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Wog heads are one of the most effective and consistent lures for targeting spanish mackerel and other pelagic species. With plenty of recent reports of good spanish being caught locally we thought we'd do a run through of the best tips and tactics for successful application of these amazing lures! 1. The wog head Throughout the years, we have seen many different iterations of the humble wog head rig and have tried and tested a whole range of options. A few key features have emerged as favourites for us over this time. Firstly, the best heads on the market are...

Late January saw the real start of the wet season in Far North Queensland, with large rainfall totals falling across much of the state. The wet season is a key annual event for most ecosystems, marine and freshwater included. It’s not hard to see evidence of the huge effect this has on many of our local species. A great example can be seen with the choruses of native frogs that can be heard along local marshes and ephemeral water courses as they utilise the wet conditions to lay their eggs. Underwater, other wet season associated events are occurring, though they...

The long-anticipated break in the south-easterly trade winds finally landed early in October. We joined the masses and hit the water to try and put some fish in our very empty freezers. Darryl, Matt and I made our way north to a few of Darryl’s favourite haunts. We stopped over on a few wonky holes on the way out, though they were all but devoid of life, barely worth dropping a bait. As we investigated other marks on rubbly bottom, we found plenty of life, but had very limited success pulling reasonable fish. Nevertheless, we persisted in the area and...

The sooty grunter is an interesting species. In Queensland, “sooties” are originally native to gulf of Carpentaria drainages, but have made their way into certain east coast systems through stocking and habitat modification or water course crossover. In the east draining rivers of Far North Queensland, you will find sooties in the Barron, Russell/Mulgrave, Johnstone and Tully river catchments. Other populations are dotted down the coast as far south as the Mary river. This unusual distribution leads to some interesting patterns. Due to habitat variability and limited gene transfer between separate populations, sooties can be quite different between these systems....

The jungle perch is a charismatic and captivating little species. What it lacks in size, it more than makes up for with aggression, tenacity and supreme predatory ability. Couple this with the remote and wild rainforest streams the better fish tend to inhabit and you have a challenging and rewarding target species that is incomparable to any others.  As we neared the end of 2019 and the onset of the big wet approached, the decision was made to go after jungle perch one final time before the inevitable rain and associated flooding locked us out of the better JP water...