The Chandlery Bait & Tackle

July Fishing Report

G’day Crew I trust you have all been keeping well and enjoying the winter weather that is here and man have we had some stunning days! Besides the rain that is falling as I write this and has been falling for the last few days….

So what’s been on the bite the last few weeks? Well being winter we all know that the squid are on the chew along with the winter whiting and people have been making the most of them that’s for sure. The cooler water temps have also seen anglers getting into good numbers of Bream. This makes for good fun on a light spin combo flicking smaller lures in around the mangroves up the creeks or flicking the pylons in Snapper Creek should see you bag a few this time of the year. For the bait crew try fresh strips of mullet or small prawns lightly weighted and fished back into the structure.

**Jacko getting a good feed up the creeks**

Up the creeks this time of year there are good numbers of Golden Trevally to be caught. Using your sounder to sound up schools of fish and targeting them with small prawn lures, vibes and even micro jig makes for some good fun on 6lb braid and 14lb leader. If you have a side scan unit it will pay to use it up the creek as the school may not be under the boat. I recently sounded a school of fish that was 5m to my starboard side and the school was 20m wide and about 30m long. I managed to pull three nice 60cm fish out of the school before it moved on. I end up with 9 fish for the session and 6 of them were over 60cm and all caught on small metal jigs.

If I were not using my side scan, I would not have even known that they were there. Using your sounder and it’s side scan feature to mark schools of fish can save you time blind casting and improve your catch rate dramatically. If you want to have a chat about how side scan works pop down for a yarn and we will be happy to interpret and explain what we see on the screen.

The flathead have been pretty tricky the last few weeks with the clarity of the water being crystal clear. Fishing longer leaders and getting a good long cast combined with a stealthy approach are going to be needed to trick them into eating your offerings. One of the stand out plastics lately would have to be the 4’’ Biwaa Deus in Pearl White & Pink Ice, rigged on either a 2/0-3/0 TT 1/4oz jig head.

Sand Crabs are on the march in The Bay, so now is the time to get the drop dillies out and do a little prospecting for some Blue Swimmers in the channel. Whiting frames would be my pick of baits for these tasty guys. Mud Crabs are also around but a little doughy with the cooler water, they have been rather good quality though. Crabbing at the back of the bay, in the shallows, around the full moon has been producing the better Muddies.

**Mitch with a proper** **handful of TCB goodness!!**

We have seen masses of bait fish turning up in TCB the last couple of weeks and there have been some good schools of Mac Tuna & Watsons Leaping Bonito’s terrorising the bait ball. We’ve seen this action throughout The Bay from Inskip right down past the powerlines. There have also been some nice catches of School Mackerel in the mix.

**Wyatt Lee picking of the Mac Tuna in The Bay**

If you are keen to go hit the beach the reports are of good whiting, bream, and some thumper dart getting around. So now is the time to grab the rods get down there and get a feed. Why not try your hand at getting a few worms off the beach or if that’s too hard, pop and grab some of our locally caught and cured worms. The Tailor should be starting to fill the gutters too. Surprisingly, a couple of decent Mangrove Jacks were caught off Rainbow Beach by Whiting Fishos. I could not believe my eyes when I saw it on a Facebook post a few weeks ago

Offshore there were some great catches of Emperor, Snapper & Pearlies early in the month before the closure. Anyone that has been getting out since have said that the tuskies, moses, husser & RTE have all been on the chew and filling the icebox

***Amber Browning doing for the girls!***

Well that’s it from me this month Crew, stay safe & healthy, keep warm and get out and have a fish!!

Find us at the Tin Can Bay Marina, Emperor Street for all your boating and fishing needs.

Cheers & Tight Lines

Chris

Winner Winner!! Local yak angler Nathan Dennys with this months Fishing Photo Comp

June Fishing Report

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G’day Crew, hope you’ve all been keeping well and getting out and wetting a line over the last few weeks. How good is it to see lots of new faces in town since Queenslanders have been allowed to travel state wide. It’s so good for our little town, our region and our state. Our local retailers and industries are all benefitting from seeing tourists return.

Welcome back to The Bay guys!!

Now, let’s have a look at what has been getting caught in our local area the last few weeks.

Customers have been reporting some solid catches of Sand Crabs in The Bay, in the deeper water. The Mud Crabs are also around all though they are starting to slow up a little but the crabs we have seen have be of quality. Crabbing at the back of the bay, in the shallows, around full moon has been producing. We have weighed a few here in the shop during the month that were getting up around the 1.7kg mark.

**Neil Moy with a nice couple of Muddies**

Schools of Choppers are about in The Bay, nothing of size really, just big enough to cut a soft plastic in half. A few legal fish up around the Power Lines and even in Browns a couple of weeks ago. The bigger fish should be showing up along the beaches now. Speaking of fishing the beaches, Jew fish have been showing up, though only a handful of smaller specimens so far. Slide baiting a live Tailor, Whiting or Squid into a good gutter is a good place to start with a good measure of patience added in the mix. Surprisingly, a couple of decent Mangrove Jacks were caught off Rainbow Beach by a few Whiting Fishos last week! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it on Facebook…

***Chase Matthews with his 1st ever squid!!***

Offshore Fishos had a few opportunities to get over the WBB. We spent night out wide at the start of the month but were plagued with NW winds from daybreak. We did manage to scratch up a good feed of Tuskfish, Coronation Trout, Lippers and some nice Jobfish. Didn’t see a Pearly a Snapper or a legal Red for all our efforts but that’s fine, our families still got a good feed of fresh local reef fish!

**Josh with a 13.kg Red that ate a Zerek Live Shrimp**

On that note, Snapper & Pearl Perch are off the menu!

DO NOT FORGET, closed season starts this month and runs from the 15^th of July to the 15^th of August. They will be NO TAKE and no target species, just like Barra are in their closed season.

Winter Whiting are still being caught in good numbers with Fishos reporting good size fish being bagged. The Bream will now be on the chew and targeting these guys with a small hardbody lure or small plastics and some light line is sure to make for some good fun. Strips of fresh Mullet on a 3/0 suicide hook fished back into the structure should also see you bag a feed. The Squid are not disappointing this year either and have been copping a pounding the last few week.

There are a few Spotted Mackerel getting around in The Bay around the yachts now, so keep your eyes out as the bust-ups are quick. A light spin rod or a 7wt flyrod would make for some good fun on these guys.

***The Boss with a solid creek Dimond caught on a Zerek Fish Trap***

Golden and Dimond Trevally have been making an appearance along the drop-offs on the runout tide and the first couple of hours of the flood. Using vibes in a 65mm to 95mm sizes have been working well. It may pay to go heavier with your choice of vibe so you can spend more time in the strike zone. Even trolling small deep divers along the drop offs will work and you have a good chance of pulling a Flathead or two. If all that sounds like a bit of hard work you can always pup a few Yabbies and soak a bait for them.

***Rubee and brother Jack Walton took out this months Fishing Photo Comp***

***Jack looking very impressed with his capture***

Well that’s it from me this month Crew. Stay safe and healthy and if you haven’t popped in and seen the new layout of the shop lately, well you should 😉

Find us at the Tin Can Bay Marina, Emperor Street for all your boating and fishing needs.

Cheers & Tight Lines

Chris

May Fishing Report

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G’day Guys & Gals hope you are keeping warm? Looks like It is time to breakout the uggies & beanies, crank the fire pit and bust out the hot toddies, man It’s cold today!! As I write this it has gone from 23c yesterday to 14c today and personally I think that is dam cold. Well it is when you’ve spent the best part of the last decade living in FNQ & the NT. I guess the cooler weather should bring a stabilisation in weather pattens, although I hear from the BOM that it’s meant to be a pretty wet winter, but we will see what comes our way over the next couple of months.

With the relaxation in the COVID 19 restriction we are bound to start to see a few more boats on the local waterways as people are now allowed to travel further afield. Our local population of fish seem to have been thankful for the break also. Many locals have been saying that the fishing the last few weeks has been the best in a long time. This is partly due to less traffic on the water but personally I think it has more to do with the good down pours and the good flushing out that the creeks got at the end of summer.

The Winter Whiting have been getting caught in good numbers and have been of good size with mid 20cm fish being common. The mouth of Kauri has been the hot spot, also drifting around the Lady Woodward & the powerlines.

The squid are still around in good numbers and the YamashitA Sutte R Jigs in NEB have been popular with most of the TCB Fishing Club members. Pink & orange colours have also been working a treat on the local Cephalopods, no surprises there. Still haven’t seen any good tigers yet but they can’t be too far away.

***Ron Cox with mnaged to put the breaks on this slob of a Blackspot Tuskie!!***

On the squid jig front, keep an eye out on our Facebook page for a YamashitA promo this month. We have teamed up with our good friends and supplier of the YamashitA jigs, E.J.Todd and will be running a comp to promote the release of one of their new jigs! Logon to our FB page to find out more www.facebook.com/thechandlerybaitandtackle

A few Squire have started to show up in The Bay the last couple of weeks, fresh squid baits & divers being the bait of choice for most anglers. There are also some good Blackall being caught and a few Grassies in the mix. The 40’ has been fishing well the last couple of weeks for those guys. We have also seen some solid Blackspot Tuskies being caught on crabs along Teebar ledge. There have been some solid Golden Trevally being caught on also. Vibing the drop offs on the runout tide has seen some good fish being caught.

There were a few nice Jacks still being caught in the creeks midmonth before this cold spell really kicked in. A few of the young lads that had been using the Madeyes Paddle Prawns rigged weedless and slow rolled out of the snags hunting Bream also got a few nice Jack. This cold snap is sure to quieten them down but the Bream fisho’s will be happy to see this cold weather kick in. Flathead are also out in force now. Some of the local guns have been getting some great fish stalking the shallows on a rising tide with 60 & 90mm hardbodies. A steady retrieve & making sure your lures are smacking into the mud and kicking up a puff of dust is key. I am sure you all know how much fun the old Flatskulls are in shallow water on light line.

The Pelagics have still been hunting up around Inskip and there have been some big Spanish being caught. Slow trolled live baits and the trusty Laserpro in 160DD & XDD doing the job up there for the fishos into trolling. The guys casting slugs at the bait schools have been getting Mac & Longtail Tuna but the big Spanish have been holding deeper under the schools and picking off the scraps. So sinking a Halco Twisty down through the bait schools a good 10/15m will work if you are targeting a feed of Mackerel. Again, try retro fitting your slugs with a single hook for a better hook up. I like to use the Mustad Tarpon hooks in 5/0 & 6/0 as they are an inline hook.

We have been getting great reports of Sand Crabs on the march in The Bay so now is the time to get the drop dillies out and do a little prospecting for some Blue Swimmers. Whiting frames would be my pick of baits for these tasty guys.

Well that is it from me this month Crew, but one last thing from myself, Emma and the whole Crew at The Chandlery Bait & Tackle, we would like to say a
MASSIVE THANK YOU for the ongoing support you have shown us especially in these trying times. Thank you all for shopping local and helping us keep the doors open.

Cheers & Tight Lines

Chris

**Winner Winner Brett North took out the May Fishing Photo Comp with a nice Green Jobfish**

April Fishing Report

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Righto let’s talk Covid 19 for a bit and all the doom and gloom that it has bought to the world the last few months….

Nar bugger that, let’s talk about how good the fishing has been the last few weeks!!!
I’m not too sure where to start really? The fishing has all been pretty good, inshore, offshore, Whiting, Flathead, Tuna, Crabs, Spanish, Squid…. As I write this even the weather has been playing the game the last couple of weeks. Cool nights, warm days and clear skies have been very welcome. With everyone doing the right thing and staying in their local areas & the water ways around TCB have been a bit quieter the last few weeks. The water in The Bay is still a little green from all the rain we had, but the rain seems to have really helped things fire up this month.

Good reports of Summer and Winter Whiting have been coming in thick and fast with one customer catching a few true elbow slapping 42cm Summeries earlier in the month. Fresh Yabbies and our locally caught Worms have been working a treat on the Summer Whiting. Fishing the last couple of hours of the runout tide at Norman Point has been a bit of a hot spot for some anglers. Fishing the making tides around the mangroves before they flood has also been producing. There have been some nice lizards getting caught in both of those situations and also some stud Bream in the mix. I have been having a good run catching a few Flatties on fly while fishing the last hour of the ebb tide and the 1st couple of hours of the flood tide in the late arvo after work while walking the drop off. I was socially isolated and caught a nice feed for the family.

**Mal Kay got his ripper of a Spotty at the start of the month.**

The Squid are starting to show up in numbers and I’m sure most of you know the likely spots to go to have a crack. Maybe try the dead stick technique next time you are out. Rig a jig with no extra weight & cast it out the back of your drift and only a couple of meters down in the water column. This is a sure-fire way to pick up the hooked Squid’s mate that follows him up, with all the commotion going on and it will increase your catch rate.

There are still Muddies being caught in good numbers and good sizes. Getting up the creeks and giving the pots a good soak with good fresh bait is working the best. The Sandies should start to become more active now and the amount of Sand Crabs I have been seeing in the shallows while walking back in the afternoon is a sign that this season they should be thick!

**Amber showing the boys how it’s done on a recent trip**

Offshore fishos have also been cleaning up the last few weeks. We have been seeing some great catches of Scarlets, Grassies, Tuskfish, Jew and RTE. A lot of the good catches have all been coming from the closer grounds inside that 4-10nm zone. The bigger fish have been quite susceptible to a well-presented live bait, that’s if you can find them. They have been a little hit and miss the last few weeks & the Spotties have been playing havoc with bait jigs lately, a full string soon turns to no weight at all. The FAD has been producing small to medium sizes Dollies. Small stickbaits, 4-5 inch soft plastics or flies should work for them. If not, try trolling Christmas trees or small skirted lures past at about 6-8knts and if all else fails, try pumping a burley trail and feeding unweighted pillies back into the FAD to see if that gets you hooked up.

***Ed with a thumper of a Red at 22Kg on the scales***

There are loads of pods of Tuna outside the WBB still with a mixture of Longtails & Mac Tuna and there have been some big Longies hanging around Inskip and Big Mick. At 10kg+ they make for a good bit of fun on medium/heavy spin gear (30lb) or a 10wt fly rod. I recently got a nice 105cm, 11kg on the long wand. Our local guide Jon put the hooks in to a 116cm fish a couple of days before drifting live baits between the WBB and Inskip. Did I mention that they make beautiful Sashimi?
The Spanish have been out in numbers further up the beach from all reports and 15-18kg fish have been getting caught in good numbers. Slow trolled live baits and skirted Gars working well for the boys. One of the local crew even got a 35kg at the start of the month. And yes, we saw the picture of the scales so it wasn’t just a story, it was a slob of a Spanish.

Well that is it from me this month Crew, stay safe, stay healthy and keep washing those hands. We hope you all get out for an essential fishing trip in the coming weeks and catch a feed for the family.

Find us at the Tin Can Bay Marina, Emperor Street for all your boating and fishing needs.

Chris

Cheers & Tight Lines

***Winner Winner!!!***
***Rylan Day took out the April Fishing Photo Comp with this cracker of*** **a Trout.**

February Fishing Report

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G’day Crew,

Hope you have all been staying dry the last few weeks with the downpours we’ve been having. But honestly how good has this rain been, good for the sea and great for the land, bring it on!! On the topic of rain didn’t TCB cop a proper washdown at the start of the month 350mm+ in the space of a couple of days and then there was follow up rain for the rest of the month. Now that the creeks have received a good flushing out things should start to fire up again.

Rain hail or shine the Mangrove Jacks have been on the chew and the local Jack fishos are saying this is one of the best years they have seen in the last four or five. Fresh Mullet strips and smaller live bait seem to be the key for most anglers in the dirty water. We have seen some good fish coming from the heavy structure in Snapper Creek, Teebar & of course Kauri has also been producing. As I write this there are still a couple of weeks of fishing left in our 2020 Mangrove Jack Fishing Competition. The comp is in full swing and competitors have until midday the 29^th of February to enter fish. Most of the anglers have been able to upgrade their bag quickly and get extra points. The competition for top spot is close at the moment and looks like it’ll be won on time of fish registration. So stay tuned to find out who takes out the comp.

***Mitch pulling an all nighter for the comp***

Those who did braved the weather got stuck into a few and not just Jacks. Up the creeks we have seen an explosion of small Poddies & Gar getting around and this is a welcome sight. Cod and Bream seem to have been around in good numbers and sizes. Grunter have still been on the menu for most Fishos and the better catches have come from fishing the evening tides, with Squid baits working the best.

**Shawn getting on the scoreboard for the 2020 Mangrove Jack Comp**

February has seen the Crabs getting flushed out too. Plenty of customers have reported good catches of Bucks, the flats and the drop-offs have been the places to catch a feed. Fresh bait and a good soak over a tide is the go. Mitch got out in the middle of the down pour with a couple of mates and managed to get a good feed over a few days at the start of the month.

**Anymore than a** **handful is a waste they say… Not this time!!**

Don’t forget that the bag limit changed for Muddies on the 1^st of September 2019 and is now 7 per person or 14 per boat with two or more people on board. In the coming weeks we are due a run of Prawns and the rain will have only helped the cause. Sounding around the deeper water should see you come up trumps in places like Browns. We did get a few reports of some nice Prawns coming out of Crab Creek in the middle of the month.

The end of January and the start of February saw the offshore fishing producing the goods. There were some ripper Snapper around, in good numbers and good sizes. Most of the Snapper that have been getting caught have been well over the 800mm mark.

***Ray got this proper Knobbie on a recent trip out with Ed from Keely Rose***

The charter guys also found some quality Reds not too far from home mixed in with the Snapper. Good catches of Tuskies, Pearlies, Red Throat & Spangled Emperor, Cobia, AJs & Spanish kept the rods buckled.

***Cole with a Spangled from a recent trip out jigging metals.***

Schools of small Tuna have been popping up everywhere out wide so it would pay to have a Halco Twisty rigged and ready on a 20lb spin outfit. I am a big fan of retro fitting a single hook off the back instead of trebles. I find the hook up rate higher and if you are releasing the fish, a little more humane and quicker to get out of the fish and yourself, if you’re that unlucky…

That’s about it for now Crew so till next time tight lines and we will see you on the water or in the shop.

Find us at the Tin Can Bay Marina, Emperor St for all your boating and fishing needs.

Cheers & Tight Lines

Chris

**WINNER WINNER!!! Mitch Martin Taking out the February Fishing Photo Comp!!**

**Young Harry has been getting a few nice Reds lately**

January Fishing Report

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G’day Crew hope you have all been getting out and wetting line this past month. How good was the rain we got mid month, saved me washing the car for another six months.

I know I said it last month but to say the Mangrove Jack are on fire at the moment would be an understatement!! Now if you thought December’s catches were up there with the numbers and quality, January is giving it a touch up that’s for sure. Kauri has been producing the goods and fishos have been catching fish from just under legal size to the well and truly legal high 40s. It’s great to see such a range of fish being caught in out system. It shows that they are breading well and there is a healthy population in our local water ways. Carlo & Bullock Point boat ramps have also been hot spots especially for the land based fishers. Mixed in with the Jacks there have been some pretty impressive Barra bycatch and the fish that we were shown looked to be all over a meter mark (fish were all reported to have been release.)

**Wyatt Lee with an** **entry into the 2020 Mangrove Jack Comp**

Speaking of Barra as of the 1^st of February Barra are now back on the cards for a target species. Here’s hoping that we see some good catches in The Bay this year. There are more Barra here than most people know. If you actively target them & fish for them in their prime bite times and put in the hard yards I’m sure you will be rewarded in the long run. Feel free to pop in and have a chat if want to get out and chase a few Barra this season.

Besides the very welcome rain we had in January we also got some cracker days on the water and the fishing didn’t disappoint. Mackerel made an appearance offshore in numbers and everyone capitalised on them. Spanish and Spotties were all on the menu. While in good numbers the average sizes of Spanish were around the 8kg mark with a few bigger models in the mix also. The trick has been to get them past the Shark which seem to be in plagues at present. Good catches of mixed reef fish filled the eskies with Tuskies, Trout, Pearlies, Grass Emperor and some solid Reds all coming home for dinner.

**Megan With a nice Snapper from a recent trip on Keely Rose**

We had a lot of holiday makers come through the shop the last couple of months reporting good catches of Squid. Not in the numbers that we see in Winter but most days consisted of double figures. Most of the action was from around the Carlo cardinal marker when the tide had some movement to it. The ever loved YamashitA jigs were again a popular choice with the punters.

Mud Crabs are also on the menu now. The quality of the crabs we have been seeing in the last few weeks are A grade. The better crabs have been coming from up on the flats. The catches in the creeks seem to be smaller empty C grade crabs. If you are unsure on how to tell the difference between an A grade crab & an empty crab swing in and see us and we can run you through a few pointers to get the crabs with the best yield.

We have not had too many reports of flathead and whiting this month, maybe it’s because everyone seems to be out hunting Jacks while the going is good…

On that note, our Mangrove Jack competition is in full swing now and the race to the top is tight. 1^st & 2^nd place is likely to come down to the time the fish was registered. So sit tight and we will announce the winners next month as the comp runs till the 29^th of February.

That’s about it for now Crew so till next time take it easy and get outside and wet a line.

Find us at the Tin Can Bay Marina, Emperor St for all your boating and fishing needs.

Cheers & Tight Lines

Chris

Australia, Bait, Cooloola Coast, EjTodd, Fishing, Fishing Tin Can Bay, Fraser Coast, Fraser Island, Molix, Tin Can Bay — ***WINNER WINNER!!!!! Lester Cross took out the January Photo Comp with the cracker of a photo!!***

***Rae has been getting a few the last few weeks also***

**Karl on board Keely Rose with a beautiful Red Emperor**

December Fishing Report

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Happy New Year to everyone!! We trust that you have all had a very merry Fishmas and were able to get out on the water.

So what has been getting caught in the area throughout December and the Northerly blow?

**Lilly & Grace Muggleton with a nice feed of Summer Whiting**

Summer Whiting have been around in good numbers with Yabbies & Worm working the best. Fisho’s that have been sneaking into a few of the small less fished creeks and fishing the tides have been well rewarded with good numbers and sized fish being caught. Mixed in with the Whiting there have been a few nice Lizards & some good size Golden Trevally.

Now if we didn’t talk Mangrove Jack in December it would be a travesty! The water temp is right up there now and this means that the Jacks are firing. I had a water temp of 29.8c the other day while flicking up a creek, it was almost cooler in the boat. A lot of the crew prefer to fish for Jacks at night it seems, with fresh bait being the preference for a lot people. But the lure fisho’s have been getting some runs on the board the last few weeks with the water temps creeping up.

The 4.5’’ Molx RT Shads rigged on the OH1500 Tungsten Swimbait Hooks have been a great seller and are proving themselves as a great soft plastic and hook combo. Running the 5/0’s in a 1/4oz on the 4.5’s for skip casting into the back of the snags has been having good results. Poppers like the Lucky Craft 80mm G-Splash and walk the dog style stickbait like Sugapens thrown into the shadows and overhung mangroves around low light periods can be explosive fishing when Jack is home. If you are keen to give lure fishing for Jacks a go, or any fish, pop in and see our new range of plastics, hardbodies & popper that are pretty Mangrove Jack specific for this time of year. The boys will even show you how we rig them so they swim dead straight.

**Young Bec had a great holiday in TCB**
**boating a number of good Mangrove Jacks for the week**

***Bret with a nice Snapper Creek regular***

On the topic of Mangrove Jack, we are running a two month Mangrove Jack fishing comp that kicked off on the 2nd January and runs until the 29^th of February. This is a catch and release comp and there is a 1^st prize rod & reel combo worth $600.00 up for grabs. The total prize pool for 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd & 4th place will total just over $2000.00. For more details pop into the shop and have a chat to the boys to get registered.

For the nocturnal fishers trying to avoid the heat there have been some good sizes Grunter being caught on squid bait and Mullet flesh in the creeks. Bird Rock has been a popular spot with the holiday makers reporting some nice catches of Cod, Jacks, Bream and Flathead. All taking a mixture of lures & baits. Teebar ledge has been producing some great Tuskfish, Sweetlips and Cod also.

Offshore there are reports of some good Spanish coming over the side and there are large schools of Cobia out there too. Summer Snapper are making an appearance and there have been some cracker fish being caught mid water on floated baits. Have not yet had any reports of people fishing the new FAD off DI. Personally, I’m keen to get out there and pin a few Dollies on the flyrod when it starts to fire up, I’d be happy with a Who or even a small Billfish LoL.

So we also had the Flathead comp running during December. The fishing was a
little slow to say the least.

The Winners were;

Biggest Fish: Ron Cox 66cm

Mystery Length was 49.5cm: Rio Took it out with a 50cm

Lucky Tag Number: #17 Tom Head

Well done guys and thank you to everyone that participated in the Christmas Flathead Fishing Competition.

That’s about it for now Crew so enjoy the rest of your holidays if you are lucky enough to be on them and don’t forget to get in and register for the Mangrove Jack fishing competition!

Find us at the Tin Can Bay Marina, Emperor St for all your boating and fishing needs.

Cheers & Tight Lines

Chris

December Fishing Photo Comp Winner was Tom Head
With this nice Jack Caught on lure

November Fishing Report

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G’day folks we hope you are all well and been out there catching a feed.

A little late we know but thought we should let everyone know that the winner of the September $500 Golden Ticket was Jonathan Mallard. Jon came in and picked up some safety gear a new Live Fibre combo for his son & a few other bits and pieces with his winnings. Well done mate and thank you for your support!

She’s been a hot one the last couple of weeks that’s for sure and summer is truly on the way.

With the warmer water temps, we have seen the Mangrove Jack on the bite. There have been some great catches of solid fish in our local creeks getting up into the mid 50’s. Jacks are a great table fish but many of our local anglers choose to catch and release the highly prized and tough fighting fish. There is plenty of bycatch when chasing Jacks so there is always an option for a feed of Bream, Grunter, and Cod, AKA Estuary Trout I like to call them. Do not forget that it is closed season for Barra now, so if you are lucky enough to hook a Barra it must go back. Closed season is from the 1^st of September to the 1^st of February.

*Mitch Cooper with a nice Jack from one of our local creeks.*

A good place to start looking for Jacks would be creeks that have deep gutters lined with mangroves or a nice hole with a bit of structure, like a rock bar & fringing Mangroves. Small live bait, Poddy Mullet or Herring will work well but fresh cut Mullet strips have been working well for most anglers lately. Rigged on either a suicide hook or a circle hook your choice. But if you opt for a circle hook don’t forget to not strike on the initial bite. Try to go as light as you can with your line, leader & sinker will see your hook up rate increase.

*Jason’s girls with a nice feed of Whiting*

The flats either side of the mouth of Snapper & Norman Point have been producing some good catches of Whiting on Worm & Yabbies along with some nice Flathead.

The Kingfish seem to have left The Bay now but if you are chasing a feed of Mackerel Big Mick & The Bluff has again been producing some nice fish on trolled lures. Throwing poppers will also see you get stuck into a few big Queenfish.

The Charter Boats getting offshore, when the weather has played the game have had some pretty happy customers the last month. Red Emperor have been a welcome catch and there are plenty of Tuskfish, Hussar, Moses, Cods & AJ’s in the mix.

Competition time!! We are running our Christmas Flathead Fishing Comp for the month of December 2019. There are three prizes up for grabs; Largest Fish, Mystery Length. & Lucky Registration Number. Winners will be announced in early January 2020. Prizes consist of Loads of Fishing Gear and The Chandlery Bait & Tackle store credit vouchers. A total prize pool of over $500!

The comp is open to all ages.

The rules are simple.

1. Register (Free) in store and collect your comp number tag.

2. This is a catch and release photo competition, Flathead only.

3. Photograph your Flathead on a brag mat to show the fish length, with your comp number tag at the head of the fish.

4. Fish can be entered at any length.

5. You can fish anywhere from Mullen Creek Cooloola Cove to Urangan Pier Harvey Bay.

6. Post your photos on our Facebook page, email or bring them in store for the boys to get a copy.

7. Fish entered the competition will be judged on the “Time of Entry” NOT time of capture. Note: This is to distinguish a winner in the event of a tie. In the event of a tie the earliest entry will be the winner. So, make sure to enter your photo ASAP

We would like to wish everyone a safe & very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year and hope to see you in store over the festive season

Find us at the Tin Can Bay Marina, Emperor St for all your boating and fishing needs.

Cheers & Tight Lines

Chris

*Proud Dad moment for Simon when son Freddy landed land his 1st ever Mangrove Jack. Freddy also land himself the a $100.00 store voucher for winning of the November Fishing Photo Comp*

October Fishing Report

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A bit of wind never hurt anyone, did it…? We sure have had a few hit and miss days over October. One of the days with the Northerlies blowing 35kt+ we almost had a half a meter of wind chop rolling down the fuel wharf in the Marina. October even saw TCB getting a bit of welcome rain & hopefully it has cleared the creeks out a little bit and made a few new snags to go and play with.

There have been some great reports of Summer Whiting ranging from 25cm – 30cm coming up onto the flats between the Skate Park and all the way up to Crab Creek. Fishing the bigger flood tides, wading back to the mangroves using Yabbies and fresh Worm have seen fishos getting there bag quite easily. And I know I’ve said it before, Whiting are great fun on top water lures so why not give it go. They will put on a great account for themselves once hooked. We have also been seeing good numbers of Flathead on the last couple of hours of the ebbing tide. Fishing 4 & 5’’ plastics in a juvenile Whiting colour like Kaleido Star, a light brown or motor oil colour has been working well.

***Jack wit a Kingfish from The Bay. Caught on a live Herring***

In The Bay the Tuna seem to have moved on but there are a few Mackerel staring to show up. Big Mick, The Bluff and Inskip are places to start looking for these speedsters. Dragging a 3’’ spoon if you are chasing Schoolies is a sure fire way to get an eat. If you are looking to target the bigger Greys & Spanish, you really can’t go past a Halco Laser Pro in 2m & 6m divers. Just make sure to keep the deeper diver in nice and close so when turning the boat you don’t go all macramé with your lines. Keeping the shallow diver about 20m behind your deep diver will make sure your lines can cross over neatly. We are still being told that there are some nice sizes Yellow Tail King Fish knocking about between Norman Point & the power line. They have mainly been caught on floating Squid and live baits but a few fishos have landed a few trolling shallow running diver & surface lures. Would love to see these guys come up on the flats in The Bay like they do over in NZ.

**Troy and a cracker of a Queenfish that hit a popper.**

Offshore fishos made the most of the good weather windows and there have been good mixed bags of reef fish filling the eskies as usual. There are still quite a few Snapper being caught offshore too, no record breakers but great number of good sizes table fish are still showing up.

With the temps starting to really ramp up the Jacks should start to fire up. So here’s to a good season for all the Jack fishos. We have been seeing good number of Grunter in the creeks the last few weeks and Snapper has been a bit of a hot spot. Fresh stripped Mullet for the win there.

Don’t forget to take the crab pot if you are heading up the creeks in the coming weeks. The crabs that have been getting around have been full of meat and good sizes about them. Don’t forget that if you are chasing a feed of Muddies that the bag limit has been reduced and there is now a boat limit on your catch also. A possession limit of 7 per person & 14 per boat (with 2 or more people on board) now applies as of the 01/09/2019. For more info regarding changes to the QLD Fisheries rules please go to

https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/activities/boating-fishing/rec-fishing/rules.

That’s all for now Crew & don’t forget our monthly photo competition is running on our Facebook page. There is a $100.00 voucher up for grabs each month and the winner will be announced on the 1^st of every month on our FB Page

**WINNER WINNER!!!**
**October Fishing Photo Comp “Winner” Was Amber Browning with a nice Mackerel** **caught trolling around Big Mick.**

https://www.facebook.com/thechandlerybaitandtackle/

Find us at the Tin Can Bay Marina, Emperor St for all your boating and fishing needs.

Cheers & Tight Lines

Chris

September Fishing Report

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Man has the year flown by!! September 18^th marked our one year anniversary of running the shop. Emma and I would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to everyone that has shopped with us, supported us and accepted us into the TCB community. We are humbled and proud to say that we work and live here in this beautiful part of the world.

Any way enough of that lets talk fishing!! So we have been blessed with a good run of back to back days of good weather this month. Warm days and cool night have been welcomed and the fishing has been heating up too. The weed has been painful to say the least, would love a good 200ml to clear it out. But those who have persisted have been rewarded.

Up the creeks have been producing some thumper Summer Whiting on fresh Yabbies or some of our local Beach Worm sourced from the island & DI. We’ve had good reports of Fisho’s also getting a good feed of Whiting on top water lures like the Noman Drawings and Sugarpen’s. Try fishing a flooding tide on the flats where you’ve pumped Yabbies in the past would be a good start. Keeping your leader shorter than normal will help to get a better action out of these lures as you crank them over that flats & with such small hooks back the drag off a little.

Jacks are starting to pop up and I’m sure as it gets hotter, we are going to see a few Barra turn up for the dialled in angler.

Flathead are well and truly fare game in The Bay now and the Biwaa Deus 4’’ in Kaleido & Star & Neon Scale Minnow proving to be winners.

*The Flatties love the new Biwaa Deus 4’’ in Kaleido*

We have also been seeing some of the topwater Whiting Crew catching some good fish in the mid 60’s also. Flathead on surface lures can be a long day sometimes but well worth it when you see that first hit of a croc rising up and engulfing your lure.

September saw the offshore Guys & Gals getting out and catching a good feed. While reports of Pearlies were a little hard to find, the Snapper, Moses, Hussar, Tuskie & Grassies were playing the game & don’t forget the AJ’s. Yes they are still out there in good numbers so why not drop a jig down and get stretched!!

*Good customer Sandra getting done on an overnighter.*

Rumour has it that there have been a few nice size Kingies getting around in The Bay. A well presented live Squid is going to be like a lolly to these guys. Personally, I don’t mind a little sashimi Kingy. There has been a good run of early season Queenfish showing up around the Inskip area. These guys have been partial to live Pike or Herring floated out the back but they are way more fun on a popper or a stickbait if you can find them schooled up. Personally, I’m also partial to a little sashimi Queeny or even better, done Nummus style.

WINNER WINNER!!!
*September Fishing Photo Comp “Winners” are the father son team Daniel & Casey Bates With their 105cm King Threadfin Salmon caught in the Mary River. Well done Men!*

Find us at the Tin Can Bay Marina, Emperor St for all your boating and fishing needs.

Once again from Emma & myself thank you all for your ongoing support

Cheers & Tight Lines

Chris