Offshore help, Hinchinbrook

[nidrac]

Hey after waiting months for the wind to come down so we can head offshore to do a bit of reef fishing, it has finnaly come down but we are in the middle of a week of small tides. I'm after any information i can get on where it is best to fish offshore when the tides are small in the hinchinbrook region. We only have a reletively small boat so we arn't able to head out much further then trunk or about midway through britomat. i know you may not be willing to give away your best spots but if you have any that you don't use anymore or doesn't produce the big fish anymore it would be greatly appriciated. I am just after something so that we don't go out there and fish all day and night and come home empty handed like we have done the last few times.

Cheers nidrac

[cdg81]

hey nidrac, not sure bout trunk and b'mart, but have done heaps of trips to the reef from the swain reefs off gladstone to opal, st crispins, tonge and rudder out of port douglas, fish the offshore islands here in mackay, and the patern seems to be the same, look for structure on the bottom with bait, i wont drop a pick unless there is bait, if its on the surface above bommies you can see, even better.

no run no fun, look for places where water runs between the reef, fleash baits are the go, along with the humble pilchard, livis are good aswell, fusileers are tops for big trout.

pelagic wise drop offs with current, for mackos, dog tooth and jobbies.
dont flolg a dead horse either, you will pick up trout within a 15 to 30 minutes, often the first livies down usually get munched by hungry trout, good luck and do post reports, cheers pal,
chris.

[disorderly]

Hi nidrac,

Still havent been able to get onto any reds,eh?
As cdg81 mentioned smaller tides are better for the deeper water in between the reefs..
When I started fishing like this a few months ago I had a good look at the charts and gps and asked around for likely areas to start looking.
I found a couple of likely locations and the last half dozen trips have either bagged out or close to it on the nannys,
It's not easy though as they are not always on the bite.
For example I and a mate left for this nanny spot on last saturday after lunch.
Upon arrival bait and nannys were showing on the sounder and we started hauling them on board .Got seven in about an hour then they went off the bite after a quick run around some closeby locations I could still see some on the sounder but the tide and current had changed and they didnt seem interested in feeding.It was a good session though as my mate Darryl had caught his first nanny and was stoked.
We got a few red throats and sweeties overnight and a couple more nannies and mackeral in the morning but it was hard work.Had a chat with some other locals at the ramp when we returned who had gone out that morning and had done no good.
Seems to me like sometimes they are hot but most of the time they are not.
The only way to get successful catchs of them are to spend more time on the water(I spent 3 days at the reef last week) and find some likely spots and start figuring out which tides or part thereof they are usually feeding.(make sure you have a good supply of snapper leads on hand and I have been using a combination of flesh bait,pillies and those restaurant grade squid to good effect.
A good sounder is also vital.
I also hang several baits at different depths from floaters to bottom rigs and in between and have caught nanny's on all but mostly on a paternoster bottom rig.
Sounds like I was in your situation earlier this year and some good advise on here and from the local tackle shops has enabled me to consistently get a good feed.
Only problem I have now is that I dont seem to get Red Emperor at these same spots and will have to scout out some more areas in search of them.
Good luck with it and remember if you cant get onto the reds you can always anchor up in the shallows and get a feed of trout,sweeties and macks to make sure you dont come home empty handed.

Scott

[nidrac]

Thanks disorderly i'll give it a go, nah still havn't got any mate i'm finding it hard to get out there whenever we plan on heading out something comes up, but what can you do.

Thanks for your help