fishing at maggie

[luckyfish]

hi luckyfish here ihave sold my little tiny and have up graded to a 445 bay runner Iam new to reef fishing and was just wondering if anyone had any info on some spots around maggie or tips i could try as i have been out a couple of times with no success just little fish which i through back. any info would be great thanks and keep fishing

[Axl]

Excuse my ignorance but where's maggie?

[ozbee]

local name for magnetic island off Townsville.as you learn and get trout off the reefs start to venture away onto lose rubble ground sometimes 5klm from reef and don't be shy of deep water. a whole new world of fishing is there catches like this is very common up here if you get into it . just remember don't over fish a spot so the schools will be there every time you go



also fish for trout in the 40 to 50 mtr mark on the reefs . the fish are twice the size and not hassled by the live trout market pros.

[Scott nthQld]

Lucky fish, Maggie is preety much my home range, and you won't find those big reds in the above pic, much of the area is around 10m.

Mostly you will encounter a range of trevally, from golden trev, permit on the flats and even stonker GT's 20kg +, the island this time of year is good for school sized grunter (40-50cm) in close to the headlands around Westpoint area, but the main fare this time of year will be mackeral, though fishing early morning over good structure might see you with a late season fingermark.

This time of year is the perfect time for finding new spot around maggie, with ther macs well and truly on the bite (doggies, spotties and spaniards) get out just before sun up, throw some lures out the back and troll, troll , troll, use your plotter to work in a grid and mark every lump you come across to revisit later, especially in the summer months when the big choppers (fingermark) turn it on. Doing this will likely see you with a couple of mackeral in the esky anda handful of places to revisit and check out properly. There are literally hundreds of lump around westpoint, some are ancient bommies, wrecks, even sunken timber after being washed out of the bohle during the wet.

Around the horsehoe side of maggie, the water is somewhat deeper around 20m, do the same thing out here, I don't fish the back of the island much so don't really have any spots out there, but same principle applies, though including the macs, you'll likely come across some tuna as well.

About 15km past the island the shoals start, most of this area is 30-40m, and this time of year sees the nannygai and red emperor move into this area. However, spaniards are there in acres this time of year. Other than trolling for mackeral I have never really givent he shoals much attention, as they are heavily fished and you need to put a lot of time into them to get good results on the reds, I just prefer to head out get my bag of spaniards and head back in. Your 445 will be able to fish the area no worries on a good day.

We realy don't start getting deeper water until the 40km mark past maggie whcih is where you'll see the depth get to around 50m plus, then you have Keeper reef, which is the closest to Townsville, but is no mean feat, with it being 70km trip from Townsville....then you have to get back. i wouldn't really suggest heading that far wide in anything smaller than 5m

[Jurkyjj]

Ozbee, that is a quality haul there mate.
Well done.
Some great sizes too.

Jason.

[luckyfish]

thankyou all for your advice greatly appreciated heading for a overnighter next weekend so Ill let u know if i had any luck again thankyou for the info

[Pridey]

Also mate, dont limit yourself to just Maggie. Scott pretty much somed up the island as good as anyone, but with a boat like that theres plent else to check out in the TSV area. Perfect size boat for exploring Hinchinbrook ! (It would take forever and a day to tell you where to go there its awesome.) Or even Salamanda Rf on the other side of Aims, 14m + reef not far from shore.

If you're still really keen on Maggie, I'd consentrate on West Point. Either Troll up and down it, or sit in close to the rocks with some livies.

[bushbeachboy]

Have a look here for lots of TSV info: http://www.fishingtownsvilleforum.net/