Shallow Stones by Mark Ward

I first learnt how to fish plastics around the shallow rocks of Scarborough Reef and Peel Island in Moreton Bay. Flicking light tackle with 1/16oz jigheads for bream, trevally, squire and other reefies produced some of the best plastics fishing in Brisbane.

Relocating to Far North Queensland and being faced with a huge amount of shallow reefs that rarely get fished at all, especially with plastics, and with the fish being a whole lot bigger, how can I flick small plastics around Weipa and get similar results as I managed down south?

The trick was to change nothing. Well, apart from 20lb fluorocarbon leader but I am still flicking plastics on 4lb mainline and light bream tackle. Okay, you win some and you lose some but I have tried doing the same thing on heavier tackle and the odds aren't that much better. Fishing deeper reefs in the north, where big fingermark can get nasty, means that I lose a lot more lures, however, the hook up rate is much lower as soon as the heavy tackle comes out.

Fingermark are awesome in their sporting capabilities and their eating quality but by going light on the deep reefs, I also start catching a lot more coral trout which is about the only fish that I'd prefer on the dinner plate. Even the shallow stones around the river mouths hold a lot of coral trout, be it only just legal size, and I can assure you that a 40cm coral trout is a very welcome addition to my bag.

Flicking light plastics around the shallow stones of Weipa will yield upwards of 40 fish per session so it's great fun and a very simple way of having some serious light tackle sport fishing. Estuary cod are in plague proportions so they seem to make up the majority of the catch but coral trout, tusk fish, queenfish and even the odd barramundi manages to keep things interesting. Cod might get a little boring after a while but I still get a kick out of catching a