January/February 2022 Fishing Report and Newsletter

 | By Seamus on 2/25/2022 12:56:57 AM | Views (432)

View this email in your browser January and February - cyclones, floods, wind and rain....  Well what a past couple of months it has been, and a bit of a breezy start to 2022 to say the least. Chozz with the first fish boated for 2022, a 122cm thready!   Windy conditions saw us lose a fair few days with gusty southeasters, often strong wind warning strength, keeping us off the bay.  As we move forward to March and Autumn we should see the weather settle down and transition into those cooler autumn conditions we love.   Over the past few months we have been focusing on the local scarlets, or large mouth nannygais, on many of our trips when conditions allow.  This has seen a mix of good reef fish to go along with the scarlets including painted sweetlip, golden trevally, grass sweetlip, school and Spanish mackerel.     Focusing on using jig and soft plastics for these species can be a great way to learn the basics of lure fishing.  The stand out lures of late have been the old trusty Zman StreakZ in electric chicken and 40g Nomad Buffalo Jigs. We also managed a few nice coral trout with guests enjoying the challenges of hooking and landing these prized reef dwellers.  On the surface, we had a few mac tuna moving about along with longtail tuna.  Longtail numbers are not plentiful yet but the coming weeks should see more move in. On the windier days we focused around the Bay islands and Straits targeting small GT’s, queenfish and golden trevally.  Fishing with light braid can be exciting with even small GT around 3-4 kg being a handful on light bream/ flathead tackle.  Autumn Dates Autumn is right up there as possibly the best season for us when it comes to all out sportfishing.  Tunas, golden trevally, queenfish, mackerels and more ramp up and we see some epic days on the water.  With recent rains we should have a great season! With the tuna season upon us make sure you get in early to secure your dates. We are looking forward to plenty of rod bending action with our migrating tuna run! Flooding rains Flood water debris swamped the Sandy straits and our iconic Pier We experienced some flooding in January with the Mary River catchment receiving over 400mm in some areas which saw the flood level in Maryborough reach over 9 meters.  With this flood water we saw a huge amount of large debris swamp the Bay area.  The fresh water flowed out for a good week before we started to see it clean up.  This Brahman bull was swept onto a sandbank near River Heads, unfortunately passing despite locals rescue attempts It is now a little dirty inshore but mostly cleared up and has certainly provided some great fishing.  The flood waters kick many bait species into gear and we are now seeing bait schools throughout the bay with predatory fish not far behind them.  We are looking forward to a big tuna season ahead!    Full day Sportfishing charters 630am - 330pm From $300 Book Full Day Charter Half Day Sportfishing Charters 630am - 1230pm From $200 Book Half Day Charter Full Day Boat Hire 6am - 4pm Extras available From $320 Book Gotcha Boat Hire Catch of the Month Angel with a cracking Golden Trevally caught in some very average conditions.  Well done Angel!   Juvenile Marlin Fishing with Paul Burt Late last year we filmed a 3 part series on Step Outside with Paul Burt, targeting our iconic juvenile black marlin in the shallows of Fraser Island. We showcased different techniques to catch these beautiful fish including bait & switch with fly, trolling skirted lures and skipping rigged garfish. Click here to watch our Episodes 27, 34 and 37 of Season 3 on 7Plus   A great option we can now offer is Gotcha Boat Hire.  Our vessel has been set up for the serious sportfisherman.  It has been a great addition to the fleet with the DIY option popular with the more experienced angler.    If you're interested please be in contact for rates and dates. Guide Life Happy Australia Day! See some of our recent catches below! Nice cod Spotties Golden on fly for Lenny Longtail tuna Nice sized cobia Golden Nice trout Gold Big golden Mac tuna Doubles Good sized cod Mac Longtail One croc for dinner Inshore trouts in 30kts Nice goldie Tuskfish Nice goldie for Sunny Wand out for goldens Grassy's have been on lately Golden on the jig Copyright © 2021 Hervey Bay Fly and Sportfishing, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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Catch Information

Species:
Black Marlin


Cobia


Coral Trout


Dusky Flathead


Flathead Catfish


Golden Trevally


Grass Emperor


Nannygai


Queenfish


Red Throat Emperor


Spanish Mackerel

This Fishing Report was submitted on 2/25/2022 12:56:57 AM by Seamus and last updated on 2/26/2022 9:41:18 PM.

Location

51 Tristania Crescent
Hervey Bay, QLD AU

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