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Reap rain run-off rewards
  |  First Published: March 2014



After the recent January and February rains, the late February and early March run off barra fishing has been amazing.

Local freshwater areas have been getting a lot of decent fish. Look for those run-off brackish spots where the barra are sitting.

The rains have once again brought out the prawns and the king salmon, which are on fire.

Fitzroy and the Narrows

Thanks to the prawns, there has been some terrific king salmon fishing, especially over the mudflats where the prawns are active.

After the flush out of water, the barra fishing has fired up as well with plenty of bait in the system.

In the next few months, fishing the river for any species should be quite productive as long as we don’t get any more heavy rainfalls.

Rivers, Creeks and the Beaches

The local creeks leading into the river are still trickling with freshwater run-off. Finding areas where this water meets the tidal saltwater area makes for brilliant fishing.

A variety of species can be found in these areas but the most predominant fish is barramundi. Flicking around smaller 5-7cm hardbody lures and live baiting are the most productive. Many of the fish are smaller barra trying to push up into the fresh to grow and get the plentiful supply of baitfish, however there are quite a few large specimens around that can be gone as quick as they hit the lure.

Along with all the barra trying to push up, many of the other saltwater species, such as bream and flathead, are at the back of the saltwater creeks. They’re trying to get out of the almost flooding river and will still be sitting up and readily available to target.

Freshwater lagoons

The freshwater lagoons are fishing very well from the recent rains because the bait is in plentiful supply. The ropes road crossing made from culverts is a very effective place to throw a lure, the water flows through very easily and the baitfish are amongst the snags around the crossing.

The crossing generally holds plenty of barra that are making their way up from the salt in flood times and then get locked into the lagoons as the water recedes.

Along with the barra, there is a plentiful supply of tarpon, which are great fun to target on surface lures as they are very aerobatic and not hard to find.

Crabbing

The crabbing is predicted to fire up once the flow of water has stopped and will hopefully stay that way. The crabs should be full to the brim with meat as the recent rains and run off brought with it lots of nutrients and dead matter off of the land and freshwater areas.

A pack of mullet heads will always do the trick for a day out crabbing but catfish is a well-known bait that is in plentiful supply in our river and can prove to be a far cheaper option.

Fish light get the bite!

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