The rocks ledges of south east Queensland not only offer spectacular views but make for fantastic platforms to tangle with big pelagics. Pete Morris gives us an insight into what is on offer for the dedicated land based angler.
Just over a decade ago my family and I happily made the move interstate. Our time battling the ‘big smoke’ of Sydney had certainly worn its course and we found ourselves bound for a far more relaxed lifestyle within Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. While there is always much to consider in such a move, I will happily admit that the variety of angling opportunities on offer was an enormous drawcard. You can very quickly appreciate how unique the great south east is – largely due to its geographical positioning. Boasting the best of both worlds, the region receives an overlap of fish species with both southern and the more northern species. Each summer as the EAC (East Australian Current) begins its downward spiral, the pelagic highway flows with all our majestic game fish riding these bait and nutrient rich currents. While many still believe a boat is an absolute necessity to tangle with bigger pelagic, the fact remains that certain fish can be within a stone’s throw away from shore.
Below: Garfish schooling in close will always lure in bigger pelagic predators..
THE SEARCH
Having completed my rock fishing apprenticeship through my teenage years while roaming the rock ledges of New South Wales, I quickly became accustomed to many things. The long walks, concentrated effort in finding locations and waiting for those dream land based captures all combine to make this form of our sport something else. The Queensland LBG (land based game fishing) and even more ‘general’ rock fishing scene was one that really shocked me early in the piece. The big surprise came about simply by the sheer lack of rock anglers. No doubt trailer boats were always going to dominate the scene up here but surely there were still plenty of anglers taking advantage of the amazing rock ledges on offer. Or were there?
Now, 10 years down the track, there is a rather obvious realisation that LBG anglers within south east Queensland are certainly far less in numbers. Rather surprisingly, there seems to remain a select group of anglers willing to go that extra land based mile.
A typical rock ledge found throughout south east Queensland.
ROCK LOCATIONS
As the warm currents arrive as early as November throughout south east Queensland, the pelagic species begin to arrive rather spasmodically. By early to mid-December, bait has commonly arrived en masse and the various pelagic armies have shown in far greater numbers. In saying this though, the peak of the season for the land based angler commonly falls between March to May where fish numbers have certainly hit their peak. Inshore pelagic activity certainly varies considerably each season with many factors coming into play. Currents, water clarity, bait activity and general weather patterns all have an enormous influence on the migratory patterns of pelagic fish.
In the search for locations, one can immediately hit the nail on the head and confidently say that any rock ledge that provides access to deeper water will produce fish at various stages of the year. While many anglers seemingly become fixated on the more well-known locations that do consistently produce fish, many others will also explore. What you are looking for in any location is water depth and the all-important bait schools that will lure in larger predatory fish. Bait types will vary but without doubt the number one drawcard around the rock ledges of south east Queensland are garfish. These succulent pelagic ‘lollies’ can be in small, well-hidden schools under wash lines or in other instances, much larger schools cruising calmer waters. Garfish schools like these are akin to enormous neon signs, flashing at tuna and mackeral for an easy meal at the rock side diner.
Other seasonal forms of bait (February to May) that can be present along the ledges of the south east are small flying fish. These are very rarely seen by anglers but when cruising pelagics make their presence felt these amazing fish very quickly take to the air. A mixture of gar and flying fish seeking refuge around your chosen location is a dream scenario and one that will quickly make confidence levels rise.
A solid longtail that fell to a gulp jerkshad plastic.
TARGET SPECIES
Without doubt the two most sought after species for the land based spin fisho throughout south east Queensland (and right along our coastline) would be longtail tuna and spanish mackeral. While significantly different in physiology and feeding habits, both species are powerful pelagics that pose serious challenges to the land based angler.
Longtail Tuna
Longtail tuna remain a firm favourite of mine and these blue backed torpedos are both visually stunning and incredible sport fishing opponents. When lit up, the blue colouration differing in hue and intensity can have you quite mesmerised. This ranges dramatically from an intense electric saturation of the fish’s flanks leading to a darker royal blue across the back.
The two traits these fish are well-known for are rapid acceleration and sheer doggedness which make them one very highly regarded sportfish. While long tail tuna have a growth potential in excess of 35 kg, the common run of fish during peak season times will fall into the 8 to 15 kg size class. At this stage of their lives the fish are commonly referred to as ‘school size’ and fish remain in larger schools or pods. In my experience, the actual size of a school can vary considerably with usual pods anywhere between say 10 to 40 fish. As these fish become larger, they seem to break away and form looser schools that thin out in numbers. A good example here could possibly be 4 fish around the 15 to 18 kg mark. As the fish really attain the extra length and girth (creeping over 20 kg) they often roam as a pair or as the rogue solitary fish.
For the land based spin man, targeting longtails is a totally different ball game from the scenarios that present themselves to boat based anglers. Boats (quite obviously), have the ability to spot feeding or working schools of fish and with a sensible approach you will gain the opportunity to present a lure. Land based anglers do not have this luxury. In saying this though, what you can witness from many rock ledges is another experience altogether.
Fishing the rocks gives rise to sight casting, and as with any form of angling, spotting your target before presenting a lure is just an amazing experience. Yes, of course sight casting can still be done boat based as schools actively bust up and feed right in front of you, but for the land based – sight casting is vastly different. In ninety percent of cases these fish will be spotted as they simply ‘roam’ and without the aid of quality polarised sunglasses, would remain unseen.
In this scenario, longtail tuna are a real eye opener and at times, demonstrate behaviour that you simply do not see while fishing from a boat. Rock anglers have the ability to sit high on the vantage points and I have witnessed fish idle past rocks ledges at amazingly slow speeds – it isn’t what you come to expect from such a fast powerful pelagic fish. Sometimes the fish appear as though they have fed heavily prior and are simply in cruise mode, while on other occasions, they appear to be more purposefully hunting and searching for schools of gar. In this scenario, schools of garfish will immediately take to the air and ‘shower’ the surface, signalling the nearby danger. For any angler this sight should encourage a cast and with correct lure placement, could very well eventuate in a solid hook up. Sight casting longtails like this is an incredible adrenaline rush with the anticipation and potential for that explosive missile-like hit. It really is as good as it gets.
A solid land based spanish mackeral taken on a metal spun at high speed.
Spanish Mackerel
While it is certainly possible to successfully spin up all varieties of mackeral from the Queensland rock ledges – the Spanish mackeral is by far the real trophy. These formidable opponents can grow to quite scary proportions and upwards of 40 kilograms. To be realistic though, any fish encountered land based on our east coast over 20 kg is a superb capture.
Tides play a huge role in the pursuit of mackeral anywhere and become an even more important factor in the shallower inshore waters hard up against our rock ledges. The high tide phase signals mackeral time and these savage predators will happily move in and take advantage of the inshore bait schools. Other key elements you should base your spinning sessions around are moon phases and the low light periods. Dawn and dusk are without question the preferred hunting and feeding times for mackeral and in my personal experience, I’ve always found the fish to be far more active around the dark or new moon phase. Anglers should look to combine the key ingredients of high tide peaking around dawn or dusk in the lead up to a new moon phase. This will dramatically increase your chances of success.
Mackeral are a species that do require angler effort and if you are serious about landing one you should commit to spinning hard. Firing off cast after cast and spinning lures at high speed is the usual scenario until your chosen lure comes to that bone jarring halt. Mackeral are a species that are very fond to hit a lure on the drop and this is something any angler should be very mindful of. Whether your lure has been belted on the retrieve or on the ‘flutter’ down on the sink, the actual hook set should be very firm. They feature hard bony jaws armed with tough teeth and achieving a good hook set can be surprisingly difficult at times.
Landbased work can be
demanding on gear and you should be
confident in your selection.
LURE AND GEAR SELECTION
Longtail tuna and spanish mackeral can be caught on a variety of lures with the two most popular being metals and skipping poppers. Metals are most certainly the lures that pioneered high speed spinning and date well back to the days of the legendary Ron Calcutt. While we have certainly done away with the tight ‘stubbie’ shorts of that era, metals still remain as effective as ever. Casting metals is a very simple matter of throwing them as far as possible and spinning them back at high speed. The crunching hit you can experience on a metal as a pelagic belts it is just a fantastic feeling and one you will constantly crave.
Before spinning off the stones, one thing I do to all my metals is immediately upgrade the rings and trebles. I commonly cast metals in the 85 g range but prior to doing so, I immediately change the hooks to a 4/0 Owner ST-66. While some may consider this ‘large’ for the lure, you only need to quickly look at the mouth of a longtail or mackeral and realise this presentation is only bite size. The other alternative is single hooks as they give you a far more secure hook up once in the mouth of a fish. To be totally honest here, I use both single hooks and trebles, and both carry their advantages and disadvantages. Another decision you will need to make is whether or not you incorporate a small wire ‘bite leader’ into your rig when targeting mackeral. Personally I always do, and I choose to run a short 25 cm length of 58 lb single strand wire with ‘Mason’ being my preferred choice.
Skipping surface poppers are another popular lure choice and are especially effective when trying to imitate a fleeing garfish. Longtails simply adore these fast skipping presentations and some of the airborne takes I have experienced when using surface poppers have been incredible. Watching a tuna launch clear of the water like a torpedo is something most will never forget. Excellent lures that fall into this category are the Cotton Cordell pencil poppers and the various types of tuna plugs available.
The other big game changers for myself have been soft plastics. With the 2014 season now in its final stages Berkley’s 7 inch Gulp jerk shads proved to be a real winning formula. There will always be those times when longtails appear to have a serious case of lock jaw and simply shy from anything you throw. This year the Gulp 7 inch jerk shads were an absolute standout and I put this down to two big factors – a very realistic profile and continual scent release. Casting these with a one ounce jighead provided me with the necessary casting distance and it was interesting to note the otherwise cagey fish belting the jerk shads on the drop in most instances. These artificials have very quickly found a permanent position in my land based luring kit.
Gear selection for land based spinning does remain quite a personal issue with some preferring overhead while others lean towards spinning set ups. My personal preference is for a spinning rod and outfit in the 8 to 9 ft range
with a rating of PE 4 to 6. In combination with a 6000 sized spinning reel this outfit should be well balanced and the shorter rod length certainly aids in leverage and overall enjoyment to fight a fish with. Over this I run a quality 30 lb braid which delivers the necessary strength and sufficient casting distance for land based work.
PERSISTENCE PAYS
There is no doubting certain elements of land based rock angling are physically demanding and many challenges can be encountered along the journey, however, that ultimate success after making that added effort is a sensational feeling and can quickly spark a serious passion for land based angling. In most cases, captures are very well earned and if success doesn’t come your way immediately make the commitment to stick with it. It will only be a matter of time before you hold that big pelagic up for the camera.
Born in Sydney, Peter has spent 15 years fishing the coast of NSW targeting everything from whiting to marlin. Now resides in Queensland and has fished many tropical locations throughout the top end, the Coral Sea, Fiji and Vanuatu. Peter enjoys all forms of fishing from heavy GT popping, land based spinning for big pelagics, soft plastic work for snapper and luring the local estuaries for hard running trevally and mangrove jack. Peter began freelancing in 2009 is currently a pro angler with Purefishing Australia and Tonic Eyewear.
