Members Guide to Catching Prawns

[fishing-mavericks]

pommie Bri just got me thinking after reading his post and I wanted to expand the topic to the greater brisbane area. I personally love cast netting prawns, the fact that I own 3 different size nets will attest to that... but truth be known I dont have much luck finding them. I'd love to hear what you boys have to say on the subject, so to get things started I'll share my spots and hopefully the other prawno's will chip in their 2 cents..

SPOT 1: PRAWN CREEK...

It's on the southern side of the hornibrook bridge as you punch out the pine river about 2 clicks past dohles rocks. I dont actually know what it's officially named, but I call it prawn creek because if you go up there when the tide is slack (just about 300m in from the mouth) you'll see prawns everywhere along the bank in the shallows. They also sit in the holes out in the deep, but not as thick. I've caught them up there as big as 5 inches long and as thick as your thumb. Banana prawns I image, possibly even endeavours but dont quote me.

SPOT 2: THE POO PIPE...

across from fishermans island at the mouth of the brizzy river. When it's run out from high, there is a back eddy that forms and that combined with the nutrients from the dump pump usually have prawns swarming. Those crazy little river trawlers will get in there real close with their nets so try not to anchor up when they're hitting it at sunset

(bit of triva for you, the prawns are actually THICK on the other side of the river where the big wharves are, due to the big floodlights that port of brisbane keeps running. The downside is that with the maritime laws, you cant go within 30m of there so you'll often have the patrol boat moving you along if you try to get close. If you can find them 50m off the wharf on the sounder, then get into it! But in my opinion, dont risk it for a biscuit)

SPOT 3: NINGI & COOCHIN CREEK...

on any given day when there is a low low, get up there and you'll see them flicking around in the shallows and pools that remain once the tide drops. Word of warning, be aware of your exit route if you're taking the tinny up there. Me and a mate hit it once on a dropping tide as the sun was about to start dropping. We ended up trimming up and trying our hardest to motor home in 8 inches of water and at times had to drag the tinny for hundreds of meters. Was a big eye opener so keep that in mind.

Now it's your turn fella's so dont hold out!

[Keechie]

shultz canal where a small creek that comes from towards dfo joins to the shultz, i caught a kilo of prawns there on saturday. and for anyone that knows how i throw a net you would know if i get 1kg everyoen else could get 3 lol. the prawns averaged about 5 inches long, smallest about 3 and a half inches biggest 6 and a half.

[Travis]

RAPTIS $20 a kilo :laugh:

[Keechie]

:laugh:haha trwarren83

[fishing-mavericks]

not a bad idea, they could sure do with the money now that they're going down owing $900M

[Travis]

they just sold that big blue and white thing its going to canada,

[Brian D]

Tweed river is my favourite spot but you have to use a scoop net and head torch.

Albert river is my next fav spot, more often then not I get enough for a couple of good live bait sessions.

[tugger]

tingalpa ck in any of the holes towards the end of ebb tide

[noname]

when they're on, brekky creek is very productive.

[chris_stewart14]

Brian where abouts in the Tweed mate?

[kriso]

i have got some along the rowing sheds at westend before.

[brisfisher]

spot on kriso,

i pulled a kilo or two from there on high tide just the other day aswell as a 50cm flattie

[noname]

just off the phone to a friend that lives down that way, a lot of tinnies going past his back yard on their way to the mouth i guess. thinking of heading down tmz or to nudgee. hmmm.

[Dazzamcgee]

Quick question!

What do prawns look like on a sounder???

no funny stuff guys.......

[dhess]

Depends on the sounder but on my furuno fcv585 they look like a cloud of light blue haze.

On my garmin 178c they came up up as a heap of green dots but a lot harder to pick.

Probably also depends a lot on settings.

[Bri The Pom]

Well done fella's alot of very accurate locations, a great help for someone that has no idea where to go.

Hey Travis don't put yourself down I have seen you catch 3 prawns in a castnet and rob and kev will back me up.

Thats 3 not 3 kilos.

Good weekend all

Bri.

[Feral]

Thats harsh Bri - I Love it - good to see you picking up the Oz idea of how to treat ya mates! :evil:

[sehrguht]

Im new to the prawning game, i caught some in pine river messing about, none substantial though.

What is the best time for prawning or is it anytime?

is there an advantage to a nylon or cotton? based cast net?

[Fisherjoe]

those prawing lights ive seen in the shops, are they worth buying if going prawing? like do they actually work?

[tugger]

the last of the run out before low tide out my way is the best and a night low seems to be better. cotton nets are the strongest but monofilement sink faster and you can get them with a top pocket where the prawns are trapped. prawns will jump towards the top of the net

[fishing-mavericks]

sehrguht wrote:

Im new to the prawning game, i caught some in pine river messing about, none substantial though.

What is the best time for prawning or is it anytime?

is there an advantage to a nylon or cotton? based cast net?

When I worked on prawn trawlers we would only go out at night, due to the prawns burying themselves when there is light (also why a full moon was a no trawling night). But that is for tiger prawns

The river and creek prawns we're talking about dont bury themselves (coz there is no sand usually) so you can get them day or night... but you have to either know where they are hanging in the day, or go out at night with the light and bring them to you. I know that goes against the whole tiger prawns hiding when the see light thing, but for some reason the different species have different behaviours (banana prawns are caught in broad daylight for example)

I love nylon nets, they spread much nicer when casting but they're expensive and fairly easy to tear if you get it snagged.

[fishing-mavericks]

Fisherjoe wrote:

those prawing lights ive seen in the shops, are they worth buying if going prawing? like do they actually work?

Those things rock, but good luck finding them. BCF dont carry them anymore, but I hear there is a local tackle shop out in the Redlands area that sells them. I had to make one up myself using PVC tube and a big LED light head from an anchor light rig

[fishing-mavericks]

tugger wrote:

the last of the run out before low tide out my way is the best and a night low seems to be better. cotton nets are the strongest but monofilement sink faster and you can get them with a top pocket where the prawns are trapped. prawns will jump towards the top of the net

you can get those crazy cast nets that have fine ropes running through a top loop, so when you pull the main cord after casting the bottom pockets will actually turn inside and up turning it into a donut... which no fish or prawns can escape or fall out of.

I think they're a pain in the ass myself, but each to their own

[Fisherjoe]

fishing-mavericks wrote:

Fisherjoe wrote:

those prawing lights ive seen in the shops, are they worth buying if going prawing? like do they actually work?

Those things rock, but good luck finding them. BCF dont carry them anymore, but I hear there is a local tackle shop out in the Redlands area that sells them. I had to make one up myself using PVC tube and a big LED light head from an anchor light rig

BigW still sells them, have for many years

and i believe i saw a couple at bcf virginia the other day when i was there

but i guess a bit of pipe and an LED head might be cgheaper then the $20odd they want for them at bigw?

[fishing-mavericks]

oh nice, didnt realise KMART would have them. If you can grab one for $20 then it's well worth the investment!

Speaking of attractant lights, has anyone played with the 1947 fishing secret? I made one of my own from scratch (rather than pay $300) just buying the parts from eBay and this thing is absolutely crazy! It brings plankton and small fish in straight away, then the predators just drill everything so you have your own personal feeding frenzy off the side of the boat.

[jeff f]

fishing-mavericks wrote:

oh nice, didnt realise KMART would have them. If you can grab one for $20 then it's well worth the investment!

Speaking of attractant lights, has anyone played with the 1947 fishing secret? I made one of my own from scratch (rather than pay $300) just buying the parts from eBay and this thing is absolutely crazy! It brings plankton and small fish in straight away, then the predators just drill everything so you have your own personal feeding frenzy off the side of the boat.

is that the same as that evening secret thing green light you hang in the water

[fishing-mavericks]

that's the exact one

[jeff f]

what did you use to build it leds

[Fisherjoe]

would glowsticks work as a poormans alternative? or does it need to be bright like LEDs putout?

[fishing-mavericks]

Fisherjoe wrote:

would glowsticks work as a poormans alternative? or does it need to be bright like LEDs putout?

nah that wont do it, as the glowsticks dont put out enough light to penetrate the water

[fishing-mavericks]

jeff f wrote:

what did you use to build it leds

Not LED's for this one Jeff. Basically I bought green 12v neon tube lights (four of them) and then put them 2 wide by 2 long into a meter length of clear poly tube that is about 4 inch in diameter. After securing everything in place, I silicone up the ends and run the power lead up a piece of rope to a 12v batter in the boat. The reason for the rope is so you're not tugging on the power lead when trying to retrieve the 'evening fishing secret' which can dislodge the connectors or loosen the silicon seals.

All up I spend maybe $40 on parts, but just for the entertainment value alone I reckon this thing is worth hundreds. The fact that it attracts plankton, then bait, then predator fish and puts them into a feeding frenzy is PRICELESS!

If you want to give it a go, I can show you where to buy the Neon tubes then just get the other bits from bunnings

[jeff f]

cool thanks i've been toying with the idea since i stumbled across it a few years ago

allways thought it would be great for bait collecting

you can get green 12v fluro tubes at rev head shops what sort of wattage are you using

[tugger]

haved tried lately down the jacobs well area around any drain running into the main channels and near the moorings opposite rudy mars

[Dazzamcgee]

tugger wrote:

haved tried lately down the jacobs well area around any drain running into the main channels and near the moorings opposite rudy mars

so did u get any???

[tugger]

my net has just a purse in the top and you can empty them out of the top it dosen't pull closed from the bottom just the top 500mm very effective and your back casting quicker than conventional nets. lot of prawns will drop out of a normal cast net as i found over the years

[tugger]

yes dazza and good size amoungst them but tingalpa ck i have got my limit of 10 l bucket this season