Skirted trolling lures have a long history. A long time ago Fishermen, from the pacific island nations, started to drag lures behind canoes and other craft in the tropical oceans and around the shores of islands chasing pelagic fish such as tuna and marlin. A lot of the early skirt material was made from fibre material available at the time, and used everything from the pith of banana trees to teased rope that was bound to a wooden or metal head. We have come a long way!!! The varieties and colours of skirted lures are now plentiful.Generally most local anglers do not use these surface lures very much. Probably due to the lack of exposure to skirted lures and also due to the price of each one, being more than the cost of hard body lures. The following are the types we use which get great results and are reasonably priced.

Straight runners

Straight running heads such as bullet/jet heads, Hex Heads and Tuna Heads have a rounded front section of the head so the water flows over the face of the lure, creating minimal resistance making it swim straight. I like the types with small holes around the outside creating a bubble trail. Straight runners are a weighted lure head, which makes the lure swim a bit deeper in the water. These lures work best when trolled a long way back, and work well in the shotgun position. While they don’t have the action of some of the other head shapes, they are very effective tuna and wahoo lures and catch plenty of marlin as well. Weighted straight runners can be towed slowly to catch mahi mahi or tuna but the big advantage is tolerating increased troll speeds, and can easily be towed at up to 13 knots in calm conditions. This technique is very popular for wahoo as well as covering ground when in between fishing spots. You might remember our last blog post on a full day charter we caught a nice mahi mahi trolling at 8 knots on this 75g fish eagle jet hex head lure that cost $35 from BCF.

Pushers

These lures are round in profile and when viewed from the front feature a cup shaped front end that pushes and splashes out water when dragged through the water. This type of design has the advantage of being very easy to use, easy to rig and has great versatility. The size of the cup at the front of the lure and the length and weight of the head determines the action of the lure. Large diameter cups generate more water pressure, bigger bubble trails and more action and will hold themselves in position well. These are often very good lures to use in rough conditions as is common off our coastline. This lure can be trolled at speed or quite slowly depending on the target species we find 7or 8 knots for tuna – 10 or 12 knots for mahi mahi or wahoo. The small one below has worked well and bigger versions of this will catch their fair share of marlin. A 6” Williamson dorado catcher variety will set you back about $15 from BCF.

Other varieties include the pear and tube designs and slant faced heads. These designs require a lot of work in rigging and positioning and can be quite expensive. We prefer to use the “K I S S” principle as we are not trolling for long periods of time.

Colours

They come in every colour of the rainbow and more. There are even luminous varieties and all work even the white ones though the colourful ones catch more fishermen. The trick to success usually involves having at least one or two lures in your spread with colours resembling the baitfish in the area at the time. We find purple and silver resemble little tuna’s. Green, blue and yellow resemble a little mahi mahi or fusilier and I also like a blue, yellow and pink colour pattern resembling an injured yakka. Remember what works today may not tomorrow so it pays to have a variety of colours and types of lures and a few hex heads and pushers in different colours is a must in anyone’s lure bag.

If you want to come along for a trip and see how inexpensively it can be done head over to our contacts page and give us a call or flick us an email.

Happy hunting!!!!!

It’s been a mixed bag of fishing on the Sunshine Coast this week but reeling in a whopping 11kg samson fish was certainly a highlight.
Who wouldn’t be excited to haul that monster on board? It gave Jason a great scrap on Saturday and made for a very happy fisherman. Well done mate!

That catch came after a slow start to the morning but we had a full day fishing charter and there was heaps of time to try a few different things.
Trolling on the way out didn’t reap any rewards so when we got out to Barwon Banks we went straight to the bottom fishing. We had some success in the shallower areas and caught a few red throat emperors.
On the outside edge in about 50 metres of water things got going and we brought in more red throat, pearl perch, moses perch and gold spot wrasse.
When the sun came up we put the lures on and trolled up the banks and hooked a nice mahi mahi – my favourite fish.

But it was when we were bottom bashing in deeper water, about 80 metres, that Jason hauled in his Samson fish. We also caught more pearl perch and marble flathead in the deeper waters.

The weekend was cut short due to wind and weather conditions, which prevented us heading out on Sunday.
But we were out most of last week with half and three quarter day fishing charters on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Tuesday we had a mix of reef and wreck fishing and the highlight was a 5kg cobia. We caught a few more, just under the 75cm legal size limit, which all fought well. There were also some squire, pearl perch, moses perch and a lot of blue spot flathead, which are great eating.
The biigest fish on Wednesday was Simon’s 7kg gold spot estuary cod, caught from the Caloundra Nine Mile Reef. And as is typical at this time of year there were also pearl perch, moses perch and squire.

We tried mackerel fishing on Thursday. It’s a little early in the season but we’d seen some good signs they were about so we headed to Caloundra and fished just outside the North-West Fairway buoy. We chased the fish, which were busting up and flicked lures into the frenzy and also did some trolling with hard bodies and pillies. We caught a few spotties with the biggest one weighing in at 5kg. It’s good to be getting them this early in the season. It looks like it will be a great summer for them. I can’t wait.

If you’d like to join us for some fishing action along the Sunshine Coast head over to our contacts page and flick us an email or give us a call. We’d love to have you along.
Happy hunting!

Mother Nature threw her weight around on the Sunshine Coast last weekend with some impressive storm activity. Fortunately, our fishing charters were early starts so we were home before the storms hit and enjoyed beautiful mornings with calms seas, light winds and heaps of fishing.
On Saturday we did a ¾ day charter and fished the Caloundra Nine Mile and Caloundra Twelve Mile Reefs, which produced squire, pearl perch and cobia. Unfortunately, we lost the biggest one at the side of the boat – it looked like it would have been eight to 10 kilograms. Never mind. It’s another fishing tale of the one that got away. We boated others between 70 and 80 centimetres.
Once it started to warm up we collected our crab gear and headed for Currimundi Reef to try and catch a few mackerel. We found some hitting bait schools on the surface so we drifted next to the school, floating out pilchards, fishing our paternoster rigs mid water and sending out some live baits but we only picked up squire and small cod. As we headed back we set a few lures and trolled, which proved successful. Young Riley was stoked with his three kilogram school mackerel. Well done mate!

Sunday was a full day fishing charter and we headed to the Barwon Banks. We started on the shallow section at the bottom end and hooked fish but kept losing them to sharks. It seems they have a real affection for red throat emperor and tuskfish. We got tired of the competition so we we steamed north six nautical miles and fished the outside edge in 50 metres where we were rewarded with some delicious table fish including pearl perch, tuskfish and moses perch.
The crabbing was great, a haul of 43 keepers and all really good size. Good to see the big breeders are active as there are only a few days left until the season closure and their annual spawn.
This picture is of a pearl perch and red throat emperor, around two kilograms – top quality fish for the dinner table.

It was a great weekend and this week looks similar. It will be safer getting out early before the storms brew up and hit in the mid afternoon. Monday’s full moon should increase fish activity on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Happy hunting!

You could be forgiven for thinking summer is already here but it really doesn’t start for another few weeks. With the hot weather and Christmas holidays lots of people will be out fishing. It is great to see everyone enjoying our beautiful waterways and reefsand I thought it would be good to revisit some rules and regulations regarding size and bag limits before people get into the swing of things. If you feel you may not be up-to-date or the words “bag limit” and “size limit” are completely foreign, please read on.

Size limits

Size limits apply in all Australian states. This means that in many fish species there is a minimum and a maximum size a fish can be for you to keep it and the size limits vary from species to species. Maximum size limits apply because often the larger fish in a species are breeding females and it is important to leave them to reproduce and ensure ongoing breeding. Examples include cod, barramundi and snapper.

And while many fishermen get frustrated with the size limits imposed it is important to remember they are based on extensive research into the reproductive cycles of each fish species, they’re not just random numbers applied to reduce your chances of reeling in a keeper. Minimum size limits usually allow fish to spawn at least once before being taken.

It’s really important you have a tape, ruler or brag mat in your tackle box at all times you so you can measure your catch. You measure the longest point of the fish – from the end of its snout or mouth to the tip of its tail.

Bag limits

Bag limits are a little bit different. This refers to the maximum number of fish that one person can legally keep. Bag limits also vary from species to species and their aim is to protect those species that are easy to catch or heavily targeted. It also reduces illegal marketing of fish and is basically an ethical and responsible use of a natural resource. To measure your bag limit is simple – just count the number of a particular species you wish to take home. Anyone who exceeds the bag limit is simply greedy.

It is disappointing to hear that people ignore legal size and bag limits and when caught their excuse “they change so often I can’t keep up” is very poor. It is the responsibility of every fisherman to keep up to date with size and bag limits to ensure the ongoing survival of all our fish species so we can all enjoy fishing for them in the future.

Below are the most recent limits (May 2013) of common species caught on the reefs off the Sunshine Coast. Hopefully everyone is following the rules and we will be catching fish for generations to come.  

• In addition to individual possession limits for each coral reef fin fish species listed, they all have a combined possession limit of 20.

Happy hunting!

Caloundra 12nm- moses perch, squire and pearl perch

Caloundra wide- pearl perch, snapper, moses perch and trag jew

Caloundra 9nm- snapper, moses perch, tuskfish, pearl perch and spotted mackerel

Barwon banks- mahi mahi, coral trout, tuskfish, squire, green job fish and gold spot wrasse

Murphy’s and the gneerings- sweetlip, squire, jew fish, cobia and spotted mackerel

Currimundi – squire, spotted mackerel and sweetlip

Tomorrows high tide of 1.58m is at 5:39am

Cooking your catch
Many fishermen know pearl perch is an A-grade table fish. So when we
get to eat one of these beauties rather than the same old crumbed fish
and chips we take the opportunity to enjoy its sweet delicate flavour by
baking or barbequing. One of my favourite dishes is a Thai-style bake,
which is incredibly easy to make and doesn’t take very long at all. This
is all you need to serve four people:
-2 cloves of garlic, crushed
-1 tablespoon fish sauce
-2 tablespoons lemon juice
-1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
-2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
-2 tablespoons chopped coriander
-1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
-2kg whole fish (pearl perch or snapper)
-1/2 red onion or 1 spring onion cut into strips
1) Preheat the oven to 190c. Place the garlic, fish sauce, lemon juice,
ginger, chilli sauce, coriander and rice wine vinegar in a jug and mix
well.
2) place the fish on a large piece of well greased foil in a baking
dish. Pour the marinade over the fish and sprinkle with the onions.
3) Wrap the fish into a parcel and bake for about 30mins, or until the
flesh flakes easily.
Serve with a simple salad and some steamed rice or maybe a risotto and
salsa.
Enjoy!

Have a good weekend. Happy fishing.

Fishing report week ending 5/11/2013

Caloundra 12nm- squire and tuskfish

Caloundra wide- pearl perch, squire and amberjack

Currimundi- cod, squire, moses perch and mackerel

Barwon banks- snapper, pearl perch, tuskfish, coral trout, red throat emperor and green job fish

Caloundra 9nm- snapper and mackerel

The mornings look like good weather for the next few days. Northerly winds getting up a bit in the afternoons.

High tide at Mooloolaba today was at 10:42am at 1.87m.

Wayne was definitely a happy fisherman this weekend.

He was on a three quarter day charter with us on Sunday where we started at the Caloundra 12 Mile but when it didn’t fire – a lot of small fish kept stealing baits – we changed tactics and headed to Caloundra 9 Mile.

While the bait thieves were still around a few big keepers were going into the esky, starting with Wayne’s seven-kilogram snapper, which swallowed a soft plastic and gave him a great scrap. We also got a spotted mackerel at the same mark.

But when the bite slowed down we headed in closer again and tried Currimundi Reef, a well known hunting ground for all types of mackerel. We lucked out on catching another one but we bagged some squire, sweetlip, moses perch and a four kilogram cod on a live bait. Once again Wayne was dropping his bit at the right place and the right time. Well done mate!

The weather held up reasonably well for us over the past week with mostly northerly winds, which keeps the swell small. We had a mixture of fishing charters, with the full days and maxi days producing the most fish.

Some nice snapper – up to six kilograms – were bagged, along with pearl perch, tuskfish, red throat emperor, jobfish and moses perch. These are a few nice sized snapper from Friday’s fishing charter.

The next few days are looking a bit windy as the south-east change comes through. Wednesday afternoon or Thursday look like the next opportunity to get offshore.

If you’d like to come out for a fish, give us a call or flick us an email. We’d love to have you along.