These winter months are a great time to be fishing off Cairns. The light tackle action for juvenile blacks, sailfish and Spanish mackerel should be excellent after the big wet season earlier in the year. There are already large bait schools consisting of yakkas, pilchards and gobbers on all of the regular fishing grounds. There have been blacks hooked in the 20-50 kg range along with sailfish and their numbers will increase as the water temperature cools over the coming months. Spanish mackerel have also been in abundance and have been providing great sport on both spinning and trolling tackle with sizes averaging 7-15 kgs.
With the cold snap now hitting Queensland the pelagic action will certainly hot up. All the way from the inshore islands to the outer reefs will provide great fishing.
Yesterday provided first time anglers with a classic billfish experience, with a small black marlin caught first up for the day followed by this big sailfish (est 50kgs) and another sailfish lost shortly after. Certainly different from fishing off a pier that this anlger Mark had done only once previously.
The "eagle claw" circle hooks are certainly proving their worth on the small marlin and sailfish. Excellent fights and good condition of release.
