Seasonal fishing
Spring Summer Autumn Winter
Spring
By September the weather is starting to warm up, the days are a bit longer and the first of the school mackerel should have arrived at Woodgate and started to make their way across to the channels and reefs in the Hervey Bay area. The evenings and early mornings around the full and black moons yield some excellent summer whiting, while schools of can still be found throughout the Bay. Bream season should just about be over, but fair catches can still be expected.
Final spawning of snapper normally takes place towards the middle of September, and apart from a few stragglers in the shallow waters, the rest of the fish make their way out of the Bay. However in places such as he 25 fathom hole and some gutters at Rooney's, reasonable catches may be made.
Two of the mainstays, purple tusk fish and Blackall, may still be caught in good numbers during this transition period from winter to spring.
Those who have larger boats and can fish the deeper gutters such as the Southern, Northern and Rooney's will notice towards mid October that coral bream, red emperor, coral trout and parrot will become a lot more active; however, access to these grounds becomes increasingly difficult due to the onset of northerly winds.
By the end of October the close in grounds around Hervey Bay have dramatically changed. Nearly all the summer species have arrived and fish such as coral bream, blue parrot, coral trout, golden trevally and mackerel can be caught readily. However, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and Hervey Bay is nom exception. Northerly winds by now are fairly prevalent which makes fishing very difficult due to the Bay facing north.
November does not change much, tuna schools and bonito add to the ever increasing reef species, but as always in fishing, there's normally a surprise, early to mid November can yield some of the best catches of squire. While these fish are not huge (about ½ to 1 ½ kg ) they are excellent table size and are much sought after for their eating qualities.
In general these three months offer some good reef and pelagic fishing; however, the amount of time you will depend largely on the wind.
Summer Months
Summer season fishing, although very hot and humid, can yield some spectacular action. Both species of tuna (northern blue and mackerel), spotted and school mackerel and golden trevally making up the pelagic species available. These fish bite well early mornings and late afternoon, preferring these times to the heat of the day. Lures are by far the best way to catch them, but they will readily accept fly.
Summer whiting are another species worth targeting; however, big tides after dark are needed for best results. The reef fishing scene is building towards its peak with every species available. By far, the early morning and dusk to early evening are the most productive times; however, fish can be taken all day in the deeper water of the southern and northern gutters and Rooney's.
One thing to bear in mind, while the summer season produces excellent quantities of all reef fish, the quality can leave a little to be desired, with a lot of undersized fish being encountered. If you are prepared to be patient and watch your size limits, you will catch some nice fish.
Autumn Months
Autumn, in the opinion of many locals, is by far the most productive season. With the fall in the water temperature comes the better quality reef fish, both in the shallow reefs around Hervey Bay and the deeper gutters offshore. The Tuna, especially the northern blues, seem to grow a few kilos with the cooler temperatures. once again , early morning and evenings are very productive, with the smaller fish not so prevalent. The shallow reef systems fire exceptionally well this time of year, with large coral bream and Blackall making their way onto the reefs on the rising tides.
Winter whiting start their annual season around March with some good fish among the early run. Everyone's favourite, 'snapper' arrive on the Easter moon. Although this run of fish is short lived (approximately one month) it still gives you time to catch one or two.
Towards the end of April fishing will start to tape off, with the trevally, tuna, and some of the reef fish starting to make their way into deeper water. However, autumn with its fairly settled weather and cooler temperatures is by far the best time to catch the Fraser Coast at its best. The fish mentioned are only the tip of the iceberg. Along with them there are some excellent river systems holding flathead, bream, salmon, barramundi and a host of other species.
Winter Months
As in most other places, June sees the end of the Summer species on the shallow reefs and gutters in Hervey Bay, although a very small proportion of Sweetlip (Coral Bream), Parrot, Mackerel and Coral Trout may still be caught.
By mid June the colder water species have started to establish themselves throughout the Bay. Hervey Bay is renowned for its winter whiting fishing, with most years providing anglers with some fine table fish . Whilst the season starts as early as late March the start of winter season being the best for the larger of the species. While most fish tend to congregate in large schools in nearly the same areas every year, it is possible to find them by drifting most of the deep areas. Do not be frightened to put one back out live, as Mackerel and Golden Trevally frequent the outer edge of the schools.
Another common winter fish which seems to have made the Bay home is the tailor. While not in the massive quantities like its ocean going brothers, plenty of legal size tailor may be caught throughout, in deeper water. While these are not the greatest fighting fish, their eating qualities, both fresh and smoked are excellent.
During the course of the year, some prime summer whiting are caught in most areas of Hervey bay. However, if you are prepared to brave the cold and the dark, by far the largest of them occur throughout the colder months on the big tides. These fish frequent the shallows during the making tide, and though they rarely exceed 800gm, pound for pound they would rank amongst the toughest fish in the ocean on light tackle.
With the decline in water temperature comes the improvement in the bream population. These tough fighting fish frequent the rocky headlands and river systems throughout the Bay and Great Sandy Strait, with fish to a kilo being caught during the season. While we do not have large numbers of big fish, there are plenty around the 500gm mark. Again the best time for these is when the sun sets on the falling tide.
And now for the mightiest of all winter warriors, and possibly one of the most sought after of all fish - Pagarus aurutus, Chrysophrys auratus-call it what you will, it still spells snapper. Now it does not matter if you have caught one or one thousand of these, there is still something mystical about them that makes even normal anglers obsessed. The best part about snapper is that, come winter, we have bucket loads of them. The smaller squire herald the start of the season, with fish around 500-800gm. They are followed by their bigger brothers, in the one kilo class, and assuming all goes well the June-July full moons should see the start of the larger fish making their way in. These fish school in mostly the same spots every year and they normally stay till September early October for spawning, with some fish remaining throughout summer. One thing to remember these are spawning fish, so do not decimate the population if you happen to find a school.
What is roughed out here is only the tip of the iceberg as far as winter fishing goes, with other species such as pike, purple tusk fish, squid, Blackall and cod available throughout winter, not to mention the deeper reefs and gutters, which still fish well.
Good fishing!
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