January Club Captain’s Report

Rivers

Whiting, Mangrove Jack and Trevally are being caught in all the systems. The mud crabs have been hammered over the holidays so trying somewhere remote and out of the way may be the answer.

Reef

Spanish and Spotted Mackerel are biting from Noosa to Moreton Island. Bottom bashers have had mixed results due to tides and moon phase but some quality snapper are still around in the warm water.

Light Tackle

How things have changed since my last report. Small Black Marlin have turned up but are spread far and wide. The Mackerel fishermen have been hooking Marlin from Sunshine to the Gneerings Reefs. ‘’TakkaChee’’ dropped a black 1.5 NM from The Blinker while another boat caught one at Coolum Reef, so they are close at times.

Bait is starting to be found in big schools on some of the better known spots (8 Mile, Murphys and the Trench).   The main spots where most are fishing is the Trench, 50m-80m-100m-120m areas east of Hutchinsons and Flinders Reefs and south of Cape Moreton. Large and scattered bait schools (Whitebait or small Pilchards) are everywhere in the trench. Trolling Garfish seems to be accounting for the majority of strikes but still pays to have a couple of lures in the mix. Wahoo and big Mahi Mahi are mixed in with the Marlin.

Heavy Tackle

Around the Christmas holidays a few boats ventured wide from the Sunny Coast and Gold Coast in search of Blue Marlin. MGFC boats “Never Home” and ‘’Raising Havoc’’ got the hat trick in trips with 2 blues down the gold coast on Alex’s boat, then backing it up going 1 from 4 out at Never Fail in Dan’s boat. A few tournaments are just around the corner so we shall see more boats looking out wide.

Congratulation to all the juniors in the club who have been able to wet a line these school holidays. Marlin are being tagged in good numbers by our juniors which is fantastic. Hopefully as the season progresses we shall see plenty more.

See you on the water,

Jamie Behrens.

MGFC Club Captain