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Learning New Areas


GregN70

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I'm looking for ways to learn or suss out new areas. Not that new actually.

See I've been living in Yeppoon for a bit over 24 months and despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to catch anything here as yet.

Ive been to the tackle stores seeking advice, that hasn't helped a great deal, only emptied my wallet on several occasions. I've looked at charters but time off and finances hasn't really allowed.

Next step is maybe a fishing club, but had a few bad experiences with fishing clubs back in the old days.

Any other ideas?

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10 hours ago, kmcrosby78 said:

Do you have a boat or are you fishing landbased? What bait have you been using and how heavy has the line been that you're using - these two factors could be playing a part in the lack of success.

I have a boat, a 440 Renegade with a 60 Yamaha.

As for bait, when I'm around the islands and offshore i'm using good quality pilchards & squid or mullet for bottom fishing. Trolling larger baits like yellowtail pike & garfish rigged to swim naturally. Sometimes I get live baits such as scad & slimey mackerel etc and fish then under balloons, troll them live, or fish them on the bottom where i can find good reef or fish schools on the sounder. Here I use 30lb - 40lb braid, 50-60lb fluorocarbon leader

In the creeks I mainly use live mullet or herring fished on 20lb braid or mono with 30-50lb fluro leader.

I also spend a fair amount of time using soft plastics and other lure techniques.

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27 minutes ago, GregN70 said:

I have a boat, a 440 Renegade with a 60 Yamaha.

As for bait, when I'm around the islands and offshore i'm using good quality pilchards & squid or mullet for bottom fishing. Trolling larger baits like yellowtail pike & garfish rigged to swim naturally. Sometimes I get live baits such as scad & slimey mackerel etc and fish then under balloons, troll them live, or fish them on the bottom where i can find good reef or fish schools on the sounder. Here I use 30lb - 40lb braid, 50-60lb fluorocarbon leader

In the creeks I mainly use live mullet or herring fished on 20lb braid or mono with 30-50lb fluro leader.

I also spend a fair amount of time using soft plastics and other lure techniques.

WOW! Mate you sound like you should be killing it!

Mate a quick google has brought up some marks you could try. Here are some links.

http://www.fishandboat.com.au/gps-marks/yeppoon

http://www.fishandboat.com.au/m/articles/item/179-winter-jewfish-cody-hochen-2015

http://www.fishntales.com/gpsmarks/qld/yeppoon.htm

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Finlay Reef 1

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Finlay Reef 2

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Finlay Reef 3

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Outer Rock

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Wide Grounds

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Corio HD Barge

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Patch Off Conical

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Farn'br Bommie

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Nth Greasy Alley

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Greasy Alley

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Farn'Brch

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Nth Man & Wife

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Ross Reef

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27 Mile

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Hummocy Bommie

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Reef Off Barden

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Baron Ground

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40 Acre Pdk

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Baron Wreck

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Barren Wreck

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Hannah's Rock

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Hannah's Rock

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Hannah's Rock

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Rod's Rock

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Lisa Jane

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Im staggered too, it looks fishy, but shallow, and just no bait, no birds, no activity at all.

Thanks for the gps points, i have plugged all those in to the GPS already, many of them are way off and had to both locate the real reef areas and aslo hunt about and find my own lumps & bumps as well as rubble patches and a couple wonky holes around the traps.

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You have marks for wonky holes? 

Keep that quiet....although I'm happy to review them. I live in Brisbane so no chance of me fishing there, often. 🤣

 

Like DB said...you should be slaughtering the fish. 

 

Rigs. 

Float lining on the drift is imo the best way to fish because I hate pulling anchors in and plastics work better on the drift. Also....you'd be surprised how many (honey pots) or good spots you will find when drifting. Check the sounder every 30sec or so when drifting. 

 

I tie about a rod length of leader onto the end of my braid using the FG knot. That then gets a running sinker on it (sinker size depends on drift speed, current) and a swivel tied on. Then about half to a meter of the same leader tied on and a hook or gang of your choice. 

Make sure the sinker isn't a heavy bomb. You want it to sink to the bottom but not bomb down. Dont stop letting line out either. Occasionally you can lock the spool but only for a short time. 

 

I do the same with plastics. Light as possible but still getting down there. 

Drift speed can play a big part too. 

Up there it gets windy. Wind against tide is a @#$% to fish in. There are parachutes designed for fishing that will hold you in the current better and stop the wind blowing you around. This then allows your bait to get down and present better.

 

 

What sounder have you got? 

Get a good sounder with 500kw+ traditional chirp transducer. Learn to use it and actually sound up the fish before you drop. If I'm in a new area I will drive around till I start sounding fish, sometimes this may take more than an hr. 

Split the screen so you have full depth on one split and either bottom lock or zoomed mode on the other split. In 50m of water you won't see much on full view but the zoomed view will show good returns. However full view may pick up a bait school or fish returns outside of your zoomed in view. I always have full view showing just in case. 

If you haven't got a good GPS with all the contours then don't fear. Try this Chart. All you need right there. 

 

How wide do you head out?  

I have friends up that way (rosslyn) and they stay at Humpy Is. all the time. He cleans up on trout, nannys etc not far off the island. Believe me, I get the photos as proof. Exactly where I have no idea but like I said above...a good sounder set up properly won't take long to find the fish. 

 

I think we're heading up in Nov. I haven't been out of Rosslyn before. If our friends can't fish with me then I'd be happy to take you. We'll be in Rosslyn though. Not far as I understand. Still not a defenant yet. 

However if I do then I plan to do exactly what I've posted above. Drive till I find fish. 

 

 

Good luck. 

 

 

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Agree with the others, based on your description of your fishing styles I'm also surprised you're not doing well. When you fish offshore, are you fishing heavily fished areas? If so then looking around a bit, as you've said, should pay off. In the creeks, depending on structure, you could try scaling back the size of your leader a bit and see if you get dusted off too much. Might help get more hits. Good luck, hope your luck improves 🙂 

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15 hours ago, GregN70 said:

I have a Humminbird Helix 9 Gen 2 with side & GPS.

That unit will do the trick. 

In the creeks etc you may choose to use the sidescan but offshore it is not really worth it imo. 

I don't use downview either unless I want a clear picture of the structure. Fish returns are hard to pick up in deeper water. 

 

Stick to the traditional sonar. Some people like the white background but I prefer the blue for visual enhancement. 

In deeper water than 20m I split the screen with bottom lock or zoomed view. Make the depth range for bottom lock/zoom approx 10m. This will give you a clearer picture of what you're fishing and the fish returns are a lot clearer around the structure. 

 

Head out around Humpy and sound around. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Did an overnight trip last Saturday in a mates boat with two others, traveled out of Yeppoon to Moresby Banks and Goodwin Shoals, 255km round trip. Picked up a tank of good live bait on the way past the islands, fished some of the easier to find marks just on dark with nothing really but a couple sharks and a big Sea-toad, then sounded about off to the North East for new ground, came up with a few new spots, a couple of interesting pinnacles in 47m rising  to 40m, a good ledge that ran N-S for about 800m with a 2m variation, and a depression that is probable a wonky hole. But sadly the fish were not playing the game, managed 2 Stripys, a Hussar, and a just legal cod. And about 12 sharks, one Sting Ray and an octopus. Headed back into Yeppoon just before lunch.

Perhaps on a different tide it might go better out there.

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Mate I lived in Yeppoon this year from Australia Day - a week before Easter. I used to fish Farnborough beach most afternoons at the top near Corio Bay. Had success there with big Dart, little trevally and blue salmon and some juvie queenies. Also off the rock walls behind the boat repair business at the marina. Little things down at the man made area I forget it's name about 15mins south of Yeppoon towards Emu Park. I just used pillies and metal slugs. 

 

I had students that used to catch Jacks and the odd Barra at the river mouth just near the open air water park at Yeppoon water front. I never fished there as too many students were always there. But the water gets very deep and there are loads for yabbies to be pumped and little mullet to be caught in nets. 

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On 04/09/2019 at 9:07 AM, GregN70 said:

Did an overnight trip last Saturday in a mates boat with two others, traveled out of Yeppoon to Moresby Banks and Goodwin Shoals, 255km round trip. Picked up a tank of good live bait on the way past the islands, fished some of the easier to find marks just on dark with nothing really but a couple sharks and a big Sea-toad, then sounded about off to the North East for new ground, came up with a few new spots, a couple of interesting pinnacles in 47m rising  to 40m, a good ledge that ran N-S for about 800m with a 2m variation, and a depression that is probable a wonky hole. But sadly the fish were not playing the game, managed 2 Stripys, a Hussar, and a just legal cod. And about 12 sharks, one Sting Ray and an octopus. Headed back into Yeppoon just before lunch.

Perhaps on a different tide it might go better out there.

did you eat the occy? The are delicious on the bbq

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