Fishing the Whitsundays

[ptoohey]

I have just been given a 5 day cruise around the Whitsunday's free !! I have never been there before so any tips on the fishing and snorkelling Location, location, location) as well as rigs etc would be greatly appreciated . We are going on Sat. Thanks

[trout monster]

have fished up there before and many green zones to be careful of. i use hand line with running sinker for trout and padinoska rig for drift fishing for nanies etc good fishing just about any where up there when they are on

[snatch]

There are still some good little haunts on the inshore islands that aren't green zones. The back (eatern side) of nth mole island has a string of bommies that will produce trout.
I don't agree with the above rig however. Too many snags. A snapper rig with twin hooks and half pilchards is best imo. That way when you feel the sinker hit the reef you can lift it a foot or so clear of snags and also stop the trouties from running into snags.

I have caught many good trout that way and most of them have been in the Whitsundays.

Also trawling lures over rocks around bluff point near Cannonvale and also around near Long island on the mainland side produces good trout and estuary cod.

Happy fishing.

[baitmaster]

BEST FISHING EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! whent up there a year ago to long island with 50$ rod and reel and had a ball. everything. cod, tuskfish, red emporor sweetlip, 2.5m g.t's and my best coral trout of 85cm and this is all off the long island jetty BTW i got the coral trout on a live tusky cuz i was getting tired of catching them and we ran out of sinkers and swivels so i had to use jigheads and i caught a tusky on a piece of squid and brought the tusky in and chucked it out the back and in about 30 secs i was onto a coral trout

goodluck


baitmaster

[plaztix]

BEST FISHING EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! whent up there a year ago to long island with 50$ rod and reel and had a ball. everything. cod, tuskfish, red emporor sweetlip, 2.5m g.t's and my best coral trout of 85cm and this is all off the long island jetty BTW i got the coral trout on a live tusky cuz i was getting tired of catching them and we ran out of sinkers and swivels so i had to use jigheads and i caught a tusky on a piece of squid and brought the tusky in and chucked it out the back and in about 30 secs i was onto a coral trout

goodluck


baitmaster

You landed a 2.5m GT on a $50 combo??? WOW that is the definitive proof that you dont need expensive gear to catch good fish.

I'm off to k mart for a new combo

[ptoohey]

Thanks a lot I will try both rigs and see how it goes. Is it best to get a map of the zones here in brissie or will they have one with the boat. I am really looking forard to this. Thanks again

[breamnut]

good luck, you will have a awsome time, i was there a few weeks backwith some mates and had a ball on big longtails,trout,gt,sweetlip a bloody hell of alot of cod on soft plastics

[Scott nthQld]

you can download the maps from the GBRMPA website, but any good tackle store will have them up here.

As for fishing, I've never done any down that way, but for a few marks, you should be able to get a copy of The Northern Angler, a lot of marks in it from nth Qld. Use then as a starting point and have a troll, keeping an eye on the sounder (if you have one?, mark any bumps and revisit them later, even if there are no fish visible on the sounder, reds and the like may be holding verry close to the bottom and may go totally unnoticed by sonar.

To me, every bump and pinnacle is worth a fish, even if its in the middle of nowhere, with no other structure to be seen for miles. These are what we call honey holes and guard them with our life, often they provide the best fishing and are often overlooked by others crossing the paddock to get to the reefs.

If you have a chart plotter on board, it should be equipped with some kind of mapping software that will show the green zones anyway. You can't use the free Green zone maps for navigation so you can't rely on them to tell you if you're in a green zone or not, all they will give you ais a general idea of the borders of said zones. I don't even think proper marine charts with the current zoning is available, which is a bit harsh, you can't use the free maps for navigation and you aren't supposed to rely on a gps, so go figure, how are we to tell if we are in a green zone or not? Your best bet is to stay well clear, unless you like a bit of confrontation with the "authorities".

As for rigs, your standard 2 hook paternoster will suffice, any more than 2 hooks and things may get difficult, double headers are a common occurence and you hardly want to be pulling up more than one fish all the time. i've been done a couple of times, pulling up a double header of 1m tealeaf and bludger trevally, some big cowboy nannygai, red emperor, its not a nice feeling....it hurts a lot cos you can't give the fish much as they will almost certainly brick you if you do. You can also use a running sinker rig, having a sinker, then a double to your hook, and as you let the line down you need to keep the weight of the sinker at all times or you will get a massive tangle. Once it hits the bottom, pull it up a couple of feet to avoid getting snagged up. Pillies and squid are good bait, but if you can find them (good luck) get some "pinkies" or goatfish, they are THE gun bait for trout. Any fuseliers go straight onto a hook and either sent to the depths for XOS trout and reds, or put under a ballon for any roaming spanish.

Minimum gear I would be taking is 30lb for sport, 50lb for a good compromise, but if you're serious on cleaning up, 80lb is the go. Anywhere from 60-120lb leader and minimum 8/0 hooks with anything upto 11-12/0, i use 9/0, seems to be a good compromise, still get any smaller (but legal) fish that are around, as well as being strong enough to cope with the bigguns.

I forgot to ask and just assumed a lot, but the cruise, is it a "skipper yourself" jobby or are you part of a group whihc is supplied a skipper?

[BobbyJ123]

Thanks a lot I will try both rigs and see how it goes. Is it best to get a map of the zones here in brissie or will they have one with the boat. I am really looking forard to this. Thanks again

G'day mate, your boat should have a zone map, if not, try this:

http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/m...ning_maps.html

Also, be careful of crossing the Whitsunday Passage, some fairly strong currents and cross winds . Best time to cross is early morning.
Some good fishing along the west coast of Hook Island. Take a few metal slices (Spanyids, Gillies) for heaving out at the mack population. Fusiliers make good bait for a wide variety of reefies.
Best of luck.

[ptoohey]

Thanks, Scott nq. It is a 10 metre motorised caterman which has been hired by others and then it fell through for 4 of them and came to us via my wife. I am keen on my fishing but when we lived in AYR i did'nt get a chance to fish as we were too busy starting the family.


Now is pay back time and your advice will help heaps.

Thanks again

[BrettyJ]

We were up ther last year and had the same style boat ( Coral Reef Charters ) was an awsome time. One thing is you will probably find that the boat wont have a fish finder/ sounder on it, ours had the GPS system with auto pilot and depth sound. We went right the way around the islands. Horse shoe bay is awsome for snorkeling. Beautiful up there, we left from Airlie. Have fun.

[snatch]

Horseshoe Bay is in Bowen which is a bloody long hike from Airlie Beach by boat (you wouldn't bother).

[fishing@airlie]

Hi Ptoohey,

If it is blowing NE you should try get tothe east side of mackeral bay on Hook Island as it is a renowned big fish haunt. The edward islands are another prime destination but i don't think they allow the charter boats.to go there.
If it is blowing SE then stonehaven anchorage on Hook island is not bad to explore and false nara inlet right next to Nara inlet is another spot to try. plenty of other places but these are a few of the better known spots.
Blue Pearl bay on hayman island or butterfly bay on hook is a top spot for a snorkel.

Have Fun

[BrettyJ]

Horseshoe Bay is in Bowen which is a bloody long hike from Airlie Beach by boat (you wouldn't bother).

Ment Mantaray Bay, my apologies.