Hervey Bay With The Family

[Teachnthekids]

Hi All,

Going to hitch up the boat (Cruise Craft Reef Finder) and spend 10 days in Hervey Bay.

Have got all the marks I can find on the net and a Navionics Platinum card for the GPS so I should be able to find some ground to fish on what I was wondering is what species I am likely to run into at this time of year.

I was thinking of packing the plastics gear that we use for Snapper here in Coffs, some heavier spin gear and some bottom bashing gear am I on the right track?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers
Rob

[Duckfish]

Hi Rob,
Just depends on what you are after. If you had towards Wathumba you could get trevs, pinkies maybe the odd mack. Plastics are a hit and miss afair so I would take some bait like pillies, prawns. But anyway good luck.
Duckfish

[wags on the water]

PM sent Rob.

[Teachnthekids]

Thanks duckfish and Wags I will let you know how I went.

Cheers

[swabio]

Hope you have a ball up there Rob! It is a beautiful spot!

I will also be in Hervey bay from 26 -31 dec.. have booked a boab boat hire for a couple of days so will see how it all goes on the fishing front! Myself, wife and the two kids will be having a ball!

Any tips on places to go would be great, only done minimal LBF up there so far!

[Teachnthekids]

Hope you have a ball up there Rob! It is a beautiful spot!

I will also be in Hervey bay from 26 -31 dec.. have booked a boab boat hire for a couple of days so will see how it all goes on the fishing front! Myself, wife and the two kids will be having a ball!

Any tips on places to go would be great, only done minimal LBF up there so far!

I will let you know how we go getting excited now just hope the weather is kind!

Cheers
Rob

[Marlin_Mike]

I go there now and then for a holiday. Always done well on the Roy Rufus Reef.


Mike

[chrispad]

Hi Rob,
Here's this weeks fishing report courtesy of Fishermans Corner Tackle Shop.

Fishing Report November 18th, 2010


Our annual run of spotted mackerel is just around the corner (of Rooneys that is). About this time every year the spotties turn up, starting in small schools initially, then arriving en-masse if conditions are favourable.
Whilst the spotties are mostly north of Rooneys still, with a few large fish off Wathumba, expect them to come down the bay over coming weeks. They reputedly feed into the wind, so we need southeasters (not northerlies) for the schools to come our way. If you are into a bit of high speed spinning, then make sure you have small slugs from 15-40gm onboard if heading up the bay in the near future. Mack tuna can also be found north of about Coongul at present.
First reports of “pencil” squid have been received this week from the pier (albeit in very small numbers so far). These small squid turn up in great numbers over summer, and are mostly targeted from the pier by lowering a light to the water to attract them. Small 1.5 – 2 inch squid jigs are required.
Some good catches of reef fish such as grass sweetlip, blackall, squire and cod have come from local shallow reefs this week. The better catches have been reported from reefs fringing local islands, particularly the northern end of Woody. Fishing these areas from late afternoon into the evening, or again very early in the morning is best.
Other inshore reefs such as the Arti, Moon Ledge and numerous others are producing estuary cod, golden trevally, mackerel and blackall. School mackerel are now well dispersed over local reefs and occasionally around beacons such as the Fairway. The trick to finding the schoolies is to find the better bait sources – no bait, no mackerel. Golden trevally are really quite prolific out there at the moment, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding them, be it over wrecks such as those on the Arti, inshore reef ledges, or over the flats.
Ken from Hervey Bay Fishing Charters reported that the southern gutters was fishing well this week. Coral trout, cod, heaps of sweetlip, tuskfish and hussar were caught. They had no problems with sharks which can be a hassle for the next couple of months up there, but he did say that the sharks had been giving them a hard time outside the bar recently. Securing quality live baits for gutters trips becomes a real issue this time of year.
The muggy easterly and northerly weather this week has made fishing local rivers and creeks a good option. Whilst the tides were a bit small for whiting and flathead, a few were still caught in the lower Susan and vicinity of River Heads. The upcoming bigger tides should see both these species feeding well, both in the rivers and down the straits..
Threadfin salmon are on offer in the lower Susan and Mary Rivers. Livebaiting with herring, prawns, mullet or garfish is an easy way of catching a salmon. Simply target an area where bait can be ambushed (eg; smaller creek mouths, drains and rock bars on corners) and fish heavy leaders of at least 50lb as they have very abrasive mouths. They can also be sighted-fished with lures as they tear into the baitfish on the falling tide.
Mangrove jack have been on the bite in the Burrum system, creeks on the western side of Fraser, Eli and creeks down the straits. A few grunter can be found in many of our larger creeks and major rivers. Grunter numbers are fairly small so far, but it is only early days yet. If heading into local rivers this weekend, then pack a cast net as you may find a feed of banana prawns by heading upstream as the tide falls. Even if you can’t find enough for a feed, then a few prawns for live bait are hard to beat.
The Uranagn Pier has been a bit quiet this week, except for a couple of flathead and the odd mackerel or goldie. Stories of bust ups from the big GT’s abound, so they are still there terrorising the fish (and fishermen).
Lake Lenthalls is fishing very well for bass. The average size may only be 30-35 cm, but enough 40+ fish are caught to keep things interesting. The bass have been that aggressive some days they are hitting bigger lures aimed at barra, even with 80lb leader attached. Still, no barra have been recorded with the rangers, just stories of sightings and hits.
For the latest on what’s biting and for all the gear and tips on how to catch them, drop in and see the guys at Fishermans Corner.

Hope that this helps.
Chris.

[bunchofbananas]

Hi Rob,

Definitely go and chase some Tuna with plastics, Pink Snapbacks 4-5 inch will get you into some great action. Just locate the birds and jumping fish and with luck you will hook some screamers. Try inside Platypus Bay and enjoy the location.

Tight lines Kev

[PaulMark]

Hi Rob, the bay is full of Tuna at present,longies,macks and some mackeral in with them.Pretty close in as well.Enjoy your trip mate
Paulo