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First trip report 11/11 Brisbane River am

rathabfishin

By rathabfishin
in Saltwater

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rathabfishin Newbie

rathabfishin

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Please not this is my first post on AFO trip reports. This was taken from my post on AKFF and includes pics and a release video. Once I have the time to work out how to attch pics and video I will update, however if you want to have a look you can find the finished report at http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=33367

Hi all, well I decided to head to the river this morning for a fish as it has been years, and I have seen some great catches on this site and other fishing forums. For the first time I decided to take some sinkers, swivels and hooks and set up a live drift rig while flicking plastics.

As I lay down last night I had a "feeling" about this trip. After my first bumping by what I suspect was a bull shark I admit to being a little nervous as I tried to fall asleep. Unfortunately it did take me a couple of hours so when my alarm went off at 0315, I hit snooze....several times and after finally getting up I arrived at Boggy Creek at 0445, a little later then intended :?

My intention was to cast net for a few poddy mullet so I went to a place I used to fish often that I have never had trouble getting bait and nothing :( No bait movement and after about 20 casts I decided to head to the launch site without live bait, but armed with my good variety of larger Gulps and other plastics. When I arrived I saw the rocks and some bait movement and thought..."what the hell, I have had the net nearly ten years, its had many repairs and I would gladly sacrifice my net for a handful of mullet. So after a couple of casts, one 7 inch mullet, a few bony bream and a massive rock (need to repair net again :lol: ) I rigged the yak up to go. Just as I was about to head off an older gentleman pulled up with a canoe, and after a quick hello, and me telling him how I ripped the net up for little gain he kindly gave me about 6 poddy's he had caught the night before and kept alive overnight :D

Now fully armed I with the tide on its way out I paddled from boggy towards the Caltex Pipe. As I reached the mouth of Boggy Creek I saw some movement along the rock wall and decided to head over and have a look. As I passed over the area I saw many fish and decided to have a go in this area before heading to the end of the pipeline that is close to the shipping channel. I rigged up my trusty tandoori chicken 5 inch jerk shad, cast it out and put it in the rod holder while I set up my livebait. Just as I hooked the poddy my rod went screaming off, so hard I found it difficult to remove from the rod holder, and by the time I had it the fish was gone :(

I very quickly dropped the livie in the water and cast up current towards the area I had the last hit on. As soon as it reached the bottom I had two very small bites (like a small 3 inch bream), then a little pressure to I lifted the rod and WHACK. ZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZ, just to be sure it was well hooked I hit it again. Under, behind, in front of the kayak it went, and although it was not a huge fish it had the fighting style of a snapper. After a spirited fight on1-3 kg gear again, I landed a nice little 36 cm squire, and since it was the first for a very long time I decided to keep it for my 97 yr old grandmother who lives up the road and loves a feed of snapper (can't wait to get a real snapper from a yak!).

I made a few more drifts past the hook up zone and nothing, so I ventured a little further off the bank and continued the same tactics. While checking my livebait I saw what can only be described as the worlds biggest mullet breaching about 70 metres away right near the Caltex Pipe :shock:

I decided that it was not a bull shark as I would not have been happy sharing the water with a big bully close, so in my mind I envisioned it as the worlds largest mullet ;-)

That behind me, and after a good 30 mins pull, pull and lift on the same SP....hmm weight but no fight so I hit it hard and whack! A couple of minutes later a nice 47cm flathead, which went into the esky for my dinner tonight.

Just as I finished taking pics and having drifted a good 50 metres ZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ off goes the live bait. This was set in the flush mounted rod holder so I had no trouble grabbing the rod and striking. And off it went! I have never had a real tow in the kayak from a fish but all he wanted to do was get to the shipping channel, and I was losing line fast. I gave the ABU a slight tighten up and used the rudder to keep me slightly side on and pressure the fish. Well after a good twenty minutes I was hoping to see a big silver shine of a jew, a nice thready or a snapper but when I finally got him close enough to see, all I could see was a big tail from a shark. The turbidity was high making it very difficult to see without bringing his head up and I admit the thoughts along the lines of "I really do not want a bull shark this close to my kayak", especially after seeing that HUGE mullet breach half an hour earlier. So I backed off the drag and let it take a run while I thought about what I was going to do (since I was a good 80 metres from the nearest land). Then I decided, no, grow some balls, bring it up just close enough to ID and make a call from there. This turned out to be a good call as it was a rather large shovelnose. So I backed the drag off a little, checked it was not too tight to roll me if he took a run, but tight enough so I would not get spooled, and I paddled to a small sandy area 80 metres away. Once on the land I brought him in with little effort and took a few pics. I also took a video of the release just to see if I could work out how to post it (from the digital camera).

While on land I decided to raise the water level in the river, had a bite to eat, re-organise and head back out. I persisted for another 40 mins before pulling up stumps and heading in.

I should have gotten on the water a little earlier but I had a great morning fish. I am not sure if I will be heading out with Al and Aido tonight but after this session I will definitely save my fuel and start to fish the Brisbane River regularly.

Put both on the lie detector for you (now I need an official AKFF brag mat....AAAHHHMMM sorry something caught in my throat, I meant AFO brag mat ;) !)

All in all a great morning!

Cheers,

Andrew

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rathabfishin Newbie

rathabfishin

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novrain wrote:

great report

sounds like it was a great session. that zzz sound always gets the heart thumping fast.

i THINK i may have picked up a kayak but not quite confirmed yet. its a sit on top type but am keen to take it out (once confirmed that is)

would that be safe for boggy?

Should be mate, what type of Yak is it? I only started about 6 weeks ago on a yak and I have not looked back, still yet to go over on it too, and the Kingy I have is not the widest Yak out there. If you do pick one up and want a companion I am happy to take you out for a trip. Also a good place for tips and info on "pimping" you yak for your needs is AKFF. Just google, join, and post a G'day on the beginners page. There are alot of helpful people on the site that are happy to answer any questions you have, including a few people from here!

Cheers Andrew

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rathabfishin Newbie

rathabfishin

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HookedOnTackle wrote:

very nice trip and report

as a side note to the kayak shark vid by Aidan, i don't care what size shark it is, my feet would be dry... but in this case, sharks are drawn to whales :D
/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyHUr-2_Ets&feature=related

:laugh: Mate my feet never enter the water from the Yak! I think its the difference between presenting as a big, floating peice of debri, but with feet out I think to a shark it would look like flippers hanging over the side. I was bumped in Tinny creek last week and although I did &^%$ myself after the first bump, the second and third were not a worry as the bumps were more "hey what the hell is this thing?", than "I am going to smash you!"

In saying that I do go out alone often during dawn and dusk, which is why I usually post a trip on AKFF to find people tyhat can paddle slower than i, or hobie shark attractant owners ;)

Cheers Andrew

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rathabfishin Newbie

rathabfishin

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OK I have posted the trip report again with pics on AKFF and I will post the text here now.


/>http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=33424

I have to find the time top work out how to attach images and vids on this site. Since I have been working long nights I have had no time to do it between work, fishing, sleeping and writing a post. If anyone can pm me the link to attaching pics, hence saving my sorry arse from time looking it would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers Andrew

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rathabfishin Newbie

rathabfishin

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fishing_hardcore wrote:

I just read your other report on the forum posted today..

so the Bullie sharks bump you?

Do you think it is aggression or curiosity or are they just near sighted?

I have heard of whites bumping a yak out to sea but never heard of bull sharks breaching and bumping a yak?

cheers

This is the third occasion, one other I know it was a bully in Tinny creek as I watched him come in and smash some bait, then saw him head towards and take my 5 inch j/shad and biting straight through the leader. However this was only several small bumps and of no real concern, which I put down to curiosity.

Just in case you misread it he did not touch me when he breeched, but was way too close for comfort, resulting in a brown mark on the undies :blush:

However after the first bump I did see a dorsal fin keeping pace with me very easily. Its hard to say whether the bump was much larger due to the larger size or if it was truly being aggressive, however after seeing footage of GW "gently" touching boats I tent to think size didn't matter, and it was more of an aggressive encounter. Not that I was sticking around for an autograph! :laugh:

Cheers Andrew

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rathabfishin Newbie

rathabfishin

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Davo_Dinkum wrote:

had a look at the pics and vid .

nice squire and flatty ,good eating .

nice big shovel nose .

u just like me talk to the fish as u let them go,well they better to talk to than some people hey .lol

:lol: Sure are davo, especially in the line of work I do mate ;)

I am glad you enjoyed the pics and the video. I enjoy taking the photos and when other more pressing things that drain my finances are fixed I will get a better still camera and a waterproof dvd recorder set up on the yak. I like to share the visual side as its some great posts on AKFF which gave me the yak bug. After 3 or 4 weeks of research asking the odd question and reading trip reports, tips, and seeing how other people had pimped out their yaks I bought mine.

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