Fishing the Whitsunday Islands

[610]

I am heading up to Hamilton Island in June/July on my mates 45ft Riviera. I have never been fishing up this way before so I was wondering if anyone familiar with the area could give me some ideas on what will be around at this time of year, some tips on where we should head to get them and basically any other tips you are willing to share to make our trip worthwhile.

Cheers in advance.

[Red Bull]

Hi mate,

I have gotta say I don't know the areas up around Hamo very well, because we fish a bit south of that area.....around the the Smith Islands. However, the methods and species available would be exactly the same. Certainly the geography is very similar, with headlands and isolated rock outcrops dotting the area.

It depends on what you want to catch, of course, but my personal favourites are GTs, coral trout and spaniards.

GT's are sometimes there in big numbers, especially when you get roaring currents (lead up to full moon seems to be best), hard structure, and baitfish. I like to target GT's with big poppers and stickbaits, which are cast from heavy spin tackle and 80 pound braid. The hits are sensational, and no fish in the region goes harder when hooked up, I reckon.

Coral trout will also take poppers, however, the more reliable methods are to troll the edges of drop offs with deep diving lures, or if bait fishing is more your cup of tea, then livebaits fished on the bottom over pronounced structure will draw bites pretty regularly. Be warned, some of the fish hooked with this method tend to be very hard to stop though! Failing that, pilchard and cut flesh baits certainly catch plenty of trout.

Mackerel take most types of lures, and can be found in the same areas as GTs, that is, areas where the current is heaping up around big rocks, and forming eddies and current lines. If fusiliers, garfish, sardines etc are visible in the water, then you'll get mackerel at some stage. A live fusilier under a balloon is one of the more reliable local methods for attaching yourself to a decent spanish mack. Smaller school/doggie/spotty macks eagerly take small metal lures retrieved flat out in the same areas.

Hope that helps in some way.

Cheers
Angus