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Fishing the Great Sandy Straits - Winter
By Paul Chew
The Great Sandy Straits is a strait in Queensland, Australia that amasses over 600 square kilometres and runs 70km in length, separating mainland Queensland from World Heritage Listed Fraser Island, approximately 250km north of Brisbane. In his seasonal rundown of fishing the river and estuary systems in the region, Paul Chew kicks us off with the winter bite.
So, with the water finally clearing from the summer rain and temperatures dropping, I thought a season by season breakdown of the Sandy Straits would be helpful to visitors and some locals also. As most would know, I get out pretty often to chase a feed and have a bit of fun, and to that end, love winter... apart from the cold. It's got everything going for it, including clear water, generally plenty of fish, and the best part is the bugs have generally taken a break as they are pretty hard to deal with for the rest of the year.
As a general rule in winter, as the size of the tides have dropped off, I will try to fish the bigger tides, looking for some movement to try and condense the bait schools and also dirty the water slightly. If I fish the neap tides, then I'll chase slower moving fish, such as flathead, squid and maybe a wintertime barramundi.
What's On Offer?
So, we are very blessed, heading into our whale watching season, to have so many species on offer in the Sandy Straits. Plenty of the common bread and butter species are starting to move about, with sand and winter whiting, tailor, bream, grunter and salmon all making a move into the estuaries. Several species of trevally, along with smaller queenfish, will invade the creeks and rivers, making it nearly impossible during some sessions to catch anything else.
In the Northern Straits, toward Hervey Bay, squire and snapper will be biting, along with a few school mackerel, mostly on the larger tides. In the lower end of the Straits there will be some very large longtail tuna on offer. While often frustrating, they can provide some good fun if you can entice a bite. Often they will be feeding on very small 'glassies', so matching the hatch is very important.
The Rundown
On a typical day I will try for a high tide about 10am, with daylight about 6, fishing at 6:30am with the incoming tide in full swing. During winter I will generally run four outfits if fishing alone or two if fishing with Pete. Normally I will have rigged, a small GrubZ, 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ, 3" Scented ShrimpZ and a squid jig, covering most bases and allowing a quick change if I spot something that I need to cast to. Just remember to keep your leader as light as you can. On the smaller lures I will tie on some 10lb Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader and the same on my squid outfit. On the larger plastics, one will be 15lb Stealth FC and the other 20, in case I have time to swap outfits when I spot a bigger fish.
We mostly just pick a creek and start at the mouth, fishing our way right up the waterway. As long as there is bait, there will mostly be enough fish to keep us interested for the morning and also to take home a feed or two. After an hour or so of nothing whatsoever, we may consider a move to a different area, however that is a rare occurrence.
By far my favourite type of winter fishing is cruising the flats in a metre of water, under electric power and sight casting fish. While not the most productive fishing, it's very rewarding when you get to watch a fish or squid eat your lure. Light lines and leaders are the order of the day, with 20lb being the heaviest I fish normally. To counter that, any bigger fish that I land do not have to contend with barotrauma associated with deep water jigging and the like.
The Sandy Straits flats offer a diverse variety of species and as I have mentioned, the key to finding fish is to find bait or structure that breaks up the monotony of endless sand. Structure can be sand ridges, mangroves, islands and even yabby beds. All will be fish aggregation places on the rising tide, as they are looking for an easy feed.
Plenty of fish can also be found in both the Island and mainland creeks. Throwing a ZMan 2.5" GrubZ or 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ will generally stir up enough fish to keep everybody happy. In the creeks, look for eddies and backwaters, landslides and rocky ledges, as this is where the bait will congregate. Just remember that the schools of grunter, trevally and queenfish may cover several kilometres of creek in a tide.
You just need to persist with your plan and you will find fish. If you aren't getting a fish regularly, the biggest issue is likely to be that your lure isn't hitting the bottom. Most fish will be in the bottom metre of a creek in the Straits, so you are better to fish a slightly heavier jighead rather than too light.
My go-to jigheads are the TT Lures HeadlockZ HD in 1/4oz 1/0 size for smaller plastics, and 3/8oz 3/0 for the 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ. I do change, depending on conditions, however I catch the majority of fish in the creeks on these sizes. In the creeks, once you have found a fish, it's worth staying there on the electric or at anchor and working the area over. This is because most fish in winter are schooling for spawning. Just be mindful to only take what you need for a feed.
The Wrap
So in a nutshell, if I was chasing a feed in the Great Sandy Straits in Winter, I would be taking a couple of light spin rods, heading out early on a calm day, with a good pair of polarised sunglasses and covering some ground on the flats. In the creeks I would concentrate on deeper corners on the incoming tide, if time was an issue, and then fish the offshoot creeks/drains on the top of the tide and the first of the run out.
I would fish lighter fluorocarbon leader, to a maximum of 20lb, remembering that if you aren't getting the bites, you can't land the fish.
At the business end, as a starter, I would tie on a;
- ZMan 2.5" GrubZ on a TT Lures HeadlockZ HD 1/4oz 1/0 jighead in Copper Penny or Midnight Oil colours.
- ZMan 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ on a TT Lures HeadlockZ HD 3/8oz 3/0 jighead in New Penny or Motor Oil colours.
- ZMan 3" Scented Shrimpz on a TT Lures HeadlockZ HD 3/8oz 3/0 or 1/4oz 3/0 TT Lures SnakelockZ jighead in Holographic colour.
- Fish Inc. Egilicious 3.0 squid jig in Rainbow Reaper colour.
This would put me in the mix and I can then tweak my offerings depending on how the day pans out. Remember, it's all about learning and experimenting. What works today will almost certainly not work in the same place on the same fish the next day. Be flexible and keep your eye on what's going on around you. Small baitfish showering, such as hardy heads, are easy giveaways that predators are harassing them. In fact, that's how I picked up the squid the other weekend. There was a school of squid sitting outside a school of hardy heads and harassing them. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, literally. As soon as the lure splashed down, it was eaten!
Tight lines and enjoy the winter fishing.
Cheers, Chewy
Gear List:
ZMan 2.5" GrubZ
ZMan 3" Scented ShrimpZ
ZMan 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ
TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jigheads
TT Lures SnakelockZ Jigheads (weedless)
Fish Inc. Egilicious Squid Jigs