Well just like that it’s 2024 and I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. The lead up to cyclone Jasper, the cyclone itself, and the rainfall afterwards certainly put the death knell on visiting tourists to Port Douglas. The tourists cleared out like they had cheated us in poker! Anyway, moving forward let’s get one thing very clear; Port Douglas is open for business, and the roads are all open! The recent quiet period did provide one positive, it gave me the opportunity to venture out purely looking for new ground, and oh boy did we find some great country ranging from new wonky holes to isolated patches of gravel, and we boated some great fish! Just check out our social media platforms to see for yourself. On the occasions we have had outer reef charters the fishing has been very good, especially for large Coral Trout, quality Nannygai and Red Emperor , as well as Gold Band Snapper have also been regular catches. And..oh yeah…..the weather has been awesome more often than not! A tip for the month is to always fish a variety of rigs to see if one works better than the other at that particular time. Simple examples of what I use are a running sinker rig, a paternoster and a hybrid jig (essentially like fishing a running sinker rig). When fishing with artificials mix it up with jigs and vibes (if the current allows). Hopefully a mixed arsenal gives you the edge which can be the difference between a great trip and an average one.