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Strikes around structure
  |  First Published: August 2012



Winter species have been heavily targeted with huge success recently and, with a colder winter predicted, these species should be on fire.

Species that have been in more than plentiful portions this month have included the yellowfin and pikey bream along with salmon and flathead. Whiting and cod are about all the beaches with some grunter of good size being pulled from certain areas.

Bream are a common target of all weekend fishers and are now a highly regarded sportfish on light gear. Bream can be caught on freshly gathered prawns or hardiheads. If you’re pressed for time then most off-the-shelf products will work sufficiently. Use a standard running sinker rig with a 2/0 hook.

Bream aren’t fussed on the areas they inhabit, most land-based spots include boat ramps, pontoons or rocky breakwaters. Sizeable bream have been caught in the Auckland Creek system and the marina.

Hitting the lure side of things, chubby minnows like those from Berkley, Atomic and Sebile have been used to produce bream in good quantities around the flats and gravel patches. Surface luring of a medium tide over rock patches with small poppers and stickbaits has worked well for bream and can produce many other species, from grunter to queenfish.

In the narrows the hot spots to capture these hard hitting species are the Munduran, Blackswan and Graham creeks. It is also not uncommon to catch small barra, jacks and javelin fish on light gear when targeting bream in these areas. The marina itself has been going well for bream along with popular day spots like South Tress and Tannum Sands.

Barra are still finding their way onto the trebles of lures fished up close in snags and have more of a vibrating action like Transams and Flattshads. These fish have surprisingly fired up in the Fitzroy and narrows but for some reason or another not many large size specimens are being hooked.

The barra are in the hot water outlet now along with queenfish and salmon. A simple walk up and down the bank casting various lures will see a few on the hooks. The typical barra combo is still the most effective combo in these areas but smaller 50-70mm lures are being used.

Larger queenies have moved onto the headlands and flats in areas like Barney Point and South Trees outlet. These species will annihilate any fast worked lure thrown at them, however 70-100mm poppers and stickbaits work the best. While targeting these fish it is not uncommon to find blue and steelback salmon jumping all over the lure as well.

Grunter have been a successful catch in South Trees along rock walls and pylons and we should start getting better numbers within the month. Any heavy bream tackle will do the job for these fish.

Crabs have been going well in the southern end of the Gladstone vicinity but not so much up in Rockhampton and the narrows, even though crab pot sales at local fishing stores say otherwise.

In the next few months the lagoons around Rockhampton, such as Woolwash and Yeppen, will start to fire up once the sun starts getting warmer and the tarpon should be up and about followed soon after by the barra.

Fish light get the bite!

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