The Queen is another year older and her holiday weekend is done and dusted for another year. The weather was reasonably kind to us with no rain but this wind was annoying. It kept a lot of the boat fishos home which was a shame as the snapper are going crazy at the moment. With the bag and size limits for snapper it can get a bit frustrating as Pete Sweatman can attest to. (This week’s pictured angler.) Pete was out in a spot just north of Woorim on his own and got on to some great fish, but was only able to bring two fish home. The bag limit for snapper is 4 and only 1 of those fish can be over 70cm, so Pete’s first fish was a healthy 60 cm and very quickly landed a 75cm beast. Unfortunately for him every fish he caught after that monster was over the 70 cm mark. So although he caught many fish he only came home with the two, not that he was complaining too much.
Again this week it seems that Cooks Rocks is a top spot with more reports coming in of good greenback taylor and well over sized snapper. Among all these bring home fish are many smaller bream and winter whiting. Those that fish this area would be familiar with another area called Sunken’s Reef which is also getting some good reported catches. For those that don’t know where these areas are you will have to come into my shop as it is too hard to explain in words. Maps are a better option. It has also come to my attention that some of you don’t know where my shop is, I am at 1383 Bribie Island Road, Ningi and my phone number is 5497 5253. Weekdays are the best time to come in for a chat as it allows me more time to put you onto a fish.
A lot of people are confused about the required safety gear for fishing the Cockle Banks. They are in waters classed as Partially Smooth waters and this is the required safety gear.
PFD (personal floatation device/life jacket) one for each person on the boat and if a child is on board a jacket to suit their age.
Torch or signaling device
V sheet
Fire extinguisher for boats over 5 meters
Flares
Capacity label /builders plate
Hope this clears up some of the misinformation that is out there. If anyone wants a copy of these rules and regulations pop in and see me in the shop.