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Complete archive of AreaArticles:

Weather a little more pleasant on the water

Jason Scerri | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / New South Wales / Central Coast / Swansea /

Welcome to May on Lake Macquarie. I am excited. I love this time of year. May, June and July are some of my favourite months for fishing the lake. For starters, the ambient temperatures have cooled considerably now, and that in itself makes fishing so much more pleasant.

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Cod anglers waiting with baited breath

Darcy Scherger | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Victoria & Tasmania / Freshwater / Mildura /

As the chilly mornings and cool evenings are becoming more frequent leading into the winter months larger Murray cod specimens should be on the prowl for a decent feed.

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Time to rumble in the racks

Dave Seaman | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / New South Wales / Mid North Coast / Forster /

There is little doubt that May is a month of heavyweight bream in the lower part of the system. There is a transition happening from estuary to coast for a lot of mature bream to spawn. There are always a few fish that stall at the gates and hang around the leases in the Paddock and the Wallamba River mouth just getting fat. Remember, this transition of fish through the entrance doesn’t happen overnight, but don’t waste time either. There is probably a three week window before things get back to normal at the end of the month.

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The happy Hawkesbury food chain

Dan Selby | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / New South Wales / Sydney / The Hawkesbury /

You couldn’t pick a better time to be on the water than right now on the Hawkesbury. With the recent fresh in late March and April the fishing has really hotted up, and I could only assume this to be the case in many of the East Coast’s estuaries.

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Amazing mayhem in May

Glen Stewart | First Published: May 2017   »  Regular Features / Area Report /

May can be like a weather preview of what’s in store, a warning almost, especially for those that have travelled from lower warmer altitudes to places like Thompsons Creek Dam (TCD). It hits them like a hammer when they climb out of the relative cosy comforts of a heated car.

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Big bream busting and a few good kings

Anthony Stokman | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / New South Wales / South Coast / Batemans Bay /

It’s autumn and that means big bream. Put 6lb braid with 4lb fluoro on a size 1000 reel and jump on a hard fighting estuary horse of a bream. You’ll feel like you’re gamefishing in the estuary, especially if you’re chucking expensive crab lures around racks.

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Best of both worlds on the peninsular

Darren Thomas | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / New South Wales / Sydney / Sydney North /

Overlapping seasons often mean both warm and cooler water species are eligible for capture, so don’t put away your topwater kingfish gear just yet. May is a great month to head out to the local inshore reefs targeting kings and snapper, as fluctuating water temperatures offshore encourage most species to feed. Snapper and kingfish are still readily available.

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Fishing mistakes: The practical side of things

Sean Thompson | First Published: May 2017   »  Feature Articles / New South Wales /

In the final installment of this series, we’ll be looking at bait and lure presentation, and the other little one percenters that give us an edge when we’re out on the water. This is an area often overlooked by anglers, but in reality it can make all the difference.

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Tuross Head tournament an outstanding success

Tag | First Published: May 2017   »  Regular Features / Tournaments /

With MotorGuide as its major sponsor, the sixth annual Tuross Head Flathead & Bream Tournament has been an outstanding success with 255 competitors taking to the water around the small fishing village on the NSW south coast.

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Fresher flows than a rapper’s best prose

Adam Townsend | First Published: May 2017   »  Regular Features / Area Report /

Heavy rains during March and leading up to April produced major flooding throughout the New England area, which would have seen many fishers put away the rods until it settled. However, that wasn’t the case for some places where the flush of rain brought out the keenest of fishers as well as some good catches.

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Deep Bite Man and Edge Bite Kid

Justin Willmer | First Published: May 2017   »  Regular Features / Kayaking /

You might be wondering who Deep Bite Man and the Edge Bite Kid are.

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Trout fishing could be under threat

Steve Williamson | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / New South Wales / Freshwater / Jindabyne /

Do we have Snowy Scheme Mark II? I’ll believe it when I see it. There are far too many questions to be answered before I get too excited. We might have a big problem though – our world-class trout fishery might be under threat!

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Wild weather mix up has settled down

Stephen Worley | First Published: May 2017   »  Regular Features / Area Report /

It seemed someone flicked the switch when summer finished. February was one of the hottest and driest on record, but since then we’ve had the whole mix. We have seen multiple flood events, cold foggy mornings, strong southerly changes, giant swell, intense storms and even an ex-cyclone visit. These significant weather happenings have had varying effects on the fishing around the region, but it wasn’t long before the fishing was back into the swing of things.

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Sea-saw weather is making trips out difficult

Stan Young | First Published: May 2017   »  Regular Features / Area Report /

Plenty of rain, wind and east coast lows make it very difficult to pick a good day to go to sea. There have still been spotted and Spanish mackerel around in close waters. Hopefully they stick around until about June. The fresh has been good for the mulloway off the breakwall and the beach with a fair few school-sized fish being caught. Anglers have even pulled a couple of 2-3kg mangrove jack.

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A whole lot of wet weather options

Mark Bargenquast | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Tropical North / Weipa /

Finally the rains have eased off to intermittent storms and the occasional shower. Tourists have started to trickle through and the fishing is going off. With one of the best wet seasons for quite a few years the run-off has really stirred things up. Inshore salmon, barra, grunter and tarpon have been very active as the jelly prawn masses began to appear along the coast.

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The harder it pours, the more fish come aboard

Jackson Bargenquast | First Published: May 2017   »  Regular Features / Junior /

The wet season is still in full swing up here in the Cape and the fishing is still going off. The drains aren’t flowing as hard and the spawning time of most fish is over. The hot humid temperatures still result in explosive fishing. Offshore reefs, estuaries, beaches and even freshwater creeks are going off at the moment.

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A fresh flush after the floods

Scott Bradley | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Central QLD / Hervey Bay /

Cyclone Debbie caused havoc in QLD and NSW. Luckily for the Fraser Coast, we missed the worst of it. What Debbie did bring us was some much needed relief from the hottest, driest summer I’ve ever experienced. Since the rain, things have gone back to the lush, green coastal town we are used to. The bay seems alive again after all the creeks and rivers had a good flush out.

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Add a Mediterranean touch to your calamari

Lynn Bain | First Published: May 2017   »  Regular Features / Cooking /

Not everyone’s a big fan of salad – as the saying goes, ‘you don’t make friends with salad,’ but calamari is a whole other kettle of fish. Salads can be a real missed opportunity when it comes to varying up your meals, but you can add so much to them, including your catch. When it comes to accompanying seafood, Greek salad is one of the greats.

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Local flooding means good things for fishing in mackay

Keith Day | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Tropical North / Mackay /

Late season Cyclone Debbie certainly gave our local communities quite a touch up with massive damage being done in and around the Whitsundays and to a lesser degree around Mackay district. The rain from the system was a good boost to our local fisheries.

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Set three alarms, winter is coming

Josh Dunn | First Published: May 2017   »  Regular Features / Area Report /

As the heat of the summer begins to pass, before we know it we’re already tucked into layers of blankets at night and throwing on that old fishing jumper that’s covered in cobwebs! You know what that means – winter is here next month! That’s not a bad thing – tailor, mulloway, flathead, big bream and plenty of species of trevally are all flooding our canal systems.

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Big rains deliver big fishing opportunities

Jason Ehrlich | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Freshwater / Freshwater QLD /

We can expect quite a few changes this month. Big rainfall last month flooded rivers and creeks sending plenty of dams over their spillways. There were still some which saw little change in water level at all. Mix this influx of water with the shorter days and cooler conditions and we have the perfect recipe to see change. This month I’ll focus on where to fish after the rain event, discuss where it will be tough and offer some alternatives.

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Offshore options are hot in May

Ed Falconer | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Southern QLD / Rainbow Beach /

How fast is this year going? We’re already entering our prime autumn-winter fishing season.

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Post-rain rumble

Grayson Fong | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Southern QLD / Northern Bay /

What a change a month makes! After the wrath of Cyclone Debbie ravaged our northern regions, our inclement weather was actually a great blessing in disguise. The sudden weather change was welcomed by many, as the sustained humidity was not only having an effect on the land, but also the sea.

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Hoping for good bites when the water clears

John Gooding | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Southern QLD / Brisbane Offshore /

Before cyclone Debbie rushed over, the fishing east of the South Passage seemed to be improving. On the charters we did just prior to the cyclone, there was a lot of bait around and plenty of mac tuna working them. Spanish mackerel numbers also picked up a little and there were solid specimens caught from Cape Moreton to the border.

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More fishy migration in May

David Green | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Southern QLD / Gold Coast /

May is an interesting month to fish the Gold Coast with the water cooling slightly and the current dropping a bit. There is still a lot of good pelagic fishing. Wahoo, Spanish and spotted mackerel and blue and striped marlin are all potential targets this month. As the current drops the bottom fishing and jigging also improve sand snapper start to show up on the 36 and 24 fathom lines.

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Signs of a ripper marlin season ahead

Lynton Heffer | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Tropical North / Port Douglas /

It was a long time coming but after such a dry spell the wet season kicked into gear during the past month. We were luckily spared the destructive drama of Cyclone Debbie in the very far north but following the event some decent moisture was dragged into the region. Also, for the first time in a long time we experienced extended periods of freshening winds for a week or more creating a double whammy of challenging fishing conditions. The rain was desperately needed to keep ticking over the cycle of life and the rejuvenation of new food sources.

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Contrast has been a standout technique

Dave Hodge | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Tropical North / Townsville /

While we really needed the rain that Debbie dumped recently, I’m glad we didn’t cop that one. Debbie blew over half of Queensland for days on end. Contrary to all predictions leading up to the event, Townsville missed every drop of water she was expected to deliver.

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Cyclone Debbie - a big turn on for big barra

Rob Howell | First Published: May 2017   »  Regular Features / Area Report /

As Cyclone Debbie tracked down the coast and over our catchment area, all we could do was sit and wait anxiously in the hope we didn’t get too much rainfall. Unfortunately, as the rain depression passed through, she off-loaded a massive amount of water into our system, taking our lake level from 83% to 110% over a 24hr period.

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Stanage stayed safe in the cyclone

Von Ireland | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Central QLD / Stanage Bay /

With the brunt of cyclone Debbie flying across QLD, our little township was safe when the direction spun to northwest instead of southeast. Pacific Villa had a few minor things rearranged but I haven’t heard of anyone badly affected in Stanage. Apart from nature doing its pruning with the trees and beaches being eroded, all is good.

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Good times for the bay’s shallow reefs

Phil James | First Published: May 2017   »  Area Articles / Queensland / Central QLD / Hervey Bay /

It’s easy to remember when we might have comfortably planned our fishing trips by looking at the calendar and checking off the tidal and weather predictions.  In Hervey Bay, you might’ve heard it said that you could expect a good catch of diver whiting any time after Anzac Day or expect the bream to be going crazy from the first spring tide in May.  

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