Blue Salmon and King Salmon are new species for the Catch & Release section of this years Boyne Tannum Hook Up.
Both are a fantastic table and sport fish with big tails and plenty of vigor
and would pull a similar sized salt water Barramundi backwards. They also have
a well-earned reputation of being finicky and difficult to catch.
They are a great species to target throughout the year but there are two
peak periods in which to target Threadfin in Central Queensland. Threadfin tend
to frequent deeper water but in Autumn around at the time of the Hook Up and
then again in their Spring spawning times they tend to move up into tidal
flats, shallower bays and estuary waters. At these times they may be found in
much shallower water and you will even come across them foraging in shallow
water with their fins and tail visible. For the best action take advantage of
bite windows that occur around the quarter moon and then specifically around
the neap tides.
They’re endemic North of Brisbane on the East coast and North of Broom on
the West coast and along all of our Northern coastline in coastal waters,
river, creeks and bays.
They have bizarre feeding habits and it can be very frustration getting them
to bite. Some days they don’t respond to anything you offer but other days they
can be almost cooperative. They are predominately bottom feeders and mooch
along head down with their threads (a.k.a. fingers or feelers) out in front of them constantly
sensing for food items. Having said that when they are in shallow water they
will occasionally strike at bait being retrieved past or above them. Their main
diet includes Jelly Prawns which are only up to around 4 centimeters long and a
pale pinkish cream in colour and are more akin to Krill than Prawns. They also
eat real prawns, Crabs and Worms as well as bait fish including Herring and
Mullet.
They favour constantly discoloured waters that are not flushed clear by
incoming tides. We don’t have much of that type of water around Gladstone and
the best locations to target Threadfin locally is the back waters of Gladstone
Harbour, The Narrows and sometimes the Calliope River. The back waters of
Turkey Beach, Seven Mile and the Colosseum are also options.
Threadfin do not like too much run in the tide and a good rule of thumb is
that if the water is running faster than you can comfortably walk then it’s
going to be hard to catch Threadfin.
Good luck at the Hook Up.