Fishing in the Gladstone region during a new moon lunar phase when the sea drops out along with the breeze is an awesome thing to behold.

The lead up days like this past weekend is a sensational time to be on the water as many who ventured out will attest too.

Last week Jonathon and Lynda Dunn slipped out to the Bindaree wreck about 10 or so kms east of North Entrance.

Jonathon wanted to go further but alas that wasn’t on Lynda’s plans so they had a bash at this beaut wreck.

As you can see by the size of the Cobia he landed it was worth while and also by the looks of the sea in the background it was a nice day out on the water.

Last weekend John Ohl and all his cobbers jumped on a charter boat and ventured out to the grounds above Innaminka Shoals chasing those big red fish.

As you can see by the pictures his cousin Jason Sheridan landed this beaut 10.5kg Red Emporer and also another around the same size is still lying in the ice box.

They also scored well with a dozen Cobia and 7 coral trout. Once all the filleting had been done and divided up with the boat they ended up with 19 kg of fillets which is awesome for a day out on the water!

The prawns and crabbing has been very good in the region as well with a lot of prawns caught in wild Cattle Creek, Coloseeum, and up the narrows in Grahams Creek etc.

The Crabs have been on the move in various places like Grahams Creek, Pacific Creek and Targinnie.

Meanwhile the whiting have been chewing well too in Colloseeum, and rodds harbour (turkey Beach) with plenty of Summeries, or yellow fin whiting being caught on live yabbies.

I was listening to Phippsy on Zinc on Sunday morning and down that way there is a real trend on catching whiting on these little poppers.

Basically the whiting will tend to follow the lure for a while but as soon as you stop cranking or “walking the dog” technique the bream take over and have a go at the lure.

The results from what I understand are very good and the fish which you catch is also of decent size.

Have a chat with your favourite tackle shop and ask them about using a popper or even a Vibe (I’ve spoken about them before) for chasing whiting.

Pike also love the same sized popper so what ever happens, because it’s happening right in front of you on the surface, it’ll be exciting.

It’s also best to ensure you do have the right type of line on your reel and maybe a check on the little heavier leader just in case you nail something a little bigger than a whiting.

This week in particular tomorrow conditions are nothing short of superb for nicking out the front for a fish.

Less than 10 knots, even possibly going down to light and variable, with around half a metre of swell is predicted right through til Saturday morning at the moment.

On Saturday it would be advisable not to be on the water as it’s predicted to come up to around 25-30 knots during the day.

Thursday and Friday though will have the odd storm or rain around so be aware of those cells if you are out and about.

Finally I hope to zip out for a fish on Wednesday and a rumour has it that Jamie Oliver and Gordon Jensen are also heading out. We’ll see what happens there.

Dags