queensland Anyone Heading Out The Moreton Bay Tomorrow?

[Hweebe]

Still learning my way around the bay and boat fishing but keen to link up with anyone on AFO tomorrow.

The misso and I don’t know anyone who owns a boat but would be keen meet some new friends and tag along in our boat.
 

[ellicat]

I was going to, but my decky had to pull out. I'm now heading out for a dawn session on Monday.

What a bugger. Would have been keen to meet up. Next time..

[Hweebe]

That would be cool @ellicat last minute decision for me. We had some plans that fell through so I checked the weather and it was too good to pass up. Will make sure I post next time I’m heading out.

[aussie123]

We are heading out tomorrow but we will be heading offshore from Moreton.

[Hweebe]

8 minutes ago, aussie123 said:

We are heading out tomorrow but we will be heading offshore from Moreton.

Hey @aussie123 still learning our craft for both boating and fishing so sticking to inshore for now but definitely looking to head outside after we have earned our stripes.

[aussie123]

1 minute ago, Hweebe said:

Hey @aussie123 still learning our craft for both boating and fishing so sticking to inshore for now but definitely looking to head outside after we have earned our stripes.

Definitely wise to start inshore while getting used to things out there.

We are going deep tomorrow so we will be about 35km outside of Moreton for the day if this wind decides to back off tonight.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hey Hweebe

I wish I was, but I am pretty much powerless to go much further than a couple Kilometre's away from a boat ramp as we are yak based. Good luck when you go out tomorrow

44 minutes ago, aussie123 said:

We are heading out tomorrow but we will be heading offshore from Moreton.

Hey aussie123

Just a question, what will you be targeting tomorrow? Will you be going for deep water species or pelagics? 

Cheers Hamish  

[aussie123]

24 minutes ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Hey Hweebe

I wish I was, but I am pretty much powerless to go much further than a couple Kilometre's away from a boat ramp as we are yak based. Good luck when you go out tomorrow

Hey aussie123

Just a question, what will you be targeting tomorrow? Will you be going for deep water species or pelagics? 

Cheers Hamish  

Deep water species Hamish.

We will mostly target Bar Cod and depending on how they are biting as well as the wind and tide we may pop out deeper for a few drops on the Blue Eye and Bass Groper.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hey aussie123

Righto, well, that's very exciting!  

Bar cod, Blue Eye, and Bass Grouper have only been things that I have dreamed of catching and Bar Cod are one of my very favourite fish (just from the looks, habitat, etc). Good luck, and if you get some I'm sure they'll make a great feed!  

I also remember reading one of your old reports, I think it was called Bar Cod - Round 2. I quite liked it, and if I recall in that one they were going to markets in Sydney? 

Cheers Hamish  

[benno573]

4 hours ago, ellicat said:

I was going to, but my decky had to pull out. I'm now heading out for a dawn session on Monday.

What a bugger. Would have been keen to meet up. Next time..

I’m sorry to let the team down... the wee one we believe has started teething, hence the unsettled week so far. Hopefully some good weather next weekend

[Hweebe]

Moreton Bay session - Sunday 31 May 2020

Clontarf Boat Ramp

We set off for Clontarf Boat Ramp under a slight drizzle in the early morning. Got to the ramp and thankfully the drizzle had stopped and we launched just before first light around 6am.

I have haven't launched from Clontarf that many times, the ramp was active but not busy with most boats able to rig up and launch without having to wait or queue up.

What I did notice were a fair few campervans / trailers there overnighting in this park. Not sure this is a plus or minus with the security of the car and trailer parked there. I figure more people around more eyes? The alternative was Scarborough but that is another 10mins drive from home and i had wanted to check out measured mile so with the tide and wind and proximity I thought Clontarf was a better option.

Tide running out  gentle SW so it was a nice run out around 17-18 knots (WOT is around 20knots for me).

Measured Mile

First we passed measured mile with both beacons hectic, easily 10+ boats all anchored up jockeying for position  probably only 5-10m apart. For those who don't know me I'm Australian born Vietnamese I could tell from the very loud cross boat conversation that many of the boats were Vietnamese (they love their mackerel). I just have to shake my head, there are no words for the lack of understanding of boating rules and just plain etiquette. I didn't stop here but wanted to scope if there was any fish being pulled in, of which i could see none (not a surprise given how much noise was being made).

Beacon Bashing / No Birds

The plan for the day was to beacon bash and work our way up from M8 to M3 and hopefully spot some birds/bust ups. No birds working all day (maybe the occasional isolated bird circling but not diving)

The overcast conditions persisted all morning with very little sunshine peaking through, this made it hard to spot birds as well.

With no birds in sight we worked our way north to M2 stopping at each beacon on the way. We hang around beacons with bait whilst only doing a couple of passes with slugs for the beacons with nothing showing. I didn't try out the four beacons area as it appeared in the distance to be just as busy as measured mile.

Tugger's tips

Tugger had put up a few tips up overnight that we were trying to apply but trying to spread the rigs was difficult with space around the beacons a premium with at least 3-5 boats encountered at each beacon. We would find a quiet beacon spread some lines but then eventually other boats would arrive.

In the end we had to reduce the number of lines out and fast retrieve slugs instead. I will have to try another time to apply the tips @tugger posted.

Captain Neilsen Wreck

On our way up there were a few boats anchored up here as we passed over, sounder showed lots of small bait fish. We tried the sabiki jig for some bait and got enough live yakkas for the day. Also pulled up the attached fish a fair few times (thrown back) but don't know what it is? (FishID anyone) Also jigged a fair few pinkies that got very quickly devoured (i assume) by the pod of five dolphins hanging around us at the wreck. (Very smart creatures)

Working North

For the rest of the beacons we tried lightly weighted pillies, a livey and slugs. As we moved further north the current does push hard making it difficult to keep the baits out at varying depths. We were hoping for either some school mackeral or bonito but nothing to show from any of the beacons. There was a bit of excitement when a couple of livies were chomped in half but no fish to show.

Curtain for Lunch

From M3 we worked our way back down stopping at Curtain for lunch. It was a bit lumpy out in the northern beacons but Curtain was well protected and quite calm in comparison. At Curtain about 15+ boats well spread out (pic below). I sounded out a nice looking wrecking with lots of bait showing with no boats around it on the southern end of Curtain. Anchored up for lunch and set our spread of dead and live baits. Burleyed hard here to no avail, not activity in any other boats around us either.

Return Home - Donut

The rest of the return trip was unremarkable, we found one beacon full of bait with no boats  got our lines out for one last attempt. We were able to jig many livies here for our next trip but no fish. We called it when old mate rocketed over and tried to anchor up two rod lengths away from our boat directly in front of the beacon making it very difficult to get our slugs out. He did ask if he was too close (token gesture) and i just thought it's not worth arguing it and we headed home.

The run home was just as good as in the morning SE/E on the run in time so we were able to cruise home. Few birds out now that the sun was showing, we were hopeful to save the trip keeping our eyes peeled for birds and bust ups but nothing promising.

Back at the ramp - The car prang

We were back at the ramp at around 2pm - no one else heading in but there were a few tinnies heading out to take advantage of the good conditions. We retrieved our boat and trailer no worries, the ramp here is a bit steeper then the usual ramps we use but no issues in our 4wd. Just as i was about to move off from the ramp we heard a lot of commotion at the designated rigging area (left of the ramp).

What had happened was there were three boats parked in this designated area with a forth tagging onto the end (outside of the marked parking bay). The third boat (larger trailer boat) had parked too close to the 2nd trailer in front and started reversing out of the parking bay. As he had assumed no one would be parked behind him, he proceeded to reverse his outboard into old mates bonnet (outch) big skeg scratch but outboard ok.

I think both were a little at fault here. Boat 3 for not looking where he was reversing. Boat 4 for pulling up in a spot that is not designated for parking and in the blind spot of Boat 3 big trailer boat. Either way it would have been a disappointing way to end a beautiful day on the water for both parties.

Stay safe.

Reminder for all of us to stay safe and alert especially at the end of the day. There were plenty of other parking bays close by that could have been used for rigging and reversing a trailer is always hazardous in a busy park like pelican park, there was lots of yelling to Boat 3 to stop reversing but he was oblivious, so always be alert of your surroundings when reversing the trailer. Great if you can reverse a trailer in one perfect fast motion but that doesn't make you a hero . Keep it smooth and steady so surrounding people can predict your movements, raise the alert if there are issues or worse case take evasive action.

Till next time tight lines.

 

[GregOug]

Thanks for the report Hweebe. I sense your frustration in trying to find fish and can only say I am feeling the same. Just trying to find a spot to take my teenage sons and actually get a decent bite but everywhere I go there seems to already be boats on any ground that is not completely featureless. 

[Old Scaley]

Thanks for that very comprehensive report. Bad luck with the donut, but no one can say you didn’t give it a red hot crack. I can’t see the photo of the fish. It just shows as a blank rectangle for me.

[Hweebe]

23 minutes ago, GregOug said:

Thanks for the report Hweebe. I sense your frustration in trying to find fish and can only say I am feeling the same. Just trying to find a spot to take my teenage sons and actually get a decent bite but everywhere I go there seems to already be boats on any ground that is not completely featureless. 

Last 4 outings I've gone over to rous twice for zero whiting and the bay twice for zero mackerel but a couple of pan sized tuskies.

I'm thinking I need to go back to basics and less bay fishing and more inshore/estuary fishing for your bread an butter bream / flathead. The appeal of bay is just too strong

When we launched from Clontarf quite a few 4m tinnies just fishing close inshore for Bream / Snapper which I think would be still just as fun.

[Hweebe]

11 minutes ago, Old Scaley said:

Thanks for that very comprehensive report. Bad luck with the donut, but no one can say you didn’t give it a red hot crack. I can’t see the photo of the fish. It just shows as a blank rectangle for me.

Just trying to share in case there are some tips from the wise sages that can lead me in the right direction.

Still trying to work out how to insert photos inline. Might have to ask @AUS-BNE-FISHO how to do this. I've re-added the photos at the bottom of the post. Let me know if you can see them now.

[GregOug]

We used to call those fish Whippy Tails. Used to catch tons at Bulwer.

[Old Scaley]

Thanks @Hweebe, can see the photo now. It is a whiptail. If you get one, you will get plenty. Not bad as bait but sounds like you had plenty of quality bait on board already. I am no mackerel expert but I do know they are a schooling fish that move around so the bite might be on for an hour or less then quiet for a while until they move in again. Maybe you were at the beacons during a lull? Also, watch the fishing reports to see where people have been catching them. The beacons are popular spots for macs but I haven’t seen any reports of them producing lately. Then again, I don’t read too many reports so maybe they have been a hotspot? The Vietnamese guys are usually on the money with where and when they fish from my observations (and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful or racist way - I think they just have their own networks and are good fisherpeople).  

I’m sure if you keep fishing the way you are, you will crack the code soon. 

[ellicat]

2 hours ago, Hweebe said:

Still trying to work out how to insert photos inline.

Where the pictures hold, you will see a '+' sign in the bottom left corner. Place your cursor where you want the pic to appear amongst the text then press the '+' icon.

If that's not clear let me know and do some screenshots for you.

[ellicat]

Great report even though you didn't get on to any.

Thanks.

[Hweebe]

Just looked it up in Grant's Guide (2014). Blue-faced Whiptail  (sometimes called a Paradise-fish) with a Moreton variety called a Rainbow Whiptail.

Can be used as bait for Snapper and Sweetlip,  as live for Tuna or Mackerel (doh maybe next time) or the unsuccessful angler (like me) larger varieties make excellent pan-fried / chunky fillets.

[Hweebe]

4 minutes ago, ellicat said:

Where the pictures hold, you will see a '+' sign in the bottom left corner. Place your cursor where you want the pic to appear amongst the text then press the '+' icon.

If that's not clear let me know and do some screenshots for you.

Thanks hope that worked now.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

4 hours ago, Hweebe said:

Just trying to share in case there are some tips from the wise sages that can lead me in the right direction.

Still trying to work out how to insert photos inline. Might have to ask @AUS-BNE-FISHO how to do this. I've re-added the photos at the bottom of the post. Let me know if you can see them now.

Hey Hweebe

I think ellicat has done a good job explaining it to you, so I think you've got it. Just so you're sure, the way I upload them is the following.

1) Download them on your device, from your phone/camera. 

2) Click in the bottom left, where it says choose files...

3) Select the photos off the device, and they will appear in the bottom area.

4) Click the part of the text you want them to go in, then click that photo. They will appear on screen. 

I am thinking you have that part good though, so if they aren't showing it may be an issue with file size or something like that. I can see the pictures fine, so I think you must've gotten them working. 

Also, thanks for the great report, I had an enjoyable time reading it. Even though you didn't get the target (I didn't get my target species, threadies, this weekend either, my last report is about them) it seems you still had a good day out on the water. I have never caught a whiptail, but I have had someone from a tennis competition tell me they are very tasty. As well as this, I think they are said to be a good bait. 

You'd hope there'd be some fisheries out with all the boats you saw, but it seems since some of those spots are about as known as it gets that there'd be a lot more people there on any given day. Also, I think the reminder you gave everyone about the boat launching caution-ing is a good one, it sounds like that reversing mishap with those other people may have ended in disaster. Like you said as well, maybe catching some flatties and bream may be fun as well, I know when I get onto some I'm always happy with them!  

Cheers Hamish  

[GregOug]

On 30/05/2020 at 5:10 PM, Hweebe said:

Still learning my way around the bay and boat fishing but keen to link up with anyone on AFO tomorrow.

The misso and I don’t know anyone who owns a boat but would be keen meet some new friends and tag along in our boat.
 

Hi Hweebe,

Your profile still shows you as not having a boat. Probably should update it. Also keep letting people know when you are going out. I’d be happy to meet up when we’re going out on the same day.

cheers

Greg

[Hweebe]

1 hour ago, GregOug said:

Hi Hweebe,

Your profile still shows you as not having a boat. Probably should update it. Also keep letting people know when you are going out. I’d be happy to meet up when we’re going out on the same day.

cheers

Greg

Aah very old profile when I first joined in 2014. All updated now would be great to meet up. I’m 5km from city on the southside but launch from pretty much any ramp depending on where I plan to fish. I’m Monday to Friday so fishing time is limited to weekends which I know is not always ideal.

[GregOug]

17 minutes ago, Hweebe said:

Aah very old profile when I first joined in 2014. All updated now would be great to meet up. I’m 5km from city on the southside but launch from pretty much any ramp depending on where I plan to fish. I’m Monday to Friday so fishing time is limited to weekends which I know is not always ideal.

I’m retired so week days are preferable for me but I’m sure we can catch up at some point