THERE’S a lot to admire about the current generation of land-based game fishos. They’ve certainly gotten the rough end of the stick in many ways, from the continued decline of pelagic fish stocks through commercial over-fishing to the loss of access to many well-known rock ledges courtesy of government lock-outs. No-one has been more affected by the marine park closures than shore-based anglers.

In my opinion, one of the main reasons the current crop of LBG gun anglers continue to produce terrific results against the odds is that they aren’t shackled to the techniques or traditions of the past. As the marine park closures have increased the fishing effort and crowding at the remaining well-known NSW LBG ledges, the smart operators have started looking further afield.

Queensland has seen an influx of hard-core rock fishers looking for shore-based angling opportunities away from the madding crowds further south. I recently headed north myself to check out the action. What follows is the result of what started out as a reconnaissance trip for next season and ended up as one of the best land-based trips I’ve ever enjoyed.

Travelling anglers aren’t anything new on the Australian fishing scene. LBG identities Simon Cassettari and Bobby Russo chronicled their around Australia adventures in the pages of Fisho in the 1970s and 80s. The difference these days is that fishing travel has become accepted as the norm; no one bats an eyelid if someone flies off to New Zealand, Queensland, Western Australia or PNG in search of big fish. It’s just the price you have to pay to get amongst some hot fish action.

I chose to drive north as I wanted to have some flexibility to move around if the weather turned foul. As it turned out I got lucky and had a week of ideal conditions. One thing I learned, though, is that Queensland rock ledges can be just as dangerous as the more familiar locations down south, particularly if you get a run of strong south-easterly winds. The only real difference is that you’re a long way from home if you get blown out by big seas.

These days I’m actually more worried about being on the highways than the rock ledges. When I’m on the rocks I’m in control of my own destiny and make the call on past experience if conditions are safe to fish. On the roads is a different story: you can be the best driver in the world and still get cleaned up, so take care. I was held up by truck accidents both heading up north and coming home so plan your trip well and make allowance for inadvertent delays and rest breaks.

Strike

I knew that the fish gods had decided to smile on me when after about 20 casts on my first morning’s fishing I had a crashing surface strike from a good sized Spanish mackerel only 15m out. It missed the hooks but I was stoked regardless! A Spaniard strike on a lure in NSW these days is the piscatorial equivalent of winning Lotto and I’d had one in the first few minutes of casting into Queensland’s bountiful waters.

Within the hour I’d had another strike on a Raider out wide and was tight to a fish that was taking a steady deep run out to the north-east. Sure enough, just when I thought I’d found high speed spin heaven along comes a beaten up tinnie heading straight for my taut line. However, a quick wave to the old bloke trolling along had him heading seaward away from my big fish and disaster was averted. After a few touch and go moments with the fish down deep and getting too close to a nearby bommie for comfort I gaffed and landed a personal best 16kg golden trevally.

These northern rock ledges aren’t the sort of places to be using inferior or poorly maintained gear. The opportunities for big fish hook-ups are there for anyone willing to put in the hard yards. Every day I walked onto the rocks feeling confident that if I kept a lure in the water I’d be a big chance of hitting a trophy fish.

I had the ledge to myself again on the second morning and was rewarded with a solid blind strike after an hour’s casting and a screaming run seaward. This felt like a powerful fish and sure enough once I’d pulled that first big run up it began arcing in a very familiar manner. There’s no doubt that pound for pound longtail tuna exert more pressure on your tackle over an extended fight time than any of the other species commonly chased by rock spin men. Working the fish as hard as possible to shorten the arcing is the way to go with longtails and I was soon washing out an 18kg tuna.

If you’re planning a trip up north be sure to pack plenty of extra line, leader material, hooks, wire traces and lures. The attrition rate is pretty high on gear when the fishing is hot so be prepared. I’ve heard of fishos mail ordering lures mid-trip when stocks have begun to run low in their tackle bags. The largest Spaniard I’ve heard of landed on a lure from the Queensland ledges was taken on one of the new Halco Max bibless minnows so be sure to pack a couple.

No crowds

Having a prime big fish ledge to yourself is almost an unheard of luxury down south these days, but not so in Queensland. On my third morning I was bitten off by a mackerel before I’d turned the handle on my Penn Torque overhead and then landed a pair of golden trevally that weighed in around the 15 and 7kg mark respectively. There’s a lot of satisfaction to be derived from landing a sizeable fish from the stones on your own; washing them out is an acquired skill that allows you option of releasing them after getting a quick pic.

For the last few days I had the pleasure of fishing with a couple of the locals who were soon to become good mates. Leith Pascoe and Dennis Kinnen are rock spin fanatics who cast long, wind fast and have caught a lot of great fish off the stones. Dennis has even scored a small black marlin on a lure from his local ledge. They’d heard from some mutual friends that I was in their neck of the woods and came out to say g’day and have a cast with me. A change in the conditions over night had brought the fish on the bite too with plenty of strikes and bite offs from mackerel before Dennis landed an 8kg Spaniard. Leith managed a 12kg Spaniard and a couple of school mackerel and I got half a 10kg Spaniard back courtesy of the first shark I’d seen all week. The boys had to leave early so I kept fishing and managed to score an intact Spaniard and a couple of school mackerel, too.

It always pays to check on the local fishing rules and regulations when fishing new waters. Like NSW and Victoria, Queensland also has marine sanctuaries so be sure to ask at the local tackle shop for a zoning map. A fishing writer from another magazine recently suffered the ignominy of being instructed by rangers to remove the PVC rod holders that he’d been concreting all around a well-known QLD rock spot.

The week had flown by and I only had one morning’s fishing left. Leith and Dennis had come down for a last cast and were adamant that I wasn’t leaving without one more good fish. Leith got things rolling with a 10kg longtail tuna and a couple of queenies before he had a really big Spaniard sharked. Dennis managed a couple of school mackerel but I remained fishless and just about out of time. Around 9am my Raider lure was engulfed in a massive explosion just as it breached the surface on a high speed retrieve. I was onto a good fish that was screaming line off to the south-east. We were all thinking big longtail tuna and I had the drag on the Penn Torque 300 cranked up as much as I dared. After a brief discussion on the merits of following the fish around the rocks, we decided it was best to fight the fish from our spin ledge, which turned out to be the right decision. This fish really felt big and I was maxing out the gear to turn it and drag it back to the rocks. A big white flash down deep soon materialised into a bloody enormous giant trevally. Far and away the biggest I’ve ever hooked off the rocks. Conditions were just too dodgy to wash the fish out and when Leith realised it was only lightly hooked he went for the gaff. After a top gaff shot Leith hoisted the big GT onto the rocks where the boys conservatively estimated it to be around the 22kg mark. What an awesome way to end the trip.

One of the great truisms of our sport is to "fish where the fish are". Queensland offers an array of relatively unfished locations where high speed spin fishers can still connect with the fish of their dreams. There’s certainly more to the Sunshine State than bananas, barra dams and backpackers.

FACTS – LBG gear

• FAST reels rule on the northern rock ledges. Go for strong 6:1 overheads or threadlines loaded with 10 to 15kg line, monofilament for the overheads and GSP for the threadlines.

• When it comes to lures, I recommend metal lures including Raiders, Snipers, Halco slices and the venerable Half By Quarters. For surface poppers use Halco Roostas, Pencil Poppers or Halco Haymakers. The new Halco Max bibless minnow has already proven its worth as Spaniard slayer on both the east and west coast rock ledges. Take plenty of lures, there’s a good chance you’ll need them.

• Good aggressive soled foot wear is vital. I found the Queenland rock ledges to be just as slippery when wet as the more familiar headlands down south.

• Pack plenty of fluids as it get’s bloody hot on the rocks up north. Sports drinks such as Gatorade are ideal. Don’t forget the sunscreen and hat either.

• Finally, forget the live baiting gear. Fishing baits up north means sharks. There’s nothing that pisses off the locals more than southerners berleying up sharks while they’re trying to spin up a mackerel for a feed. If you want to try and be a Bob Dyer or Alf Dean stay home and do it.