G’day Crew,

Hope you have all been staying dry the last few weeks with the downpours we’ve been having. But honestly how good has this rain been, good for the sea and great for the land, bring it on!! On the topic of rain didn’t TCB cop a proper washdown at the start of the month 350mm+ in the space of a couple of days and then there was follow up rain for the rest of the month. Now that the creeks have received a good flushing out things should start to fire up again.

Rain hail or shine the Mangrove Jacks have been on the chew and the local Jack fishos are saying this is one of the best years they have seen in the last four or five. Fresh Mullet strips and smaller live bait seem to be the key for most anglers in the dirty water. We have seen some good fish coming from the heavy structure in Snapper Creek, Teebar & of course Kauri has also been producing. As I write this there are still a couple of weeks of fishing left in our 2020 Mangrove Jack Fishing Competition. The comp is in full swing and competitors have until midday the 29^th of February to enter fish. Most of the anglers have been able to upgrade their bag quickly and get extra points. The competition for top spot is close at the moment and looks like it’ll be won on time of fish registration. So stay tuned to find out who takes out the comp.

***Mitch pulling an all nighter for the comp***

Those who did braved the weather got stuck into a few and not just Jacks. Up the creeks we have seen an explosion of small Poddies & Gar getting around and this is a welcome sight. Cod and Bream seem to have been around in good numbers and sizes. Grunter have still been on the menu for most Fishos and the better catches have come from fishing the evening tides, with Squid baits working the best.

**Shawn getting on the scoreboard for the 2020 Mangrove Jack Comp**

February has seen the Crabs getting flushed out too. Plenty of customers have reported good catches of Bucks, the flats and the drop-offs have been the places to catch a feed. Fresh bait and a good soak over a tide is the go. Mitch got out in the middle of the down pour with a couple of mates and managed to get a good feed over a few days at the start of the month.

**Anymore than a** **handful is a waste they say… Not this time!!**

Don’t forget that the bag limit changed for Muddies on the 1^st of September 2019 and is now 7 per person or 14 per boat with two or more people on board. In the coming weeks we are due a run of Prawns and the rain will have only helped the cause. Sounding around the deeper water should see you come up trumps in places like Browns. We did get a few reports of some nice Prawns coming out of Crab Creek in the middle of the month.

The end of January and the start of February saw the offshore fishing producing the goods. There were some ripper Snapper around, in good numbers and good sizes. Most of the Snapper that have been getting caught have been well over the 800mm mark.

***Ray got this proper Knobbie on a recent trip out with Ed from Keely Rose***

The charter guys also found some quality Reds not too far from home mixed in with the Snapper. Good catches of Tuskies, Pearlies, Red Throat & Spangled Emperor, Cobia, AJs & Spanish kept the rods buckled.

***Cole with a Spangled from a recent trip out jigging metals.***

Schools of small Tuna have been popping up everywhere out wide so it would pay to have a Halco Twisty rigged and ready on a 20lb spin outfit. I am a big fan of retro fitting a single hook off the back instead of trebles. I find the hook up rate higher and if you are releasing the fish, a little more humane and quicker to get out of the fish and yourself, if you’re that unlucky…

That’s about it for now Crew so till next time tight lines and we will see you on the water or in the shop.

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

Cheers & Tight Lines

Chris

**WINNER WINNER!!! Mitch Martin Taking out the February Fishing Photo Comp!!**

**Young Harry has been getting a few nice Reds lately**

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.

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 29^th of February. This is a catch and release comp and there is a 1^st prize rod & reel combo worth $600.00 up for grabs. The total prize pool for 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd & 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

Tag: Fraser Island

February Fishing Report

December Fishing Report