February’s catch: mackerel, whiting and squid top the charts - The Community Leader and Real Estate New and Views

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February’s catch: mackerel, whiting and squid top the charts

Fishing

Moreton Bay’s bounty. Photos: Spero Kartanos.

BY SPERO KARTANOS

Well, my call last month announcing the arrival date of the spotty mackerel proved pretty accurate! A few fishermen had caught some in early January, but you should see them throughout the bay over the next few weeks and months, hopefully in good numbers. It doesn’t matter if they’re in big or small schools – just follow the turns fluttering above the feeding schools to catch a few. The only problem (but fantastic for the bay) was the amount of baby school mackerel and spotty mackerel in January, and this won’t change much in February. That means you’ll have to catch and release lots of small ones to get to a few bigger fish, but it will be fun, especially in the Rous Channel in the shallower water.

During February, whiting and squid should be plentiful. The tiger squid will be very aggressive and attack the squid jigs with purpose this time of year, so it’s fun to watch, catch, and put on the dinner table. I get many emails about getting inked as you bring the squid onto the boat. I have found one of the best ways to avoid this is when you lift the squid out of the water, hold them between the body and the head and turn them upside down – they will release all the water so they can’t mix the ink with water to spurt it out.

If you’re after some lovely tasting whitebait, try a light on the back of the boat at the western side of Green Island, use a butterfly net, and you should get a feed.

Hopefully, the wild weather we had in January has gone, and we will get some lovely calm days on the bay in February with good fishing!

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