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Summer heat kicks in
  |  First Published: December 2012



What a year we have had? We can only hope that this year is as good.

The temperature is usually around 38°C and humidity of over 95% making spending time in the sun up here unfriendly. A lot but people continue to get heat stroke by not using shade or drinking enough water, so remember to look after yourself and your mates.

Storms will be around as we get our wet season going but if the weather is fine then this is a great time to get out to the rubble patches looking for big the GT that hang around chasing the bait schools. A good way to find these fish is to troll for them using hardbody lures like the Halco Crazy Deep and keep an eye on the sounder as you may come across fish feeding on the bottom.

When you find fish on the depth sounder anchor up and drop a few baits down with one floating out the back. I use a heavy outfit consisting of a Spheros reel with 80lb Schneider braid attached to a 50-80lb Ugly Stik rod. This outfit will help you to get them in quickly, but feel free to use lighter gear if you relish the challenge.

The fresh water coming down the river should bring some prawns and these are the best bait for king salmon. An easy place to fish is along the beach up from the Sunset Tavern. Look for where the locals fish as their experience is golden. They know just how far to go from the tavern without travelling too far to get resupplied. Live prawns are the best bait and if there are none about, then watching the world go by from the tavern is a good option.

For those with boats, head out to the edge of the channel out near the Sand Island. This location can fire for all sorts of fish including grunter and black jew. You need to have all options covered by having a bait in the deep channel and another up in the shallow water. The grunter should be in the shallow water and the black jew in the deep channel, but we have caught both species in both places.

Please check road reports if you’re travelling up here as we can be cut off for over a month and sometimes for up to 3 months depending on the floods. You can contact the Council on (07) 4745 2200 and the Normanton Police on (07) 4745 2555 for the latest road information.

For us locals the wet season is an awesome time to fish and apart from the humidity and heat, we just love this special part of the world.

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