General News
1 April, 2026
Freshwater way to drop line
Freshwater THE freshwater scene has continued to produce great catches, once again this time of year.
The smaller creeks are fishing best as they don’t flood as easily and run cleaner then the main river systems.
There have been some large sooties getting around and plenty of jungle perch.
Top water lures have been productive, such as the ‘Duo Cicada’, while small prawn imitation like the 65mm ‘Chasebait Flick Prawn JNR’ is getting more action in the deeper waters.
Estuary
THE estuary systems have been fishing well towards the mouths especially on the incoming tides as the water’s cleaner from the sea pushing in.
Grunters are still out in numbers with big schools showing up, especially in the Hinchinbrook and Cardwell area.
The best way to catch grunter is with fresh prawns, but if you’re looking for a fun way to catch them there have been plenty of reports of grunter taking prawn lures, such as the ‘Irukandji Mega’ prawn.
Grunters are easy to spot on a good sounder, they have been found hanging a few metres away from larger snags, points on interactions on the rivers and deep holes in the middle on the rivers.
Grunter will also take a micro jig on a light finesse set up – this is personally my favourite way to catch them.
Barramundi have been out in numbers also with plenty of reports of big barra getting around. They have been caught on just about everything lately, including topwater walkers, prawn lures and big paddle tails.
Once again the ‘Irukandji DTF Paddle tail’ has been the standout lure for many fishos.
Cane drains
THE cane drains continue to produce good barra and in big numbers.
The run-off drains can be extremely effective as the big barra push their way up into the lagoons to feed on mud cods.
There has been a lot more larger fish being caught in the last fortnight, with reports of barra well up in the 90s being caught. The barra in the drains and lagoons are feeding on mud cod, so lures that imitate them are working great, such as the ‘6th Sense Dogma 115’, ‘Walk the Dog’, ‘Molix Swim Shad 150’ and the ‘Irukandji 6inch DTF’ in the ember colour.
There have also been lots of big sooty grunter being caught among the barras as well, so taking a lighter outfit to catch them can be a lot of fun when the barra bite slows down.
Offshore
ALTHOUGH the weather hasn’t been the best we have been given a few small breaks and those who have gone out have done very well with large numbers of coral trout on the reef edges and plenty of nice red throat emperor.
There have also been plenty of big nannygai being reported manly being caught on wonky holes. If you’re willing to put in the time, sounding the wonky holes this time of year are extremely productive.
– Ryan Sanger, Tackle World Tully
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