Page 70 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing magazine
P. 70
Abby-Rose with a nice 50cm fingermark that took a live herring. Sam caught this school size fingermark on a Zerek FishTrap.
GTechniques for Gladstone Harbour gold
OLDEN snapper, more It has taken some time fishing commonly known as fin- Gladstone Harbour and figuring out germark, are a common tides and locations to finally start
Gladstone Region
by GARY CHURCHWARD
catch through Gladstone Harbour. catching them in consistent num-
In the past few years I have worked outtechniquesandareasthatproduce consistent numbers of fingermark.
Before this I would catch the odd one while targeting barra around fallen trees and rock bars while looking for grunter.
bers and size.
The tides in the harbour can change
A change of technique to fishing vertically and deeper while in the rivers was the first factor that saw me catching better numbers and sizes of fish.
This would only occur occasion- ally and their size would rarely be worth a mention, but I was happy to catch some variety.
quickly and at odd times compared to the predictions. The current di- rection is also cause for frustration as it pushes off the rocky headlands and catches you out.
To start, I look for structure and a water depth of 4.5m at the shallow- est. Structure is typically a head- land or rock formation through the harbour, but pylons, simple depth changes and small lumps can all hold fish.
Phil nailed this mid-60cm fish on a 3” Gulp Shrimp in 4m of water over broken rocks.
Page 70 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, June 2020
* continued P71 www.bnb shing.com.au
The harbour typically holds good schools of baitfish such as herring, pike and garfish. If bait is present, you’ve got a better chance of catch- ing fish.
Sounding for fingermark can be difficult because they usually hug the bottom and can be hard to tell apart from the structure.
At times you will see them schooled and rising off the bottom, though this is usually as the tide slows and if bait is present.
I am an avid lure fisher but will drop the odd live bait down if a lure is repeatedly ignored and I fish are around.