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Best fishing reefs (northern tip Moreton Island)


fishing-mavericks

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Boys! How is the fishing been just outside the partially smooth zone lately? I'm fed up with Mud Island and the bay so I'm going to spend the next few weeks launching from Scarborough and heading out the northern end of the bay. I've got no experience in those waters but have heard there are heaps of reefs, can anyone point me in the right direction or suggest some spots?

Nobody likes to give up their GPS plottings for free, so I've got a file that has about 200 markings for anyone that wants to do a swap and expand their charts. So if you've got some productive plottings that aren't too far outside (I've only got a 100 litre tank) please let me know. Places known for pelagics would be great, but I'm looking to do some reef bashing on large livies and plastics mostly

Thanks everyone :)

Nick

Moreton_GPS_plottings.txt

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The second mark Rob posted is known as western rocks. I have never fished it but is meant to be a good cobia and mackerel spot.

We usually fish shallow tempest and consistently do well year round. The GPS coordinates you have for shallow tempest are way out. They are close to henderson's rock and I am pretty sure they are in a green zone.

Shallow tempest is about 5km north of that mark.

27 04.720 153 09.018 Is the NNW end of shallow tempest. The northern end fishes the best. The key is to drift fish and not anchor. If you drift N -> S anywhere up to 200m E of that point you will cover some very productive ground. In light winds your drift will always be N->S. Anything with any southerly in it unless it is very light is a pain in the butt. As current versus wind = bitch to keep your bait on the bottom without big sinkers.

Don't bother fishing patternosters they are crap for those reefs. Floatline lightest weight possible or fish plastics or lucanus jigs. Providing you fish dawn or dusk session you will come up with the goods.

Anything after about 8 or 9am is a complete waste of time.

Would post exact marks but my boat and I live in different places so don't have access to my GPS.

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DHESS. once again, you come through with the goods!

I've heard that the current through those spots can be fierce, so I'm going to time my first visit to western rocks for the slack part of the tide. Only problem is that this weekends slack times fall at 7am and 1pm... so that might be too much light?? I want to get familiar with the bythemetry up there so I reckon I will steam out mid morning, troll skirts on the way for tuna and then do a heap of sounding as the tide slows down and then bottom bash on the midday low.

I appreciate your advice on times to fish the spot tho mate, I'll do the pre dawn mission out there once that moon phase hits new.

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I don't analyse moon phase, tide etc. too much. Anything seems to work at shallow tempest if you get there early enough.

The current around wetsern rocks would be pretty fierce. Once you get past the cape current is usually pretty manageable year round until you get into 50+m of water.

Deeper reefs about 5km further than shallow tempest will often produce well into daylight hours.

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the first mark is smith's rock. good fish to be found away from that, look for any bump that has baitfish on it. but you will need to be patient around there, it will be a while between fish due to the depth, but hey, get onto some livies and that will improve your chances, also 7 inch neuc chooks work well around there!

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sounds promising. I've got plottings for NW rocks, night reef and deep tempest... is that the kind of area you're thinking?

dhess wrote:

I don't analyse moon phase, tide etc. too much. Anything seems to work at shallow tempest if you get there early enough.

The current around wetsern rocks would be pretty fierce. Once you get past the cape current is usually pretty manageable year round until you get into 50+m of water.

Deeper reefs about 5km further than shallow tempest will often produce well into daylight hours.

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Is that Smiths reef, just a bit NE above Hendersons? I've got some markings there and will give it a try when I'm confident with the top end of moreton.

Hey by the way, are there any shallow reefs or almost exposed bits that I need to be aware of when going around the top of moreton? I can read the banks and swell fairly well but it would be good to know of any submerged dangers

noname wrote:

the first mark is smith's rock. good fish to be found away from that, look for any bump that has baitfish on it. but you will need to be patient around there, it will be a while between fish due to the depth, but hey, get onto some livies and that will improve your chances, also 7 inch neuc chooks work well around there!
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nope. nowhere near hendersons.rock not reef. it's in line with the cape. about 3ks directly north of the cape. it's a rock in about 15 mtrs of water and comes up to around 4/5 mtrs in places. just before you round the cape, there is a rocky outcrop, steer clear of that, 300/400 mtrs off moreton should see you go round without any troubles at all, just be aware of the conditions, it can be a bad place comming back in along yellowpatch there at times, believe me. down right scary!

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thanks for the guidance. Any chance I can get you to scribble out some areas on a google map image, so I know exactly where you're talking about? I can go wide of those spots you've mentioned, I'd just feel more confident knowing the precise places and also I can mark them in my plotter as danger zones

noname wrote:

nope. nowhere near hendersons.rock not reef. it's in line with the cape. about 3ks directly north of the cape. it's a rock in about 15 mtrs of water and comes up to around 4/5 mtrs in places. just before you round the cape, there is a rocky outcrop, steer clear of that, 300/400 mtrs off moreton should see you go round without any troubles at all, just be aware of the conditions, it can be a bad place comming back in along yellowpatch there at times, believe me. down right scary!
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scribble out spots on google earth maps! i don't think so :huh: my advice is sit and watch other boats going out, and go wider than them, i have been in pretty close around the 80/100mtr mark, but don't go in that close, or go with somebody / get somebody on your boat for the day. sure there would be ppl on here that venture out that way, azza for 1, and i don't think he would mind you following him out. pull up at smiths rock first have a fish and watch other boats comming and going. there are rocks about 150 mtrs out from that rocky outcrop i mentioned close to the cape, you'll see what i mean if you head out that way. so 400 mtrs will be ok.

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this might help! i just googled it.now if you go look around the cape moreton area, go to the very northern end of moreton, not eastern, there is a bit of land shaped like a gear stick as you zoom in you will see the rocks i'm talking about. thats probably the best i can do at this point in time with my computer skills.

rob

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no worries, staying wide and watching for the signs works for me. I'll make sure I give the cape a real wide berth until I get familiar with the water.

thanks again!

noname wrote:

scribble out spots on google earth maps! i don't think so :huh: my advice is sit and watch other boats going out, and go wider than them, i have been in pretty close around the 80/100mtr mark, but don't go in that close, or go with somebody / get somebody on your boat for the day. sure there would be ppl on here that venture out that way, azza for 1, and i don't think he would mind you following him out. pull up at smiths rock first have a fish and watch other boats comming and going. there are rocks about 150 mtrs out from that rocky outcrop i mentioned close to the cape, you'll see what i mean if you head out that way. so 400 mtrs will be ok.
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it's a long trip up along yellowpatch, if it's ugly, and you will know when it's ugly, get the hell out of there, ppl tell me it's worst than going through the south passage bar, but i'm used to fishing around there and got an idea of when to run like hell. it's ALWAYS better to try again another day, you can always fish around bulwer, comby, curtain.

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Mate,if u bye a chart of moreton bulwer and all that's on there.study ur chart get the depths and the bearing and you

Should miss all them rocks that

Noname was telling u bout..charts are the best info u can get on depth and all that.hell u can even work out how far it is and how long it's gunna take at the speed ur boat goes.. Good luck mate

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sounds like good advice. currently I get by using google earth to research and plan my trips then I punch the co-ordinates into the GPS plotter on my boat. I think I'll head down to Whitworths and grab a decent marine chart of the local bay and islands

cheers for the tips everyone. I'll let you know how I go this weekend

uglyfish wrote:

Mate,if u bye a chart of moreton bulwer and all that's on there.study ur chart get the depths and the bearing and you

Should miss all them rocks that

Noname was telling u bout..charts are the best info u can get on depth and all that.hell u can even work out how far it is and how long it's gunna take at the speed ur boat goes.. Good luck mate

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hi mate i used to go up the side of yellow patch all the time. i'd cross from bribie island (lived on the island). i used to jig for bait on the two major beacons in the shipping channel..M1 and M2(i think). then i'd head across around the salamander banks to comby and nip up the inside. for me this is where it's tricky in bad weather. the water can get shallow..not that you hit the bottom but it can make the waves stand up fierce. past this point it's a matter of staying out of the shallow water as you get some very fast waves/swells pump across there. to the north (your left traveling east)the waves from the channel are usually visible and look closer than they are. this can put you off as they look rough as (peeps i know call them the 'wilds')..did me the first time i went but as you get further out towards the cape they diminish. it is a scary place at times and my advice would be to go with someone who can point these things out to you (there's other places to cross). whilst your there you can plot a route on your gps. i've done a route from a gps sitting at home on what looks good water. but on a bad day i had to veer well away from the route or cop a floggin. it's impossible to judge the water depth and distance from the shallows. in the dark it was a bit ordinary to say the least. you can see the shallow water i'm talking about on a chart. you can also see the channels going through the shallower water (comby point). but i still wouldn't plot a course from anything other than being on the water and physically experiencing it. i guess the other thing to consider is..what is bad to me maybe good for you or someone else. i have a mate who goes off the cape in a tiller steer tinny in ridiculous conditions for the size of his boat. i tend to be a little cautious. you're doing the right thing and getting plenty of info. it's mainly pretty good..if you have any doubts sit in at bulwer. i've done a few overnighters there rather than go round comby in the dark. :)

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Please don't use the path you plotted. You are pretty much guaranteed to die in anything but glassed out conditions at the top of a big tide. You would be crossing over some sand banks that have big breakers over them most of the time.

The channel between often breaking sandanks on the NW end of Moreton is known as the Inner Freeman Channel. It is a few hundred metres wide.

The red line is the path you wan't to take. The green line is the most treacherous part. I have experienced breaking surf the whole way across when the swell is coming from just the right direction on an outgoing tide.

I regulalry cross through there in the dark and have no worries as long as the tide is not too low and the swell is sub 2m and not from the ENE.

When I get around to it I will post some GPS marks for a safe passage through there. [img size=700]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/aroundthetop.jpg

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now that is interesting!

I think I realise now that what I thought was 'green' water is actually grass over shallow banks (or just fudged up colours from google earth) and the deep channel actually runs parralel to the beach. geez I'm glad I've asked a heap of questions on this spot, as I would have just guessed that going wide would put me in safe, deep water

dom I get the point about the green line too so I'll be mindful of swell direction, tide height and tide flow direction relative to the wind/swell.

say tho in theory that the weather and conditions blew up while I was around on the eastern side of moreton at shallow tempest, rather than take my chances on the red route would it be safe for me to go WAY out wider than my yellow route? surely there must be deep water eventually where I can just run along the side of the breaking water?? I always like to have a plan B for times that everything goes pear shaped

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a lot of that coloration is coffee rock, and not really, that's why when it gets bad around there, no place for the faint hearted or the inexperienced, the swell will literally take control of the boat if your not careful and also have the boat loaded correctly. not trying to scare you, but these are just some of the facts, thats why you should go with someone with a bit of exp first.

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If you attempt to go wider to find deeper water you will eventually find it. Problem is you have to go all the way to Caloundra and come back down the outside of Bribie.

Like others said the path in the previous image is probably the safest regardless of conditions.

The are in the red polygon in the attached image shows the area that is pretty much all sand banks that you want to avoid in rough weather.

I have had a few hairy experiences coming back in even along the safe path. One time the swell was around 2m maybe sightly less and the easterly wind blew up to around 15-20 knots. The waves really raced past the cape and you really had to gun it to stay on a wave. They were moving at nearly 50kph. Its very bad if waves that are beginning to stand up start overtaking you as you lose steering conterol and can get tuned side ways and get flipped.

Once you are familiar with it I don't think you will have any problems coming back in provided you don't go out in stupid conditions. Similar to a bar crossing, heading out is the worst. Coming bak is not so bad. Pick a wave and stay on the back of it. Mind you if your motorcuts out you are screwed.

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I couldnt see the attached image Dom, can you resend please as I'm keen to view the danger zone of sandbanks you mentioned.

Everything else makes sense, I'll make a note of always checking the weather and conditions as this spot can turn sour from a few different variables. I have a healthy respect for the top of moreton now, up till this point I just figured that it would drop instantly into deep safe water and the wide route would at most be 1klm off the coastline. Looking forward to making a trip or two with you through that area to get my sea legs.

ps. bought a beautiful blue/green x-rap with a fluro green bib today, plus 3 lucanus jigs and a tasty looking magnum. There is a new bloke working at BCF virginia and he's a wealth of knowledge. I spent 20 minutes listening to him talk about different spreads and depths to troll at, I'm really looking forward to trying them out 2moro when I head out.

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fishing-mavericks wrote:

sounds like good advice. currently I get by using google earth to research and plan my trips then I punch the co-ordinates into the GPS plotter on my boat. I think I'll head down to Whitworths and grab a decent marine chart of the local bay and islands

cheers for the tips everyone. I'll let you know how I go this weekend

uglyfish wrote:

Mate,if u bye a chart of moreton bulwer and all that's on there.study ur chart get the depths and the bearing and you

Should miss all them rocks that

Noname was telling u bout..charts are the best info u can get on depth and all that.hell u can even work out how far it is and how long it's gunna take at the speed ur boat goes.. Good luck mate

mate have a good trip i think the weather is a bit ordanary and the wind from the north east so take care and looking forward to the report
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Sorry forgot to attach the image.

I have an x-rap in the colour you got but has been a bit quiet for me. Others say it is a gun colour.

As a beginner I would seriously advise against going out there tomorrow. Not that I am an expert or anything but I even wouldn't consider heading out on that forecast. 2.5-3m is a very sizeable swell and although seabreeze is saying 6-8knots I doubt it will be that calm. BOM is saying 15-20 which is enough to get you into a lot of sh!t on that swell.

If you are desperate to get out drive up to Mooloolaba and head out there to the Gneerings or something. Infinitely safer option. [img size=1188]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/alternate_path.jpg

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i agree with uglyfish ,get a map/chart.

maps are good things.the show the channels depths etc.

people been using them for years before gps and sat nav etc.

i don't think my dad got gps ,still uses the maps and landmarks to find the reef etc.

the first time out some1 would have took him and showed him and so on 30+ year later.

reckon it would be better to go out with some1 who has been there before.

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Good idea. Would have been hell out there with the cape blowing its tits off all morning. (20-25 knots)

Some serious waves too. Waverider off Straddie was reading an significant height of 2.9m and some sets coming through over 5m.

I think murphy's would be pretty crap too today. Even worse tomorrow.

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