queensland Question

[IlanC]

Hi, can anyone help me, I was wondering if I can catch fish from Toowong Rowing clubs pontoon/jetty. what are the best times to catch bullies there? and are piles a good bait for them? one more question, best time and bait for salmon there? thanks

[The Mad Hughesy]

pillie wont last 5 minutes mate, it will get picked to pieces. if your buyung bait, go whole squid or whole poddy mullet (for bullies anyway)

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi IlanC

I have never fished at Toowong before but I can give you a hand. The baits you are going to want to use for shark are the following-

Mullet, herring, eel (pike and freshwater), bony bream, garfish and and other oily fish you can catch. Catch mullet, herring and bony bream in your cast net. There is no substitute good fresh bait that hasn't been treated badly. If you can avoid the frozen servo station stuff that would be ideal. Some locations where you catch this bait are normally sandy beaches or if you throw a cast net anywhere in the river near lights/jetties you've got a good chance of them and prawns too (I'll get to them later). That's what you're looking for, I'm sure if Toowong isn't snaggy you'd get some too. Pike eels will be caught while shark fishing, if you need some bait they probably would make a heap if you got a decent sized one. Freshwater eels can be caught on any meat or fish in dams, creeks and ponds. Make sure fishing is allowed though, especially if it is a park. You'd probably have a chance of tilapia, bass and eel-tailed catfish in most too.

For threadfin, that is a different matter. Live baits are key. These also give a good chance of a shark, and here are your best chances. Live banana prawns work a treat though you will also get a lot of catfish if fishing in the Brisbane River. River shrimp work but have the same problem too. You will catch these in an opera house trap or in a cast net. Live bony bream, herring, mullet, winter whiting, garfish and frog-mouth pilchards all can be caught in a cast net. They are very picker resistant and last a long time, especially mullet and bony bream. Frog mouth pilchards are nothing like the ones you see in the servo and they will catch fish. They die very quickly though. As christophagus said, pilchards will not last for long and have very low resistance to pickers (baby bream or toadfish). Try to avoid them for sharks if you can. If you must use a servo bait, which can still very well produce fish, fillet or buy mullet or oily fish. To overcome the service station issue, find good fish at the fish market. Woolies Australian Green Prawns can produce threadfin, and by finding fish market fish you can ensure it is at least going to be a bit more fresh.   To see if they are fresh, you can look at the eye. If it is grey, they are old.

The rigs for threadfin and sharks are quite similar, and can be the same. I use a size 6 ball sinker, but I'd use a size 4-8 ball sinker depending on the run. I have 100lb mono leader tied to my 30lb braid mainline, via an albright or shocker knot. While it does slightly hinder your cast, it pays when a fish takes you around structure riddled with sharps. Not only will you save the fish, but you will be able to make sure you can get your tackle back in 95% of times. The hooks you could use are 5-8/o circle hooks, which are ideal for live baits, strip baits and large prawns. Pin prawns through the tail, mullet and winter whiting through the lip, herring, bony bream, garfish and frog mouth pilchards just up diagonally from the eye. Most fish hit there prey head on, so you will get a better hook up rate. You can pin prawns once or twice through the tail. The trace I use is 80lb shock resistant mono, tied from a decent sized barrel swivel.

Some other locations that aren't Towoong are:

West End parks

UQ area

Storey Bridge Area

Colmslie Jetty (though very over fished and you'd be lucky to catch something other than people taking undersized fish)

Kangaroo Point Area

These are just some spots you can fish every now and then, and as far as I'm concerned you can get all this bait at these locations. Use these rigs and I hope you get onto some good fish.

Here are some good youtube channels to check out too - 

Team Fat Flathead

Team Madmullet Productions

A couple of these people are members on this site, madmullet and doss are there names.

I hope this helps, if there are any more questions I can answer I'll try.

Cheers Hamish  

 

 

[IlanC]

On 10/02/2020 at 5:20 PM, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Hi IlanC

I have never fished at Toowong before but I can give you a hand. The baits you are going to want to use for shark are the following-

Mullet, herring, eel (pike and freshwater), bony bream, garfish and and other oily fish you can catch. Catch mullet, herring and bony bream in your cast net. There is no substitute good fresh bait that hasn't been treated badly. If you can avoid the frozen servo station stuff that would be ideal. Some locations where you catch this bait are normally sandy beaches or if you throw a cast net anywhere in the river near lights/jetties you've got a good chance of them and prawns too (I'll get to them later). That's what you're looking for, I'm sure if Toowong isn't snaggy you'd get some too. Pike eels will be caught while shark fishing, if you need some bait they probably would make a heap if you got a decent sized one. Freshwater eels can be caught on any meat or fish in dams, creeks and ponds. Make sure fishing is allowed though, especially if it is a park. You'd probably have a chance of tilapia, bass and eel-tailed catfish in most too.

For threadfin, that is a different matter. Live baits are key. These also give a good chance of a shark, and here are your best chances. Live banana prawns work a treat though you will also get a lot of catfish if fishing in the Brisbane River. River shrimp work but have the same problem too. You will catch these in an opera house trap or in a cast net. Live bony bream, herring, mullet, winter whiting, garfish and frog-mouth pilchards all can be caught in a cast net. They are very picker resistant and last a long time, especially mullet and bony bream. Frog mouth pilchards are nothing like the ones you see in the servo and they will catch fish. They die very quickly though. As christophagus said, pilchards will not last for long and have very low resistance to pickers (baby bream or toadfish). Try to avoid them for sharks if you can. If you must use a servo bait, which can still very well produce fish, fillet or buy mullet or oily fish. To overcome the service station issue, find good fish at the fish market. Woolies Australian Green Prawns can produce threadfin, and by finding fish market fish you can ensure it is at least going to be a bit more fresh.   To see if they are fresh, you can look at the eye. If it is grey, they are old.

The rigs for threadfin and sharks are quite similar, and can be the same. I use a size 6 ball sinker, but I'd use a size 4-8 ball sinker depending on the run. I have 100lb mono leader tied to my 30lb braid mainline, via an albright or shocker knot. While it does slightly hinder your cast, it pays when a fish takes you around structure riddled with sharps. Not only will you save the fish, but you will be able to make sure you can get your tackle back in 95% of times. The hooks you could use are 5-8/o circle hooks, which are ideal for live baits, strip baits and large prawns. Pin prawns through the tail, mullet and winter whiting through the lip, herring, bony bream, garfish and frog mouth pilchards just up diagonally from the eye. Most fish hit there prey head on, so you will get a better hook up rate. You can pin prawns once or twice through the tail. The trace I use is 80lb shock resistant mono, tied from a decent sized barrel swivel.

Some other locations that aren't Towoong are:

West End parks

UQ area

Storey Bridge Area

Colmslie Jetty (though very over fished and you'd be lucky to catch something other than people taking undersized fish)

Kangaroo Point Area

These are just some spots you can fish every now and then, and as far as I'm concerned you can get all this bait at these locations. Use these rigs and I hope you get onto some good fish.

Here are some good youtube channels to check out too - 

Team Fat Flathead

Team Madmullet Productions

A couple of these people are members on this site, madmullet and doss are there names.

I hope this helps, if there are any more questions I can answer I'll try.

Cheers Hamish  

 

 

Thanks Hamish! where at UQ area do you fish? I don't own a cast net so I would most likely use frozen bait or live ( which I have to catch on the day) is Poddy mullet a good choice? are circle hooks the best option? Are gang hooks good?

[IlanC]

2 minutes ago, IlanC said:

Thanks Hamish! where at UQ area do you fish? I don't own a cast net so I would most likely use frozen bait or live ( which I have to catch on the day) is Poddy mullet a good choice? are circle hooks the best option? Are gang hooks good?

Oh sorry just saw the circle hook section!

 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi IlanC

Here is the information - 

The rock wall near the ferry station and the jetty next to Green Bridge all work. I have caught salmon on frozen bait, even on a half frog mouth pilchard on one occasion. (My profile picture was actually caught at the jetty next to the bridge). If you are using frozen bait, source it as fresh as you can and off that jetty you will get sharks, pike, cod, bream and even whiting. Here is Google Maps- 

There are some rocks on the other side of the jetty (which Google Maps doesn't have) but if you want the exact location, or if any other members want the exact location, you can/ I can PM you/me. I don't mind people knowing it but I don't exactly want the whole world seeing it LOL 

Here is the other side: 

Wait sorry, it is down left and the other side of the bridge. 

 

The rocks are on the other side to the jetty, a bit down from the bridge. If you fish on the jetty you will know what I'm talking about. Once again, if anyone wants to know the exact location, I can PM you  

Poddy mullet do work as well as all the other baits listed. Also, please don't tell the whole world about these spots, I know it already has the local crowd fishing but it certainly doesn't need a truckload more.  

Hope this helps, 

Cheers Hamish