Strikezone_fly
14-05-2006, 12:55 PM
Weipa Fishing Report
April, 2006
Barra, Bait balls & big Queenfish. April was an exciting start to the charter season. The weather was against us but the fishing was great.
Weather:
With a visit from a category 3 cyclone the second week of April you could say the weather was less then perfect. Thinking back over the years the last cyclone we had in April was over ten years ago. So it is possible, but rare.
Fishing:
There was still a big swell breaking on the beaches for the first two weeks of April this made the water murky and unfishable. So most fishing was taken part in the rivers. Barramundi had been a bit quiet on the neaping tides but as the tides increased the Barra’s started to bite and bite they did. I had a couple of lure fisher men from Brisbane that got stuck into Barramundi up the Mission River, most where taken on hard body lures and when the tide started to slow for the turn the guys switched to soft plastic for a few extra fish in the slower moving water at the end of the day we had landed 46 fish ranging in size from 50 to 75 cm.
As the swell decreased later in the month it allowed us to venture out along the coast. Good bait schools where found on some of the closest reefs attracting Spanish Mackerel, Queenfish & Tuna. I had a group of three guys that had a great session on big Queenfish with double & triple hook ups for most of the session. We used heavy spin tackle for the metre long Queenfish, lures included poppers, hard bodies & lead headed Jigs. On a couple of really flat days we ventured right out to sea in search of drifting logs, these are washed out of the rivers during the wet season they float around at sea (a real boating hazard if your traveling at night) for us they where fish markers. We found Triple Tails, Dolphin Fish and other Pelagic’s hanging around them. Tripletails are aggressive feeders and had no problems eating whatever we threw at them, including Soft Plastic’s & on fly, Clousers where gobbled up like there was no tomorrow.
On The fly once the swell had cleared the beaches where back in the game. Queenfish where on the jelly prawns schools as they made their way along the coast small white clousers worked well for a jelly prawn imitations. We found Barramundi, Blue Salmon and the odd Giant Herring in some of the gutters and rocky out crops on the beach, flies included White Thing & Clousers. Sinking 4-inch flashy profiles on shooting heads in berley trails along the reef edges accounted for large Queenfish & Spanish Mackerel. We also caught a Rainbow Runner using this method, Rainbow Runner are a found on the East Coast of Australia normally caught on the Great Barrier Reef and this is the first one we have caught in Weipa. The same angler managed to catch one of the biggest Long Tail Tuna’s that I have ever seen in Weipa. The Tuna was caught while sinking a fly under a bait ball. Most other Tuna where caught by casting flies into Tuna schools feeding on the surface. Flies include white clousers, surf candies & flashy’s profiles attached to shoot heads on 10 & 12 wt rods delivering fast and accurate cast into the Tuna schools.
Was busy tying flies during April I have managed to add a few new recipes to our site & the forum.
Looking for more fishing stories on Weipa? Visit our local fishing forums. Weipa Fishing Forum (http://forums.strikezonesportsfish.com.au/)
Sea ya in the “Strikezone”
Craig Jenkins.
Photo of Remy's Rainbow Runner.
April, 2006
Barra, Bait balls & big Queenfish. April was an exciting start to the charter season. The weather was against us but the fishing was great.
Weather:
With a visit from a category 3 cyclone the second week of April you could say the weather was less then perfect. Thinking back over the years the last cyclone we had in April was over ten years ago. So it is possible, but rare.
Fishing:
There was still a big swell breaking on the beaches for the first two weeks of April this made the water murky and unfishable. So most fishing was taken part in the rivers. Barramundi had been a bit quiet on the neaping tides but as the tides increased the Barra’s started to bite and bite they did. I had a couple of lure fisher men from Brisbane that got stuck into Barramundi up the Mission River, most where taken on hard body lures and when the tide started to slow for the turn the guys switched to soft plastic for a few extra fish in the slower moving water at the end of the day we had landed 46 fish ranging in size from 50 to 75 cm.
As the swell decreased later in the month it allowed us to venture out along the coast. Good bait schools where found on some of the closest reefs attracting Spanish Mackerel, Queenfish & Tuna. I had a group of three guys that had a great session on big Queenfish with double & triple hook ups for most of the session. We used heavy spin tackle for the metre long Queenfish, lures included poppers, hard bodies & lead headed Jigs. On a couple of really flat days we ventured right out to sea in search of drifting logs, these are washed out of the rivers during the wet season they float around at sea (a real boating hazard if your traveling at night) for us they where fish markers. We found Triple Tails, Dolphin Fish and other Pelagic’s hanging around them. Tripletails are aggressive feeders and had no problems eating whatever we threw at them, including Soft Plastic’s & on fly, Clousers where gobbled up like there was no tomorrow.
On The fly once the swell had cleared the beaches where back in the game. Queenfish where on the jelly prawns schools as they made their way along the coast small white clousers worked well for a jelly prawn imitations. We found Barramundi, Blue Salmon and the odd Giant Herring in some of the gutters and rocky out crops on the beach, flies included White Thing & Clousers. Sinking 4-inch flashy profiles on shooting heads in berley trails along the reef edges accounted for large Queenfish & Spanish Mackerel. We also caught a Rainbow Runner using this method, Rainbow Runner are a found on the East Coast of Australia normally caught on the Great Barrier Reef and this is the first one we have caught in Weipa. The same angler managed to catch one of the biggest Long Tail Tuna’s that I have ever seen in Weipa. The Tuna was caught while sinking a fly under a bait ball. Most other Tuna where caught by casting flies into Tuna schools feeding on the surface. Flies include white clousers, surf candies & flashy’s profiles attached to shoot heads on 10 & 12 wt rods delivering fast and accurate cast into the Tuna schools.
Was busy tying flies during April I have managed to add a few new recipes to our site & the forum.
Looking for more fishing stories on Weipa? Visit our local fishing forums. Weipa Fishing Forum (http://forums.strikezonesportsfish.com.au/)
Sea ya in the “Strikezone”
Craig Jenkins.
Photo of Remy's Rainbow Runner.