Fisho's Weekly Fishing Report – 5th December, 2025
by Fisho's Tackle World Hervey Bay 5 Dec 08:24 UTC
5th December, 2025
Pauly and Justin with a fair chunk of a yellowfin from a recent offshore heavy tackle mission on Besty's boat © Fisho's Tackle World Hervey Bay
Pleasant weather to Kick Off Our Summer
After enduring such sweltering heatwave conditions so frequently throughout the latter part of spring, it has been a very pleasant change in recent days. Cooler nights and much cooler days have been very welcome, and it looks as though the pleasant conditions will prevail for much of the coming week.
Today's light easterlies will build into a gentle sea breeze late this afternoon. A light north-easterly zephyr will greet early risers Saturday morning, if there is even any wind at all. That north-easter will strengthen gradually throughout the day, but it still looks like less than 10 knots until just before sunset - very pleasant indeed! Sunday will dawn a tad warmer courtesy of the wind swinging to the north. Around 10 knots looks likely throughout Sunday, with maybe 15 knots or so come nightfall.
Expect a bit of a mixed bag Monday, as showers impact our coastline. Nothing dramatic most likely, with variable winds to 10 knots or so favouring the east or north-east. From then on, it looks like a string of days where light-moderate onshore winds offer boaties ample opportunity to hit the bay or perhaps beyond.
Tonight's full moon is bound to be enjoyed by many fishos gazing skyward as they revel in its glow. Big spring tides are part of the summer full moon scene, and we will experience big highs and low lows that will start to diminish as the moon begins to wane. All in all, a great weekend and week ahead, so get the boat ready and make the most of it, folks.
Big Moon Draws Nocturnal Predators to the Pier
Urangan Pier fishos have been entertaining themselves with a mix of fish this week. Daytime assaults have been less exciting than the nocturnal ones, yet the odd big flathead and a few whiting have broken the monotony at times. Schools of whiting have been noted, strung-out in linear formations across the sandbank. Catching them in such scenarios is challenging, to say the least, yet at any rate you know they are there, and can come back after dark to see how they are biting.
Mild evenings fishing from the elevated pier has been rather enjoyable for a number of fishos over recent nights. Jewfish have featured in catches, as have the odd large queenfish. Talk of night-time queenies comes as no surprise at this time of year, as they normally turn up when the pencil squid begin to arrive.
No word of pencillies as yet though it seems - but it won't be long. There is way too much bright moonshine right now for a squid to feel comfortable anywhere near the surface after dark (their silhouettes giving their position away to the many predators eager for a feed of fresh calamari). Perhaps try a dawn session as the sun rises. Sink your jigs to the bottom, the way we boaties do in daylight, and you might score some early arrivals.
Otherwise, just wait, like everyone else, and be prepared for the arrival of the pencil squid en-masse some time very soon. 'Being prepared' simply means having a light outfit available that you can work squid jigs with, and having a suitable selection of tiny squid jigs ready to deploy. Attachable strobe lights or chemical light sticks are part of a modern-day nocturnal squidders' arsenal, whilst a few will carry their 12V submersible squid lights and accompanying batteries out to the deep end to drawn squid to their location.
Chasing pencillies will be a popular pastime over future summer nights. Get the kids involved, and they will have a ball. The squid will be quite small initially, then get larger as the season progresses. As the moon's brightness wanes and periods of darkness lengthen over the coming fortnight, the chances of squid turning up increases. Keep that in mind and be ready for a session either side of high tide out the deep end.
Beach fishos can expect to catch a modest feed of whiting until at least a couple of days beyond the full moon. The rock groynes at Shelley Beach have been the most popular spot of late, for both whiting and garfish. Very large grunter are a chance from the beaches and mudflats of Urangan, as well as the stretch of beach up Pialba way before it gives way to the rocks. Prawns or yabbies will bring them undone, as will a well-presented soft plastic prawn imitation, and believe it or not, a tiny slow-pitch jig fished shore-jig style wafting its way along the bottom.
Summer Variety on Our Shallow Inshore Reefs
As strong tidal flow dictates timing for inshore reef fishing exploits, many folks will take the easy option and head for the shallows. The extra flow will get the coral trout on the chew, so trollers, softie-chuckers and bait fishos alike are all in with a chance. Some trout will mooch up shallow to take advantage of the big morning flood tides, whilst others stand their ground along the deeper fringe. Good in a way, as the effort is spread and everyone is a chance.
Early starts are a must if you want success at places such as Gatakers Bay, Pt Vernon and Pialba. Pre-dawn arrival, with your lures tuned and ready to troll or flick just as first light appears is perfect. Trout don't feed at night, so you can imagine their hunger at dawn. The same principle applies elsewhere, such as along the reefs fringing the bay islands, yet action later in the day is often easier to come by in those areas.
Large grunter are prevalent in the vicinity of Pt Vernon, and they will respond to the pull of the full moon with vigour. Bait fishos could score a very good feed, as might those working prawn imitation softies where reef meets sand. Fish bettering the 60cm mark are not uncommon, whilst the chance of scoring a grunter over 70cm is as good now as it has ever been.
A feed of grassy sweetlip is possible from the same shallow reef systems. More likely in bigger numbers and better quality from the likes of the Woody Island fringes than Gatakers Bay, but all shallow reef areas are likely to give up sweeties of mixed quality. Pre-dawn assaults, along with evening sessions, will produce the most impressive sweetlip fishing, yet the big tidal flow will maintain the rage for some sweeties throughout the day too.
There will be those that will pursue blueys over these tides in the shallows. Bust-offs from better fish might be frequent, but they will score a feed if they are up to the task. Mackerel fans might find a few fish willing to pounce on minnow-style lures trolled quickly by, yet their numbers are still much better out in deeper waters.
Local fishos were excited to hear of the construction of a new artificial reef off Pt Vernon last week. Instalment works are still under way, as the big barge and its accompanying pilot boat can be seen just off the coastline this morning. Exciting times ahead for those boaties restricted to fishing ultra-close inshore. It will take some months for numbers of fish to move in, but no doubt folks will go and suss the new reef out very soon.
On a sour note, it was hard not to get angry when reading an article by a strongly left-orientated media outlet airing claims that these new artificial reefs would adversely affect the nearby natural reefs at Pt Vernon. Calls from an environmental group to ban fishing along the reefs fringing the point are very alarming. Their claim that such protection (from us) is required to ensure the survival of parrotfish, known to graze on algae growing on coral outcrops almost exclusively, is downright ludicrous!
Parrotfish are rarely ever caught by line fishers. When was the last time you or anyone you know caught one on a hook attached to a fishing line? We are talking about true parrotfish here, not tusk fish (often referred to colloquially as 'parrot'). Proposing to close a ground to fishing to protect a fish virtually never caught by fishos - what a joke! Spear fishos might impact the parrotfish, but line fishos never will.
This protect-at-all-cost mentality already has unwelcome history in our fisheries, and it is ill-informed attitudes like this that create long-term issues and inappropriate loss of grounds for we fishos. For example, well-intentioned yet obviously naive do-gooders created the disastrous Qld-wide (and possibly Australia-wide) over-population of XOS sharks that we and our piscatorial friends have to suffer these days. It should have been blatantly obvious that protecting such a successful apex predator would result in over-population.
How many fish populaces, marine mammals and indeed human families have suffered since taking sharks over 5' long was banned several years ago? Too darn many! And yet, we still have to listen to the same old rhetoric calling for further protection for sharks that are supposedly in decline. The only sharks in decline are the cute little ones the divers want to swim with - because the big bulls etc keep eating them!
Fish the Tide Turns on Our Deeper Inshore Reefs
Improved weather will enable plenty of you to prospect our deeper inshore reefs this weekend. The current will be raging, so consider timing your assaults to coincide with the change of tide. Jigging prawn or squid imitations at this time could see you grunting feverishly as you try to extract a prize coral trout from its lair. Dragging that tenacious trout from the reef is only the first part of the battle though, as then you have to skull-drag like hell just to try and get the fish to the boat in one piece. Such is the plight of the inshore reef fisho in shark-infested waters these days.
Estuary cod will be active, and will pounce on more lures than the trout do in many areas. Live baiters will catch plenty when the tide isn't raging, as will trollers if they slow down their presentation. Plunging ultra-deep divers to the depths along various ledges and around scattered reef can see you score a couple of quality fish without interactions with sharks, which is a bonus.
Grassy sweetlip numbers are increasing around many of our inshore reef systems. Those grounds with more sponge, whips and ferns tend to host bigger numbers of sweeties, yet they are so prolific over summer that you can find sweeties, of varying quality, just about anywhere. Many of our commonly fished grounds suffer from the attention of bull sharks and their cousins, so keep on the hop if they find you.
If the grounds within the deeper shipping channels are too sharky, then maybe a session in Urangan Channel will top up the esky on the way home. This largely overlooked country is alive with summer reef species and a few ring-ins from the estuaries at times too. Scattered rubbly reef and plenty of hard rocky reef dot areas of the channel, making it a good trolling option for trout and cod, and a particularly good area to catch sweeties and tusk fish. Ensuring you don't anchor smack bang in the line of traffic to and from the harbour will keep the peace, particularly during busy times or at night.
More folks have cottoned-on to the sand crabbing options within and around Urangan Channel recently. Bigger tides like these will have the inshore sandies on the move. Soak some pots, well away from high traffic areas, and ensure you weight them effectively so that they don't drag away in the strong current. The pro sand crabbers are still doing it tough out in the open bay - if they are even bothering - so try your luck inshore instead while the moon still has some pull.
Goldies on the Flats and Mackerel in the Channels
Flats fishos continue to benefit from reduced gill-netting activity in Hervey Bay and the Great Sandy Straits. Decent numbers of golden trevally to maybe 10 kilos are being caught from various flats locally, reminiscent of the good old days many years ago. Queenies and small GTs are often found skirting the fringes too, though many of the queenfish schools favour the deeper ledges that dot the western side of Fraser from Moon Point south.
School mackerel are being caught up the island and over bait-rich reefs in southern Platypus Bay. There are bound to be schoolies working the local shipping channels, and perhaps some of our beacons at present too. This weekend's weather will see plenty of mackerel fans out there hunting, so more insight could be shared location-wise next week.
In the meantime, it is the Kingfisher Bay area that has been the focus of many mackerel tales this week. Schoolies and a few very large broadies have graced the waters beneath the jetty over there, and even the odd spaniard has come close enough to create some excitement. There has been giant trevally in the 10-15kg size range terrorising anything smaller than themselves at Kingfisher's jetty lately too, and even the odd goldie has been caught. Throw in a few flathead, the standard-issue estuary cod and a few undersized jewfish, and Kingfisher has plenty to offer a keen fisho at present.
Spanish mackerel are a very reasonable target species inshore at present. Expect more to arrive as summer unravels, and some very large fish to boot. The GTs are yet to turn up on our artificial reefs and shipwrecks as yet apparently, but they won't be far away. Once the pencil squid numbers explode, and the schoolies line up for them in the shipping channels, the GTs will be right behind them.
Still no word of spotted mackerel from the northern bay. Surely, this weekend will see some return for effort from those that head up Rooneys way. Ensuring you go armed with appropriate spin tackle and plenty of metal slugs will mean no disappointment if you happen to trip over schools of spotties. A week of easterlies should see a run of fish into Platypus Bay, so here's hoping we are sharing news of such next week.
It has been all quiet on the inshore marlin front in recent days apparently. As stated recently, we are pinning our hopes on a late run of fish tailing the spotties as they arrive in the bay. Until then, it is mac tuna galore closer inshore as they feed on micro baitfish in the southern bay and the straits. Hard to tempt at times, but getting easier every week as their prey gets that little bit bigger.
Sharks and Currents Dictate Success Down South
Catching up with Greg Pearce of Double Island Point Fishing Charters for a chat last night revealed the state of play east of the Wide Bay bar. To quote Greg, the fishing has been hot and cold and you can be a hero or a zero any day thanks to the vagaries of currents and the dreaded noahs arks.
Greg has just caught his first spotties of the season, but the big numbers are still yet to arrive. Amberjack and snapper have been partial to slow-pitch jigs on the right spots some days, then fickle and bite-resistant on others. The presence of sharks often being the factor determining success or failure. Quiet periods have been challenging occasionally, where one's willingness and ability to move on from spot to spot has been the saviour of the day.
Some days the reef fishing can be slow initially, then explode into life mere hours and miles away. A few lonely snapper in the box can be sharing that space with a bag limit in no time when they turn it on, sharks permitting. Greg says the sharks are as bad as they have ever been, and he is expecting a nasty run of them this summer. Luckily for his clientele, Greg knows his piece of ocean like few others and will always keep on the hop until his crew enjoys success no matter how many shark-infested spots he has to drive away from.
A few random schools of cobia in close have been fun, and runs out wide have seen them into a few pearlies at times. The mahi mahi on the FADs down there have been too tiny to worry about. These electric-coloured dynamos are a super-fun fish to catch, but they are easily damaged when small and not worth the effort as yet.
Excellent Jack Fishing Continues Unabated
Greg shared stories of his young 10-year-old, Ollie, catching jacks after dark from a local creek recently. This boy has already experienced fishing many folks five times his age are yet to see. He has already caught various red fish and other reefies offshore, big jewies, big barra and sizeable blueys, but no doubt the red devils will be foremost in his mind after his recent night session.
From the southernmost waters of the Great Sandy Straits to the waters of Hervey Bay, there are countless creeks and a few major rivers just teeming with mangrove jacks. Almost no stream is too small for a population of jacks to reside within, as all they need is a mere metre of water at low tide to survive and thrive. Opt for a local creek or some far flung remote waterway, but do so soon or you might miss out on champagne-quality jack fishing the likes of which don't come around every year.
Focus on jacks before the wet season rains arrive and turns our rivers and creeks into seething messes of floodwater. Take advantage of the upcoming periods of lengthening darkness as the moon rises later and send some topwater lures into the fray. The jacks will undoubtedly be out on the hunt during key periods of the tide, and many can be found wandering about well clear of structure.
Spend some time seeking threadfin salmon down the straits or in the lower reaches of the Mary system and success will come. Focus on the last of the ebb tide where the vast draining flats of the straits channel fodder into likely ambush locations and that is where you might find our whiskery friends. Within the lower Mary and the Susan, it can be the drain-bashers that enjoy success over larger tide periods such as these, but trollers remain in with a chance.
Mix it up with periods chasing flathead and grunter on lighter tackle and your day spent on a local stream can be most enjoyable. It won't be if you forget the Bushmans though, or think that one of the other brands of repellent is up to the task. Soak some crab pots this weekend if you haven't already, and see if the full moon has triggered any movement from the muddies. Recent storm activity certainly had some B-graders on the move, so hopefully they fill out in time for Xmas.
Good luck out there y'all... Jase