queensland Bluewater Creek . The Pest Were Laid To Rest

[Brodie_S]

Today i went fishing for awhile at Bluewater creek north of Townsville fished with some slim swims nothing but 5-8cm mangrove jack nipping the tail . I seen some bigger fish which at first fought were decent sized jacks but even if I hooked one there was on no way I was landing the jacks  on 6lb braid and leader I chucked out a few pieces of bread crust to see if there were bream this far down the creek as it leads to the ocean I seen a couple splash’s near my bread and As I had a closer look I seen it was tilapia that were smashing my bread not mangrove jack I Quickly rig up a small hook . put a piece of bread on and after a few cast I hooked a decent tilapia I quickly killed it and put it in a bucket. the tilapia stopped biting after that for about a hour then more tilapia came through and picked up my bread . I got 4 tilapia in about 40 minutes . A boy my age came down and we fished for a bit nothing took the bread they shut down again we went for a walk closer to the bridge and he managed to hook a tilapia after dodging a few turtles

[ellicat]

Bet they played up a bit when you hooked them.

[Brodie_S]

They sure did very good sport on light line . Not as good sooty Grunter though but 10/10 would recommend as a target species as their fairly easy to catch if you can see them/sight fishing .and a good sport very similar to the way bream fight

[Junky]

I've heard they taste good when smoked, just quietly..

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hey Breaming with bro

That is a good cull there, you got rid of some bigguns! Nice job

I still need to tick of tillies from my bucket list... I think some local creeks may have some

Cheers Hamish

[Brodie_S]

Yep there pretty fun to catch all though there really fussy and take forever to eat the bait . I’ve heard there harder to catch in winter because of this reason but when you can catch  a few 40cm tilapia it’s worth it . I think there  easier to catch in summer 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Just now, Breaming with bro said:

Yep there pretty fun to catch all though there really fussy and take forever to eat the bait . I’ve heard there harder to catch in winter because of this reason but when you can catch  a few 40cm tilapia it’s worth it . I think there  easier to catch in summer 

I have heard the best bait for the big ones is worms, Breaming with bro.

6lb leader, whiting hooks, and patience is the go (according to the B'n'B article that said so!).

Cheers Hamish

[Brodie_S]

Yep was using 6lb braid and 6lb FC leader and mustad fine worm hooks size 8 what I usually use for bream 

[Brodie_S]

Leaving Bluewater now in total I landed 11 tilapia while one big one snapped the line my friend who was there caught /landed about 5-6  tilapia and one also snapped his line . So in total we thinned the tilapia population by 17 while I was there but I know that won’t make a huge difference but I think the more people that target tilapia the better as most of the fish in the creek were tilapia besides the odd Barra hope one this will change as tilapia are very bad news to the northern waters I could definitely see while there such strict on the laws . Seeing that fish like jacks and Barra simply couldn’t keep up with the way tilapia conpeat with other species was a little disappointing hopefully one day these fish won’t be in Australian waters . The last fish i caught there was big and had a mouth full of eggs . I was very happy removing a fish like that from Bluewater creek as that would  reduce the population by a fair bit . Sorry for spelling errors

[ellicat]

Well done. They are prolific breeders so good you got one of them out.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi Breaming with bro

Great you got some more out. The ones with eggs in there mouths can apparently give birth to them if dead!

Cheers Hamish

[Drop Bear]

On 31/07/2020 at 8:08 PM, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Hey Breaming with bro

That is a good cull there, you got rid of some bigguns! Nice job

I still need to tick of tillies from my bucket list... I think some local creeks may have some

Cheers Hamish

There are plenty of spots around Brisbane. Best wait a few weeks till it starts to heat up then they will be on. 

[Brodie_S]

Yeah I might do some more tilapia fishing as I head south more . There good sport on light line and unweighted bread seems to do the trick they fight Similar to bream just be careful if your fishing from a bridge one time I went to lift one up but it was to big and snapped the line after that experience when I hooked a bigger one I let my friend go down near the waters edge and pull it to shore as I tired the fish out . My setup I used was a 1.5-3.5kg rod a 1000 size reel 6lb braid and leader very good sport on light line note I found tilapia fishing was mostly sight fishing sometimes they would run with the bait like a bream but other times you would have to watch the fish play with the bait and wait for it to suck it into its mouth I caught big and small tilapia the bigger ones fight like decent bream 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hey Breaming with bro

I plan to target some too - just in some of the freshwater ponds at the local park. Someone I know has showed me a few pics of massive ones they've caught, so it's just a matter of time before I decide to go. Lol.

Cheers Hamish  

[Brodie_S]

Yeah there super easy to catch once you find them 

[Drop Bear]

14 hours ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Hey Breaming with bro

I plan to target some too - just in some of the freshwater ponds at the local park. Someone I know has showed me a few pics of massive ones they've caught, so it's just a matter of time before I decide to go. Lol.

Cheers Hamish  

There are plenty in the lakes in the golf courses and they are thick in places in Oxley Creek.