Look to the skies for big Hervey Bay tuna by Mark Bargenquast
Finally, October arrives and the winter begins to thaw. I heartily dislike the cold season for fishing. Don't get me wrong - snapper, bream, flathead, and tailor are always fun to catch and can provide some great meals but big tuna, GT's, queenfish and barra are much more exciting to hook and the warm weather will bring them onto the radar as well as making those early starts much easier.
I consider myself lucky to live in Hervey Bay during summer and even luckier to spend a few months guiding from Cape York during the coldest months of the year. Up here in the gulf, winter is a great time to fish for pelagics, while down the southern end of the state pelagic fishing can be lean pickings with the few offshore tunas and big Spaniards caught not quite making up for slow inshore action.
The season starts around September when the water temp rises to over 220 with an early run of mac tuna. Some of these fish get up to 8kg and make for some great runs on spin and fly tackle. Pound for pound they will outrun any longtail on that first run but lack the stamina for a long fight.
THE TUNA RUN
Late October and November will get a little more exciting as some big longtails arrive. Hervey Bay will see some big fish arrive in weights pushing 25-30kg. These fish are generally carrying eggs (roe) so be careful and try to release them if possible. Hervey Bay can also have a run of juvenile black marlin depending on conditions. Usually when northern areas like Townsville have a big run, the marlin will move south down the coast, hit here in mid-October through to November then a little later around Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast.
The small blacks (usually range from 15-40 kg) with the odd larger fish are easy prey - last season was great, many anglers caught their first marlin there however, these fish don't handle stress well and should be released in the water, most fish pulled out for the photo might swim away but unfortunately die.
Recommended tackle for tuna and small blacks is quality spin tackle around the 20-30lb size. When I was guiding in Hervey Bay we caught many on Daiwa 3500-4000 sized reels and 7ft spin rods, loaded with 20lb braid.
BE AWARE OF WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE!
In Hervey Bay, queenfish are usually best in spring and can school in big numbers, however, after being netted for years, numbers have thinned so sadly nowadays they're almost a rarity. Be aware that in Platypus Bay there has been a known ciguatera poisoning risk so I wouldn't recommend eating one!
