wooli advice

[Conor Barry]

Gday All,

My Son and I are heading town to Wooli in January for a week of fishing with our boat. Have never fished around there before and would be great if anyone could give some tips for that time of year.

Cheers Conor

[rickmarlin62]

Plenty of snapper  any shallow reef area   wilsons is good  north of wooli  should be mackerel if currents at moment are an indication  water is already warm up there north solitary has too many options   look back thru this thread

[JonD]

It can be a very difficult bar to use, as can the river at low tide. Once through the bar there is some shallow reef towards the island which can be hard to see if heading out early morning into the rising sun. Returning through the bar can often have surfers right across the entrance. Minie Water has a reasonably protected beach launch from and firm sand, however be aware of taking too much time will allow the trailer to sink into the sand and possibly bog. Sand mats (treads, maxtrax) are worth carrying as is an air compressor if you need to drop your tyre pressure down low if you get bogged. 

The fishing in my opinion is extremely good at Wooli, one of my favourite spots to fish and dive. There's a bay out at the island with mooring buoys if you fancy a swim in the sanctuary to see some amazing fish life. Plenty of protected areas, so know your charts.

Woolli is a place where you can still catch both snapper and jews with confidence once you work the place out a little. Keep your eye out for birds as soon as you leave the bar as they are a good indictor of long tale and mac tuna which can be good fun on light lure tackle. Ive often encountered many small yellowfin around the island pulling lures, with four way hook ups over and over. The wider reefs fish very well using bait, jigs and plastics. The fad attracts dolphin fish earlier up there than down south obviously and trag will often be on the bottom around the fad area. Dolphin fish will attract wahoo in that area but only if the water is warm enough which can be a bit hit and miss early in the season. Also blue clean water fishes way better than the green brown water that can often be present. Might be too early for Spanish mackerel and school mackerel but ask at the tackle store if any have been caught. One of my favourite fish up there is a blue green wrasse which I can't remember the name of at the moment, these pull hard and taste fantastic.

What I really like if the fact the beach gutters also fish well for jews after dark. Finding a good looking gutter during daylight and going back as the sun sets will often reward you with a couple of jews before its to late to order a meal at the pub. The beach is a great alternative if the bar crossing is too rough. I haven't bothered to much with the river but friends I travel with catch crabs in the river, flathead and school jews. 

It's one of the places where each time you go, you learn more and catch more. In saying that some of the areas known to hold decent kings have been under pressure from commercial fishing. The reck out in 100m used to fish very well for larger kings and lots of small jews in the 6-10kg size but now it can be very quite out there. 

[Hoods]

Thanks Jon - very comprehensive.

[JonD]

3 hours ago, Hoods said:

Thanks Jon - very comprehensive.

The fish I couldn't think of is tusk fish.

[JonD]

Been hearing some news that Wooli has (is) been targeted quite heavily by pro's for quite some time, even hitting reefs after dark cleaning up on many snapper. Rumour has it that many of the close reefs are quite to how they used to fish. I was heading up next week but have been informed it's not worth the effort, so will most likely just stay local.