Complete archive of AreaArticles:
Fitting a bilge pump will save you bucket loads of effort
Gordon Macdonald | First Published: April 2017 » Regular Features / Technical Tricks /
We all know that boats float, unless they are full of water, that is. Water can enter your boat in many different ways. Obviously if you forget to put your bungs in or they’re not tight enough water will pour or trickle in. During rough conditions, spray and even waves can splash over the side, especially in small tinnies that don’t have much freeboard.
Just about every species is biting well
Jason Medcalf | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Queensland / Central QLD / Bundaberg /
Last month was still hot and dry, but there was a distinct slight cooling in the early mornings and in the evenings. The water temperature really didn’t drop much, which is supposed to happen in March, but I expect April will see the start of cooler times ahead.
Quality barra being landed on the beaches
Ryan Moody | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Queensland / Tropical North / Hinchinbrook /
Once again, it doesn’t look like our wet season is going to be too aggressive. From Townsville north, things have been very average, but south of Townsville right down the coast the rainfall has been below average.
Bonito 5m tiller steer with 90hp Suzuki
Steve Morgan | First Published: April 2017 » Regular Features / Boating /
Built on the banks of Queensland’s famous Jumpinpin, fibreglass Bonito boats have carved a nice little niche for themselves in both the commercial and recreational fishing markets. There’s a handful of crabbers that put serious miles on their Bonitos in their local area – running 150hp tiller steer outboards. That’s on the 5.6m version, which we’ve tested over the years at Fishing Monthly, and you can Google “5.6m Bonito” to see the article and videos.
Adjusting your April fishing techniques
Mick Morris | First Published: April 2017 » Regular Features / Area Report /
As the year continues to fly by, our fishing attention focuses back on the species that the ‘Pin is well known for. Mangrove jack, cod and many pelagics are mostly shut down for the year, but the bread and butter fish like flathead, bream, whiting, tailor and mulloway should make up the bulk of catches from here on in.
Loving the Net Free Zone
Clayton Nicholls | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Queensland / Central QLD / Yeppoon /
This is a great time of year to target every species you could possibly think of finding in Central Queensland. Everything is pretty active. A lot of the freshwater feeder creeks are dried up or running low due to the severe lack of rain in the region over summer.
Dreamy weather is getting hopes high
Tim O’reilly | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Queensland / Tropical North / Cape York /
Nearing the end of Cape York’s wet season, anglers can only hope for a continuation of the great weather experienced throughout February and March. After a season that was meant to be above average for cyclones, calm conditions offshore have led to some great fishing on both sides of the Cape.
The fun run in the sun
Damian Parker | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Queensland / Southern QLD / Caloundra /
Our run in the sun continues and it’s only heating up across the coast. Mackerel has been dominating the fishing scene with a consistently strong run of spotted, school and Spanish varieties filling our eskies. Spaniards of 7-10kg seem to be the norm, but there have been reports and pictures of much larger fish. I prefer to keep a Spanish around the 10kg mark.
Reefs continue to fire up in cooktown
Paul Prokopuk | First Published: April 2017 » Regular Features / Area Report /
The wet season has well and truly arrived in Cooktown. We have had continuous days of heavy downpours causing flooding in the area and surrounding communities.
Pelagic action has got the blood pumping
Dane Radosevic | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Queensland / Central QLD / Hervey Bay /
For the mad keen pelagic anglers, Platypus Bay is the place to be this time of year and it is teeming with life. Massive congregations of bait have made their way into the bay and the predatory fish have followed suit. Longtail tuna are the main draw card at the moment. Big schools of fish have been seen working the bait balls and driving them to the surface.
Ever-reliable jacks are still blazing
Danny Sands | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Queensland / Southern QLD / Gold Coast /
April is a great month to fish on the Gold Coast for both outside and estuary systems. With the water temperature dropping a fraction this month and the late summer rains, April will be on fire. Most of the summer species start to migrate and feed hard before winter comes along. Target species for the estuaries this month will be mangrove jack, whiting, trevally and prawns.
What to do when the spawn is in the boat
The Sheik | First Published: April 2017 » Regular Features / Sheik of the Creek /
Just about every fishing magazine I pick up to read through will have a column trying to give me a guilty conscience about how I’ve got to take my kids fishing. If I don’t take my kids fishing, apparently, I should be taken up before the UN Human Rights Commission for breaching their inalienable rights to proper exposure to quality recreational facilities. That’s the kid’s rights, not the UN Human Rights Commission’s rights. Right?
Fishing will warm up as temperatures cool
Garry Smith | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Queensland / Tropical North / Cairns /
The temperatures, both air and water, should start to ease this month, bringing much needed relief from the heat. The fish will be as happy about it as the humans, so expect things to start to become more active on the piscatorial front.
Quality fish to be found in the shallows
Ryan Smith | First Published: April 2017 » Regular Features / Junior /
It’s crazy to think that a third of the year has already passed. Time flies when you’re having fun. Talking of fun, on a recent trip I was assigned a task to get a good mate, Finley, onto some decent fish and thought, what better way to do it than throw small hardbodies in 2ft of water?
Free Moreton Bay from excessive commercial netting
Judy Lynne | First Published: April 2017 » Regular Features / Sunfish /
I just spent a week on Moreton Island with my extended family. What we saw never ceases to amaze me. Commercial netters worked the beach from Tangalooma to North Point and did their best to not leave a single whiting. They cruised the shallows in the crystal clear water and targeted every last one they saw. There is no resource sharing and the long-term irreversible impacts they are having on the natural ecosystems are completely unknown.
A change in season brings great fishing!
Peter Wells | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Queensland / Southern QLD / Noosa /
The changing seasons also mean a change in the fishing as we move into April and the cooler weather starts. The water temperatures also start to drop, so the species we target are different.
Get ready for hunting threadies
Luke Fitzpatrick | First Published: April 2017 » Feature Articles / Queensland /
Like most anglers, I love the sound of drag screaming as a fish makes a run for freedom, viciously shaking its head trying to dislodge the hook and using all its might in an effort to pull anglers into the water. King threadfin salmon, more commonly referred to as threadies, are one species which never fail to provide a couple of solid line ripping runs, testing an angler’s gear at every critical point and ensuring that a reel’s drag washers are never left idle.
An Easter fishing fiesta
Gordon Macdonald | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Queensland / Southern QLD / Brisbane /
As the weather begins to cool over the coming month, we will start to see in a gradual increase in the prominence and distribution of many species. Many of the usual summer fare will still be around but won’t be as easy to locate as when the water temperatures were higher.
Bring on some consistency
Jeff Wilton | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Queensland / Tropical North / Hinchinbrook /
After a few months of very hot and cold fishing here in Lucinda, April should bring some stability. The last few months have been very heavily dictated by the weather. But April is usually not a bad month, with lighter winds and clear skies – we can always hope.
Cod may be too cool, but trout are warming up
Robbie Alexander | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Victoria & Tasmania / Freshwater / Wangaratta /
April is a beautiful time to go fishing. The weather is usually quite stable, the days are mild to warm and the nights are cool to cold, making conditions ideal for camping.
Suburban variety in April
Dylan Brennan | First Published: April 2017 » Regular Features / Area Report /
April is normally a great time of year to be fishing. The autumn weather is mild, usually with calm and clear mornings – perfect time to be outside in search of a fish. Whether you can get a session in at the local lake on a Saturday or duck out after work, there are plenty of suburban options to keep you going.
Good news after black water uncertainty
Nick Brown | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Victoria & Tasmania / Freshwater / Shepparton /
After a dramatic start to the year things are starting to look up in our region. We all had grave concerns about the black water event, which killed so many fish and turned a lot of fishos off fishing the Goulburn.
One big memorable elephant season
Jarrod Day | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Victoria & Tasmania / Central / Western Port /
Early last month the first signs of the annual elephant plague were quite noticeable, especially for anglers still searching for whiting around the port.
Knowing what lure to use
Jarrod Day | First Published: April 2017 » Feature Articles / Victoria /
Catching fish is one thing, catching them on lures is a total other ball game. Lure fishing for those same species you have spent most of your fishing life targeting with bait keeps the fishing spark alive in your blood and adds another challenge.
Kingfish stick around and pelagics come on strong
Wayne Diffey | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Victoria & Tasmania / West Coast / Apollo Bay /
We’ve had some good weather over the past month, broken up by some real sour patches. There have been good reports of decent salmon off the beaches. One old timer came into the shop last week with the carcass of a 4kg salmon that he caught off Kennett River.
April weather accounting for hot autumn fishing
Wayne Friebe | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Victoria & Tasmania / Central / Port Phillip Bay /
Warm, mild and mostly consistent weather has continued on the south of the bay. Over the early parts of last month, we had our first extended period of hot weather for the season. This always tends to fire up the action in close to shore especially, bringing bait, forage fish and of course hungry predators along with them. Stay tuned for more reports over the next couple of months – I reckon we are in for our best fishing of the season so far.
Prime time for bream action
Brett Geddes | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Victoria & Tasmania / East Coast / Gippsland Lakes /
This report is mostly about those famous Gippy Lakes bream. It seems like every year about this time I keep raving about the best bream fishing and I suppose I better stick to that tradition. I have received so many pictures and stories of big bream, I’m at a loss where to start!
April is cooler for many catches
Mark Gercovich | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Victoria & Tasmania / West Coast / Warrnambool /
April used to be when the tuna season would swing into gear big time. However, these fish have been in good numbers inshore since January, so the anticipation of April is not a factor this season. Perhaps it may see some bigger barrel tuna show up, as Easter has sometimes seen some of these 100kg+ fish encountered.
Pre-spawn stream trout are heating up
Steve Haughton | First Published: April 2017 » Regular Features / Area Report /
On 2 April we say goodbye to daylight savings and sneaking in that fish after work or school becomes a little bit trickier. With another winter approaching, it’s time to make the most of the beautiful April weather on offer in West and South Gippsland. There can be some magic days this month. What better way to spend them than having a fish in a wild stream or getting out to Blue Rock Lake.
No daylight savings for anglers’ fishy cravings
Kelly Hunt | First Published: April 2017 » Area Articles / Victoria & Tasmania / Tasmania & Flinders Island / Tasmania /
It’s something we face every year and it should get easier as time wears on, but it doesn’t. It is like a dark cloud that looms over the top of us causing despair. I am talking of course about the end of daylight savings for another season.
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