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Jungle blossoms under fair weather
  |  First Published: May 2015



Fishing this time of year is always going to be fun with lots of great opportunities about. The cooler changes in temperature can be perfect for reaching those untouched areas on foot without overheating from the hot tropical North weather.

Jungle perch can be targeted all year round but I find the next few months to be the best time of year to hunt down a few. There have been a few scattered showers of rain passing through, but not enough to give the smaller systems a good flush out and keep them flowing.

I recommend concentrating around the higher ground areas such as the Tully region. The systems in the jungle are always flowing and offer some magical scenery along the way.

Lately I have been asked about which size lures for JP. My answer is: if it fits in their mouth, then it’s the right size! JPs are opportunistic feeders and will eat just about anything they can, when they can. On many occasions when pulling my lure out to release them, I have found the JP’s mouth full of interesting things such as live green tree frogs, lizards and even a small dead bat. My fiancé laughed when I once told her they were like the kinder surprise of fish!

Junglies are so switched onto what’s happening outside the water. I once witnessed a solid JP track my lure in the air to launch out and intercept it before it even hit the water! Such an amazing species, it’s no wonder they are on the bucket list of many anglers.

Mangrove jack will start to taper off a bit as the cool weather starts to take place. But this doesn't mean you won’t catch them, you just have to work a little harder. The smaller grubs and paddle-tail plastics are the perfect presentation for the smaller sweet water models.

Cast your presentations tight into their snag and hold on tight! They will crunch hard and try to wrap you around their front porch. My favourite size is the Z-Man 2.5’’ GrubZ.

These fish are stunning to look at, when juvenile their white stripes and vibrant blue markings under their eyes truly standout against there deep red colours. A unique species. I always think to myself when releasing them, how cool it is that one day this fish will make the journey out to the reef. Amazing stuff!

Plenty of sooty grunter action to be had this time of year. Sooties are a great tough Aussie fish to target. It’s not uncommon to rack up double figures when out targeting this tough customer. They provide hours of entertainment and really test your finesse fishing skills.

I really enjoy using spinnerbaits for Sooties. A great way to rig up is attach a grub to your stinger hook. Not only does this help keep your stinger hook on the spinnerbait, the grub tail makes this presentation absolutely deadly, and not to mention basically snag-resistant so gives you plenty more opportunities to be right in the strike zone.

Big soots are a sucker for surface lures, especially in low light conditions. Cast your surface offering out as far as you can and work it slowly. The surface strikes from a big aggressive sooty sure is something special!

Stay safe out there and enjoy what this beautiful country has to offer. See you out there!

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