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The wet is here
  |  First Published: February 2017



After a reasonably dry start to summer, this month is shaping up to be pretty wet. Already Weipa and surrounds have received over 400mm of rain and it’s still coming. Creeks and streams that feed the main rivers are just starting to run. The trouble up here on the cape is it’s nearly all bauxite, which is very porous. It takes a lot of rain to create a decent runoff and it’s happening.

With a good wet, hopefully the barra will have a decent spawning along with threadfin salmon, which seem to breed in similar locations and conditions. There have been plenty of big female barras hanging around the bridges and river mouths and unfortunately some illegal activities by recreational anglers are killing quite a few. It’s not a good look!

Barramundi season up here in the gulf shuts from midday 7 October until midday 1 February and QLD Fisheries law clearly states that it is illegal to deliberately target barras in in their wild population areas during the closed spawning season, even for catch and release purposes.

Evans Landing Jetty has been busy with a good run of grunter and the usual tarpon, queenfish and trevally around the lights at night. The odd black jewfish has been making an appearance as well.

Offshore has been difficult with constant wet season northwesterlies and swell making the water dirty. Between the rain and wind, not many have ventured out. On the rare days, a few sailfish, tuna and mackerel have been out wide. Alan Philliskirk had a good day just before Christmas landing seven out of ten sails – not a bad effort.

Mud crabs have been hit and miss. With this fresh, they may start to move again. High daytime tides during summer could have something to do with it. The lows are at night, but it’s not a good idea to leave pots in overnight up here, as they get eaten by crocs and bullsharks!

Depending on the next month’s rainfall, we could have a very interesting report. Fingers crossed!

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