Fishing options to suit every season
The Mackay region is blessed with a range of fishing options that evolve and change with the seasons. The fishing seasons in the region rarely follow the actual seasons, and instead follow more of a wet and dry season pattern, with changes in fish species and behaviours relevant to water temperature, rainfall and wind direction.
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Wet season:
For barra anglers, there is always an opportunity to land a barra, even when the barra season closes from November 1 to January 31. During that time, anglers are encouraged to take advantage of the warm weather to fish the three impoundments – Teemburra, Kinchant and Eungella Dam. Avoid the heat of the day and focus on the afternoon, dusk and night bites as the fish move into the bays, points and weed edges to feed.
Then, once the season reopens in February, anglers can switch their attention to the creeks. Water temperatures usually stay above 24 degrees though until around May, which means ambush predators like barra, mangrove jacks and salmon remain active. This time of the year suits those who like to fish structure and holes up the creeks. As the water cools, look for areas like flats and rock bars that hold residual heat.
Dry season:
Once June arrives, anglers tend to switch gear and either start to take advantage of more stable weather patterns to head offshore and target reef species and Spanish mackerel, or switch to light gear for bread-and-butter species. During winter, Mackay sees an influx in large whiting, big bream (black and silver) and flathead. Flathead will school up to breed and females up to about 80cm can usually be found with multiple smaller males. If possible, leave the larger breeding fish to protect fish stocks.
Usually by late June water temperatures have dropped enough to allow some southern species like snapper to appear around inshore reefs and rubble patches. August and September are traditionally very dry months, with fairly stable weather. Many anglers find these months perfect for offshore jigging for fingermark, coral trout and nannygai. By October winds tend to settle into a northeasterly pattern with calm weather in the morning and bumpy conditions during the afternoon. These conditions are great for anglers chasing small mackerel as they come right inshore after the bait schools and can be caught off the shore in areas like Blacks Beach and off the Marina wall. October can also offer the start of the build to the wet, with larger barra moving to the flats and rocky headlands along the coast. If you’re chasing bigger saltwater fish, this is the time to visit!
