queensland Mud Isl 19/5

[benno573]

Headed out to Mud Isl yesterday with Viper83 on board.

Left home about 4:30am, headed across a choppy and freezing cold bay to Mud Isl, on the eastern side out of the wind. We tried for snapper on plastics early, I got one keeper and very little else. Because of the wind the drift pattern was all wrong and there was a heap of boats around which never helps. So we tried a few different spots with little success. I moved further away from the crowd as the wind changed direction and backed off a little, opening up more areas. Once anchored, I borrowed Matty’s rod (sorry mate...) as it was pre-rigged with a plastic and he wasn’t using it. I started flicking it around and then I was absolutely smashed! After a quick “what pound line is this, what leader etc etc†I tightened the drag a little. It was a good fish, heaps of good runs and headshakes had me hoping for a flash of pinky/red. Sure enough, after about 5 minutes Matty slide the net under a lovely 69cm snap, a massive PB for me on plastics. I’m not going to repeat exactly what Matty called me for catching it on his rod! :whistle:

That was about the extent of the action at that spot. So we tried a couple of different ones, with little success. We moved to one of my more productive spots as the boat traffic had completely died off. Being a shallower spot the fish shut down very quickly if there is too many boats around. I quickly added another two snapper to the esky at 46 and 42cm, completing my bag for two consecutive trips! :woohoo:

Matty finally got on the scoreboard with a flounder, only to have me catch one a little larger not long after... He then set the hook on a gentle bite, only to have his rod load up and line scream off his reel. I quickly cleared the rods and settled in to watch the fight. This fish was not giving up, screaming runs of 50m or more under heavy drag were common. I had a sneaking suspicion as to what was on the other end of the line, unfortunately after about 15 minutes my worst fears were confirmed. A massive catfish of just under 80cm was netted, awesome fish, but completely useless!

That fight completely shut the action down at that spot so we went for a look at a different area, only to return about 30 minutes later. Matty finally cracked it for a legal snap, the first one going 35.1cm, followed shortly after by one at about 45cm. By now it was getting dark, so we pulled the pots for the last time (found an unwelcome visitor in one) and headed home. Total catch 24 crabs, 6 snapper, 2 flounder and 3 rock whiting. Not bad for a 15-20kn forecast.

Cheers,

Benno

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[keen_as]

Haha, was just talking to Matty about this. Sounded like a great session.

Nice snaps.

[tugger]

Nice session Benno I reckon those big bay catfish would be alright on the chew I have eaten them up in the gulf before and they were top notch

[rosstralia46]

ur kidding you as well with the pots had a good 1.5_2m wobbygong in the pots in sunday as well must be a few around also caught 2 others and good work on.some nice squire and snap

[kmcrosby78]

Fantastic Mud session there mate, bloody good feed amongst that lot!!!! You certainly seem to have quite a few good spots to try around Mud. Think I need to start doing some slow trolling around and keeping an eye on the sounder to try a few decent looking spots myself - although I'm guessing you've been fishing Mud for a fair while?

Enjoy your well earned feed.

[benno573]

I have been fishing out there for a while, however, the biggest "secret" about mud isl is to get away from the crowds. there are some spots that will just never fire when there is boat traffic around, as soon as the boat traffic dies off you'd think you were fishing a completely different spot! it's not so much about tide, wind direction, moon phase (although they do play a part), the biggest issue is boat traffic.

the ideal for me is having high tides about 7am and 7pm around a full/new moon, being there well before sun up, fishing a spot where shallow water drops into deeper water. anchor in the deep bit, fish up onto the shallows with floating baits / plastics, put some other "tougher" bait (squid, flesh, hlaf a gar)in the rod holder in the deeper bit with just enough lead to get to the bottom. fish this spot until the sun comes up or the boat traffic gets too much, then move to a deeper spot as the sun gets up. Once the tide turns and runs out, move to a deeper area with rubble, weed etc, generally baits only at this point. when the tide starts to run in, look for a drop off again, start deep with baits on the bottom and then as the sun goes down you almost always get a good bite period. after dark it can be a bit hit and miss but generally if you go a bit shallower you will find the fish.

and ross - we got about 4 wobbies in the pots yesterday and one on the line, that one was about the biggest one though. can't quite work out how they get in there, the entrances don't look big enough!

[fifis101]

Nice work boys. Good Day out.

I would have loved that catfish for bait.

As I don't have a boat, collecting bait can be an issue. I really need to get find someone who I can collect their bycatch from.