Townsville Tips

[Scott Maybury]

Hi Guys,

I am going up to fish with my brother in law who lives on Townsville on the Australia Day long weekend.

We will probably mainly focus on light tackle sportsfishing, but I was thinking of taking a popper rod and a few poppers.

Can anyone suggest any locations that might yield up some GT's or other fish on big poppers?

Any tips on appropriate leader for the area would be good too.

We will be using his 5.6m side console so, provided weather is ok, will be offshore.

[John Campbell]

     
   hey scott

    looks like you might jag some calmish weather for your townsville trip this weekend
    there are some good spots just north of townsville at the southern end of the palm island group
    that will give you a good chance of a nice sized gt up to and maybe over 20kg closer to       
    townsville you have cape cleveland and a couple of rocks just past there that should hold some
    gt  ( this will all be dependant on wether there is still any fresh running out of the creeks
    from the recent rain )  i live an hour south of townsville and there is still a lot of fresh
    running from the rivers out to the inshore areas atm   i have fished these areas over the last
    couple of months and found that i have been using a bit of overkill with 100lb tuff line and
    the equivelant gear the biggest fish i have caught in these areas has been about 20kg  with
    most fish in the 5 to 10kg bracket around the new and full moons has also seen more action
    but that should go without saying      hope this helps 

     there are definately bigger fish there but they too smart for me 

       
      good luck with your weekend would love to be out chasing gt this weekend but i am going to be
       throwing some timber at some peter faust barra instead


                                                cheers




 

[Scott Maybury]

Hey thanks very much John, am just about to pack the rods and will definately throw in a popper rod and a few poppers. We have refined our plan and it sounds like my bro-in-law wants to mainly head out wide to some of the reefs, but with the good weather predicted we are hoping to head up towards the Palm Islands, so I might be able to convince him to give me an hour or two of popper practice for Shoalwater Bay if nothing else

Cheers

[John Campbell]

       
      no worries scott hope the info helps

      there are a few little islands on the way that would be worth a throw but most success has come from

      albino and chilcott rocks near the palms,  just looking at the weather this morning and o how quickly it

      changes now forecasting 15 to 20s on sunday might work in your favor if it keeps you to the inshore areas

      around the islands

                                           good luck and will be interested to hear how you go

[Jordan Hack]

Hey Scott, i live a bit further north at Cardwell and pop the reefs and inshore islands quite regularly. I wouldn't be concerned if your brother wants to head out to the reefs as I have had far better sessions popping the reef edges, isolated bommies etc. on the reef than I have around the inshore islands (including Palm Group). Just seem to get a lot more strikes out the reef compared to the occasional strike around the island. Hope the weather is kind for you (and me!)Looks like it might be.

[John Campbell]

    hey jordan what size gt are you mainly catching at the reefs out off cardwell ?
    i have been itching to get up that way to throw a few poppers around as the reefs are
    a little closer than the ones around here (bit more comfortable in my 15ft tinny)
    i fished port hinchinbrook comp last year and talking to some of the guys that fished the reefs
    said there were plenty of bombies to throw at ?
   

[Jordan Hack]

mate the average size is about 15kg with 20-25kg models also quite common. There are plenty of bommies to throw at but just find the rippling fusilier schools along the reef edges and it's happy days

[Scott Maybury]

Hey guys,

Thanks for those tips Jordan, will give them a go next time. I managed to get dusted by some GT's on jigs at an offshore mark called 'The Bomber'...I hadn't really come prepared and only had 50lb braid....I had my leader (80lb) reefed, then decided I would go 170lb and go heavier on the drag...I held the fish longer but ultimately the drag needed to slow it down resulted in snapped braid...oh well, we had some fun with those for a while and landed some reefies...

No GT's on the poppers, though managed a large queenie and a few tuna, so it was an interesting recon mission...will be back up there in May, my bro in law is taking the whole month off and I plan to do maybe 2 short trips to visit him

[Travis Heaps]

Hey John, here's a quick vid of whats possible at the offshore Cardewll reefs with GT's.  Amazing weather, GT's and a kayak.  Great fun, get out east, find the fusilier schools and success is gauranteed...well almost.  This day was amazing but no reason it can't be repeated, schools located by rippling on surface and when the weather got too rough by the spcshhshshhsplash of a school being fed upon 

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=6XXzPzR5xQo

[Ashley Cotter]

Hi scott,

May might be good,if u can get good weather. I have a spot that i know has big GT's on it as well as sailfish, small black marlin when in season on it,as well as, spanish mackerell. U will also get heaps of bait like northern pilchards, yakkas and fuiles. Its also not far from the main reefs off townsville. It gets good current. but i havent been able to get their due to weather and boat size.(just waiting for the weather to come good anyway) Give me a bell when u get hear.

cheers
Ash

[Scott Maybury]

Yeah thanks Ashley, mate that would be good we are definately still sounding the area out so any help much appreciated.