queensland Brisbane River Session #49, #50, #51, And #52

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi all

Well, I've been slack in posting my reports of late so I'm going to do a four in one right now. To save you from reading three boring reports, if you want to read about last night's yak trip, fast forward to the last report. Otherwise, you can just read about my OTHER unsuccessful salmon trips. It's including a lot of different species, such as scat, bream, mullet, catfish, blah, blah, blah!

The first session was on the 13^th of September. It was another early morning session, targeting the iconic Brisbane River threadfin salmon. We got there a bit before six, mainly to catch livies. Now, it was the wrong tide, about half way up and rising. Normally at this spot you'll be able to get truckloads of baits, especially prawns, on a dead low, but on a high you'll get bugger all except stick-fish. That was happening with us today, so it was lucky we had some frozen prawns (from prior sessions) with us today. I baited up the lines, but we still needed a livie for the salmon line. We really couldn't get one, which was bloody annoying, but after a short time my Dad did hook up to a little catty. It put up an OK fight, and soon enough we landed it and got rid of it - 

With the temperature fast warming, I can expect to see more of these... I can also expect some bull sharks!  

After that catty, we still weren't getting any bait.  By about 7:00AM, my dad went back home and left me on my own. The tide was still wrong, but at least now it had changed to the run out making it easier to fish. I also baited up the salmon line with a chunk of the Aussie Farm Prawn, as I wanted at least a slim chance of enticing one. I gave my mates a text to see if I could get some company, but I thought that was unlikely as I'm the only one who can be bothered to get out of bed on my holidays!

After many picker attacks, and re-positioning of rods, my friend Sam came down. He didn't bring the good-luck with him though, so we mainly just sat around, bait checking the rods, and giving the cast net the odd throw to check if there was any bait about yet. At around 9:00AM (yes, the session was that bad that I've pretty much skipped two hours ), we saw something pretty remarkable. First, we heard what sounded like someone falling in the water... We turned around and saw what looked to be a bully trying to eat a catfish which was feeding off algae on the pylons. I didn't get a good enough look at the 'big' fish, but judging from size, fin shape, etc (or what little of it I saw), I'd call it for one of them. 

After that, the same catfish (about a forty centimetre fish) kept swimming around on the surface for about five minutes. I got some of it on video, which is pretty cool I reckon... The video is like 4 minutes long though, which makes it a pain to post as it is SO large. 

Swimming fish!  

The funny thing was, straight after I'd went to call my dad and tell him about it, a catfish/mullet of similar size floated by, half rotted, but with what looked like a BIG bite mark out of it. Maybe the warming temperatures are causing river sharks to become more active?

One really weird thing that happened today as well, that I can't possibly think an explanation up for. Whenever I reeled in my line, the fishing line would come back covered in mud. I had to pinch the line to stop it from going all over the reel. It was like there was a sediment suspended mid water making this happen. Anyone got an idea? 

We didn't get a rod ready in time for the catty, and shortly after, due to the lack of bites, we left the park. It was a pretty dud session overall, and I did donut, but I guess you'll always get those. Here are the stats of this report - 

Statistics of Trip - 

Tide: Low, .6M, 1:30AM, High, 7:10AM, 1.5M, Low, 1:09PM, .4M

Moon Phase: Waning Crescent Phase, so not much run

Weather: Slightly cloudy and breezey

Fish caught: Catfish x 1

Bait used: Prawn

Bait caught: Bugger all

Tackle Used: Same as always - 12, 14, 30 pound braid mainlines, 20-30lb leaders, 80lb mono trace, size 4/o suicide/circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 2500 Shimano Nasci and Diawa Shinobi, 6"6 Venomat? rod, 8" Ugly Stik, Size 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, shocker and blood knots. 

Overall Success Rate: 30% - at least we saw something out of the usual...

Alright, here is the next report. This one took place on Saturday, and it was another arvo session. I'd actually gotten a new cast net for the yak and I planned to use that one to give it a test out. Once again, there really wasn't much bait around today, so I stuck to using Aussie Farm Prawns.

I had my lines in by about half past two, and I was also giving the net a test. It throws decently, but I'll need to give it a soaking in sugar-soap and water overnight so it goes nice and sift and not springy. When the net is springy, you'll often pancake it before it hits the water then it'll go smaller. It didn't take long before I got the first hit. I completely missed it though, so I re casted and kept cast netting. Not long after, I see the rod buckled over. I pull up the net as fast as I can, and begin to fight the fish. It had some OK weight about it, and while it didn't take any good runs still had some go in it! When I saw it, I realised it was a bream, to my surprise. Normally I pull these ones (especially up at that size) from structure, rarely from the middle of the river! 

The solo net job is still something I need to get better at, especially off the jetty. It took my a few minutes to walk him down and get him in the net, but after that I think it all went smoothly. I took him up to the brag mat (thinking the Suburbs of Origin comp leading bream was still @ellicat's at 31.5cm, not @Daryl McPhee's at 33.5cm... I think anyways), tipped some water on the mat (so he stayed calm), got the hook out with my hands, then took a pic and put him back . He swum off fine, so that just shows that hopefully there'll be an OK population of bigger bream in the river. I'd love to get a trophy bream out of the Brisbane River. 

My three fingers for SOO and, I think I'm mastering the one handed breambo selfie!

After that bream, which got some hope into me, I rebaited, and kept throwing the net. There was still no bait around and to much tide to throw the net, so I had a sit down with the rods. For the next hour and a bit, nothing happened at all, except the fact my mate came down. I briefly summarized the day so far, which wasn't much, and we kept fishing. 

The salmon line was still baited with some dead prawn, but luckily my dad came down. He did one pancake of the ten footer, and got 7 poddy mullet! I chucked one out (well two actually as one went flying off the hook), and left the livie out. This fella lasted for ages. I gave him about three bait checks and he was still as lively as anything. The rod which had caught my bream also had a live prawn on the end. I think my dad (see, I don't fully remember) got a juvenile bream in the net at one point, which was safely released as well. I think it is great to see that bream are thriving around and in the river. I guess it can be expected as they have just bred though. 

Small Bream 

After that one, my dad headed off. It was around five now, and I was still doing some cast netting. In one of my throws, I felt a good tug. I was hoping for a mullet, but the second I saw the bugger I knew what it was. A dirty old scat. You will not get me to change my mind ever. These are one of the most annoying bloody things to get into your net. The barely come out, spiky everywhere... That's a recipe for disaster. I got mine out after about 5 minutes, and after a quick picture put him back into the water. The funny thing was he got sucked straight back down by a whirlpool made by the current. Funny to watch, that is  

30cm of Yuk!'

After that scat, it was nearly half past five. The salmon line was untouched, and apart from some small hits the other line was too. I was disappointed that I couldn't get a salmon, but at least this session was no donut. Here are the stats of this report - 

Statistics of report - 

Tide: 12:11PM, High, 2.15M, 6:30PM, Low, .1M

Moon Phase: New Moon, so quite a bit of run!

Fish caught: Scat x 1, Bream x 2

Bait caught: Poddy Mullet and prawn

Bait used: Dead and live prawn, live poddy mullet

Tackle Used:  12, 14, 30 pound braid mainlines, 20-30lb leaders, 80lb mono trace, size 4/o suicide/circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 2500 Shimano Nasci and Diawa Shinobi, 6"6 Venomat? rod, 8" Ugly Stik, Size 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, shocker and blood knots. 

Weather: Cloudy, light sprinkles of rain

Overall Success Rate: 40% - a good bream

Okey-dokey, now to the last session that took place at the local park. This one was in the early morning, mainly because one of my friends wanted to come down. We got to the park a little before six, and he got there a little before seven. My dad and I started cast netting first up... He got a couple good bait prawns in the first cast, but I got nothing. On my dad's second cast though, up came two bream. Both tiny ones, but still an OK start to the morning. The certainly gave a good tug in the net, and they were safely released. 

Two bream, just about legal (or maybe a tad over)

That was a good start, and as well as them my dad and I had manged about 5 poddy mullet soon after. Yippee. That was our cod and salmon bait sorted for the day. Not long before my friend got there, my dad manged to get a solid 33cm mullet which will most likely become crab pot bait. It gave him another good pull too. He was getting all the good ones and what was I stuck with? Glassies!.. 

My Dad's 33cm Mullet

The mullet and bream were a good way to start the day, but it was still not what we can there for - a thready! My dad found out about the scats too, as he got a bigger one as well (I still had to remove it). I hope they don't start becoming common here, but then again if they did they'd become crab bait! 

Scat number 2

After he was put back, the netting went quiet. The lines hadn't even been touched this whole time, so I was starting to think this might be a donut session for me. It kept this way for another hour or so, until the tide changed. The same thing with the mud on the reels happened (like I said in the above post), and it was most annoying. Seeing as though it only happened on the rising in tide, I'm thinking there may be a lot of dirt stirred up on the tide change causing this to happen? 

The bite still stayed quiet, and for the rest of the morning I couldn't manage a fish. I tried my best, by re-positioning rods, but it still didn't work. I kept bait checking the lines, and eventually I was onto the cooked prawns I had. These certainly didn't help the bite rate, and it seems the fish completely stay away from them. I've read that they make a great bait in lots of old threads but I haven't been able to prove that true at all. Both the live mullet were still going strong, but I didn't end up getting a fish on either of them.

At about 10:00AM, I left the park and called the session. At least I've got some more crab bait now. A couple more and it'll be POB crabbing time! Here are the stats of the trip - 

Statistics of Trip - 

Tide: High, 12:25AM, 2.3M, Low, 7:00AM, .1M, High, 1:00PM, 2.2M

Moon Phase: New Moon so a bit of run!

Weather: Cloudy, cool-ish

Fish caught: 2 x Bream, 1 x Scat, 1 x Mullet

Bait caught: Poddy Mullet (and a couple prawns)

Bait used: Live and dead prawns, poddy mullet

Tackle used: 12, 14, 30 pound braid mainlines, 20-30lb leaders, 80lb mono trace, size 4/o suicide/circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 2500 Shimano Nasci and Diawa Shinobi, 6"6 Venomat? rod, 8" Ugly Stik, Size 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, shocker and blood knots. 

Overall Success Rate: 30% - crab bait!

OK, so here is the spot you want to be if you are only reading the yakking trip, but otherwise, good job in keeping up! This was a night time session at Dutton Park around Green Bridge, which while is heavily fished, still seems to hold fish (or it did the last time I was there). We got there at around 6:30PM to catch livies and set off. 

After getting numerous herring, poddy mullet, and a couple prawns (as well as glassies and scat), we launched in the kayak. Collecting bait was quite fun, with me getting the odd school of (small) herring, and my dad getting the same. I got most of the good mullet though. Another fella fishing there gave us some bigger herring as he must've heard me say, "These buggers are bloody small!", and gave me a hand. He was trying for early season sharks, which I don't think he was too successful on. 

We got out, and decided to drift the last of the rise up towards a red marker buoy. I deployed a good live mullet, and my dad chucked on a small winter whiting which I'd caught. I sent the baits down though, and we hoped the first drift could bring some big fish! 

 

Deploying a livie (mullet) down to the depth below

It was very deep, and since we didn't have time to put on the sounder before we left we simply estimated it to be between 20-25M. My bait was on the bottom first, and it was clearly going crazy. It was bending the rod, and felt like a bloomin' fish! Surely if this went over a salmon's head it would be smashed! We drifted about 150M from the middle of the river to the red buoy, and did the same thing again. It was very serene out on the river being the only thing there, and the only way to make it better (or we thought) would be for a fish. 

Before the second drift, we checked our livies. Mine was still kicking stronger (than usual, Lol), but it had gotten into the worst tangle I'd ever seen. We almost drifted back to the jetty it took that long to un-tangle it. I guess problems like that are just problems you'll always encounter when live baiting.  We started the second drift though, and proceeded along bottom bashing. When we finished that drift, we made the call to fish some of the pylons and hopefully entice something hanging around structure. We sat around and in the eddies made by the pylons, to no avail whatsoever. My dad was disappointed alright, as he though the pylons would be the spot to catch 'em on. 

We hit the pylon on the UQ size first, then did another drift through the middle of the river. It was nearing 8:00PM now, but I was still going strong (like my livie). 

                  

Oops. You can see my dad's very ugly feet in this one!

We finished that drift, and even though it seemed like there wasn't any ground below us (just mud), I still thought this area would hold fish. I guess I was wrong, that's for sure. It was getting a bit later, and we thought the Dutton Park side pylon would hold something. We fished all around the pylon for about 15 minutes, and apart from getting snagged, it was deadly quiet. For the final half an hour or so before my dad succumbed to the 'not-having-a-chair-to-support-my-back' issue, we fished about 50 metres away from the jetty. It must've been right on tide change here, as we were barely moving at all. Then, we got back to the jetty by 9:00PM - a different group of people had moved in since the last time we were there, but luckily there was space for one of my rods. I kept it out until about 9:30PM, and then reluctantly wound it back in and departed Dutton Park...

Boy, was it disappointing to not catch a salmon on the last night of Suburbs of Origin.. Oh well! Here are the stats of the trip. 

Statistics of Trip -

Tide: 6:45PM, .2M, Low, 12:30AM, 2.1M, high

Moon Phase: New Moon, lots of run

Fish caught: - Sigh

Bait caught: Herring, Mullet, Prawns, Winter Whiting, Glassies, Scat

Bait used: Herring, Mullet, Winter Whiting

Tackle used: 12, 14, 30 pound braid mainlines, 20-30lb leaders, 80lb mono trace, 30lb fluorocarbon trace, size 4/o suicide/circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 2500 Shimano Nasci and Diawa Shinobi, 6"6 Venomat? rod, 8" Ugly Stik, Size 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, shocker and blood knots. 

Weather: Windy, cloudy, cool

Time fished: Approx. 7:00PM - 9:30PM

Location: Dutton Park/Green Bridge 

Overall Success Rate: 20% - Pretty Dud!

Alright, thanks for reading everyone. I hope you all enjoyed this report marathon, that's for sure. Sorry for not getting that thready, Southside! Maybe if I kept my lines in for a minute more I would've . Stay safe  Sorry for any spelling errors/errors in this report as well. @GregOug, I'm sure you'll find something wrong with the punctuation . 

Cheers Hamish

[Do$tylz]

Love the fishing enthusiasm and your dads a legend for getting out there with you as much as he does.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

6 minutes ago, Do$tylz said:

Love the fishing enthusiasm and your dads a legend for getting out there with you as much as he does.

Hey Do$tylz

Thanks for that, and yep, he sure is! 

I tried to convince him to take his laptop out so he didn't have to go home before that... Am I crazy?! (According to him I am! )

Cheers Hamish

[Old Scaley]

Wow Hamish, your enthusiasm is an inspiration to all of us. You have learned so much and tried so many new things since you first appeared on this site. And your reports are always a good read. I am not sure if your sounder has mapping or not, but just in case I am attaching a map of that area near the red marker so you can see where the holes and drop offs are. When my boys were little we used to fish the rocks there from the land and caught bream, flathead, cod and even whiting sometimes. We had some donut trips too, but hey, that’s fishing. I have seen bullies caught there and there are definitely mudcrabs around that area. I would bet there are threadies too, but back then I hadn’t even heard of threadies (no www or helpful forums in those days). If anyone can find a thready there, it will be you. Go get em!

 

 

[ellicat]

An 'A' for effort, Hamish.

Was the muddied line also slimy ?

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Thanks Steve, that's awesome. I can now see which buoy we were fishing around, and that the main rocks we were around were the Cemetery Rocks. Those drop offs also line up perfectly to what I remember, as around that red float is was as deep as anything but near the pylons quite shallow. 

I have seen many a Youtube video of a lucky angler pulling in a thready or shark from the jetty, and have also chatted to some of the locals whom have caught some stonkas. Only problem is with them they are the same people who make up the WBB club there and leave the jetty trashed (I reckon if the council is going to aloud fishing there and since it's a recreation hub they should have a hose squirting water around so everyone can clean the jetty). I have literally seen them gut and scale a fish and leave the bad bits on the jetty! 

4 minutes ago, ellicat said:

An 'A' for effort, Hamish.

Was the muddied line also slimy ?

Hey Brian

Thanks for that, the muddied line was more like very muddy water... It wasn't slimy like it would be if it was catfish slime or something.

What were you thinking?

Cheers Hamish  

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Also, I have seen whiting caught there, seen muddies there, (though I reckon it's been crabbed out like my local park as well as even I used to pull them up on my line but no more now), seen evidence of flatties caught there (some fella had the head of a big model in his crab pot, which he caught there), and of course the humble bream  

When my dad and I get more familiar/use the sounder more, we'll certainly see if we have that function and use it. I suppose it's another area that I can keep fishing more and try and work a pattern  

Cheers Hamish

[Brodie_S]

Yeah hooked a few massive catfish on the last night on the boat on light gear thought I had hooked a massive GT or a baby shark or something they went for massive runs some of them were up to like 5kg . But yeah good job on the bream I haven’t been bream fishing in a while the closest thing to bream fishing I’ve done on my trip is fishing for tilapia 

[ellicat]

Yes, I was thinking it may have been catty slime.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

2 minutes ago, Breaming with bro said:

Yeah hooked a few massive catfish on the last night on the night on light gear thought I had hooked a massive GT or a baby shark or something they went for massive runs some of them were up to like 5kg 

Hey Breaming with bro

Yep, bigger catties will fight pretty darn hard on the silly string. They are supposed to make a good shark bait too.

1 minute ago, ellicat said:

Yes, I was thinking it may have been catty slime.

Nope, it could've have been cattie slime. It was all the line that was in the water and it was mud all up the line. Very annoying as it stains the eyes of the rod.

Cheers Hamish

[Another Wazza]

Hey there Hamish, good work man, excellent, detailed report indeed, given your persistence, and the fact that your always trying with good live baits when you can get them,  I have no doubt that it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be doing a report about a stonking salmon, I’m looking forward to seeing the 100% overall success report

[Drop Bear]

Amazing report mate. If you put this much effort into your assignments you must be killing it at school.

Its great to see you having so much fun with it and kudos to your dad for patiently taking you out. Mine never did  Thankfully my grandfathers both loved to fish. 

Thanks for the report. 

[Junky]

Good on you Hamish. Well done pal. That was a great read and I managed to keep up. 

Can't wait for the threadie #2 thread. 

 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

24 minutes ago, Another Wazza said:

Hey there Hamish, good work man, excellent, detailed report indeed, given your persistence, and the fact that your always trying with good live baits when you can get them,  I have no doubt that it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be doing a report about a stonking salmon, I’m looking forward to seeing the 100% overall success report

Hey Wazza

Thanks for that, I sure hope so. Hopefully I can tick off a good threadfin salmon this school holidays. That would sure make me happy when I go back to school - then I have something I can brag about to my teachers!  

9 minutes ago, Drop Bear said:

Amazing report mate. If you put this much effort into your assignments you must be killing it at school.

Its great to see you having so much fun with it and kudos to your dad for patiently taking you out. Mine never did  Thankfully my grandfathers both loved to fish. 

Thanks for the report. 

Hi Drop Bear

Yeah, I think I do OK in school (I don't have the results for my latest English exam back though ). 

My dad is very patient, it's just damn lucky he likes to paddle while I fish. It's good your grandpa's took you out - you certainly learned from some great anglers as you catch some great fish! 

I love to write the reports. Hopefully one day I can write for a magazine  

2 minutes ago, Junky said:

Good on you Hamish. Well done pal. That was a great read and I managed to keep up. 

Can't wait for the threadie #2 thread. 

 

Hey Junky

Thanks for that, it was a very long read that's for sure. 

I'm hoping another thready will come up soon, though it'll be my forth. I've gotten one 65cm model (in session #21), and one 45cm model (in session #32) -they are no big fish though, so hopefully I can beat my PB soon!  

Cheers Hamish 

[Junky]

12 minutes ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Hey Wazza

Thanks for that, I sure hope so. Hopefully I can tick off a good threadfin salmon this school holidays. That would sure make me happy when I go back to school - then I have something I can brag about to my teachers!  

Hi Drop Bear

Yeah, I think I do OK in school (I don't have the results for my latest English exam back though ). 

My dad is very patient, it's just damn lucky he likes to paddle while I fish. It's good your grandpa's took you out - you certainly learned from some great anglers as you catch some great fish! 

I love to write the reports. Hopefully one day I can write for a magazine  

Hey Junky

Thanks for that, it was a very long read that's for sure. 

I'm hoping another thready will come up soon, though it'll be my forth. I've gotten one 65cm model (in session #21), and one 45cm model (in session #32) -they are no big fish though, so hopefully I can beat my PB soon!  

Cheers Hamish 

Well pardon me. 

Seems like I'm not really keeping up am I? 

I promise to in future. 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

1 minute ago, Junky said:

Well pardon me. 

Seems like I'm not really keeping up am I? 

I promise to in future. 

That's all good, but you might've missed a couple  

The 84cm one was the best one I've caught, so it's lucky you found that one and not another - I'd feel pretty bad if you'd only read my donut reports because they're pretty boring! 

Cheers Hamish

[jon]

Nice report Hamish, those salmon can be a real pain to crack sometimes but keep at it you’ll nab another one soon. This is a good time of year for them so hopefully a few more will pop up for you

[Cavvy]

7 hours ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Hi all

Well, I've been slack in posting my reports of late so I'm going to do a four in one right now. To save you from reading three boring reports, if you want to read about last night's yak trip, fast forward to the last report. Otherwise, you can just read about my OTHER unsuccessful salmon trips. It's including a lot of different species, such as scat, bream, mullet, catfish, blah, blah, blah!

The first session was on the 13^th of September. It was another early morning session, targeting the iconic Brisbane River threadfin salmon. We got there a bit before six, mainly to catch livies. Now, it was the wrong tide, about half way up and rising. Normally at this spot you'll be able to get truckloads of baits, especially prawns, on a dead low, but on a high you'll get bugger all except stick-fish. That was happening with us today, so it was lucky we had some frozen prawns (from prior sessions) with us today. I baited up the lines, but we still needed a livie for the salmon line. We really couldn't get one, which was bloody annoying, but after a short time my Dad did hook up to a little catty. It put up an OK fight, and soon enough we landed it and got rid of it - 

With the temperature fast warming, I can expect to see more of these... I can also expect some bull sharks!  

After that catty, we still weren't getting any bait.  By about 7:00AM, my dad went back home and left me on my own. The tide was still wrong, but at least now it had changed to the run out making it easier to fish. I also baited up the salmon line with a chunk of the Aussie Farm Prawn, as I wanted at least a slim chance of enticing one. I gave my mates a text to see if I could get some company, but I thought that was unlikely as I'm the only one who can be bothered to get out of bed on my holidays!

After many picker attacks, and re-positioning of rods, my friend Sam came down. He didn't bring the good-luck with him though, so we mainly just sat around, bait checking the rods, and giving the cast net the odd throw to check if there was any bait about yet. At around 9:00AM (yes, the session was that bad that I've pretty much skipped two hours ), we saw something pretty remarkable. First, we heard what sounded like someone falling in the water... We turned around and saw what looked to be a bully trying to eat a catfish which was feeding off algae on the pylons. I didn't get a good enough look at the 'big' fish, but judging from size, fin shape, etc (or what little of it I saw), I'd call it for one of them. 

After that, the same catfish (about a forty centimetre fish) kept swimming around on the surface for about five minutes. I got some of it on video, which is pretty cool I reckon... The video is like 4 minutes long though, which makes it a pain to post as it is SO large. 

Swimming fish!  

The funny thing was, straight after I'd went to call my dad and tell him about it, a catfish/mullet of similar size floated by, half rotted, but with what looked like a BIG bite mark out of it. Maybe the warming temperatures are causing river sharks to become more active?

One really weird thing that happened today as well, that I can't possibly think an explanation up for. Whenever I reeled in my line, the fishing line would come back covered in mud. I had to pinch the line to stop it from going all over the reel. It was like there was a sediment suspended mid water making this happen. Anyone got an idea? 

We didn't get a rod ready in time for the catty, and shortly after, due to the lack of bites, we left the park. It was a pretty dud session overall, and I did donut, but I guess you'll always get those. Here are the stats of this report - 

Statistics of Trip - 

Tide: Low, .6M, 1:30AM, High, 7:10AM, 1.5M, Low, 1:09PM, .4M

Moon Phase: Waning Crescent Phase, so not much run

Weather: Slightly cloudy and breezey

Fish caught: Catfish x 1

Bait used: Prawn

Bait caught: Bugger all

Tackle Used: Same as always - 12, 14, 30 pound braid mainlines, 20-30lb leaders, 80lb mono trace, size 4/o suicide/circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 2500 Shimano Nasci and Diawa Shinobi, 6"6 Venomat? rod, 8" Ugly Stik, Size 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, shocker and blood knots. 

Overall Success Rate: 30% - at least we saw something out of the usual...

Alright, here is the next report. This one took place on Saturday, and it was another arvo session. I'd actually gotten a new cast net for the yak and I planned to use that one to give it a test out. Once again, there really wasn't much bait around today, so I stuck to using Aussie Farm Prawns.

I had my lines in by about half past two, and I was also giving the net a test. It throws decently, but I'll need to give it a soaking in sugar-soap and water overnight so it goes nice and sift and not springy. When the net is springy, you'll often pancake it before it hits the water then it'll go smaller. It didn't take long before I got the first hit. I completely missed it though, so I re casted and kept cast netting. Not long after, I see the rod buckled over. I pull up the net as fast as I can, and begin to fight the fish. It had some OK weight about it, and while it didn't take any good runs still had some go in it! When I saw it, I realised it was a bream, to my surprise. Normally I pull these ones (especially up at that size) from structure, rarely from the middle of the river! 

The solo net job is still something I need to get better at, especially off the jetty. It took my a few minutes to walk him down and get him in the net, but after that I think it all went smoothly. I took him up to the brag mat (thinking the Suburbs of Origin comp leading bream was still @ellicat's at 31.5cm, not @Daryl McPhee's at 33.5cm... I think anyways), tipped some water on the mat (so he stayed calm), got the hook out with my hands, then took a pic and put him back . He swum off fine, so that just shows that hopefully there'll be an OK population of bigger bream in the river. I'd love to get a trophy bream out of the Brisbane River. 

My three fingers for SOO and, I think I'm mastering the one handed breambo selfie!

After that bream, which got some hope into me, I rebaited, and kept throwing the net. There was still no bait around and to much tide to throw the net, so I had a sit down with the rods. For the next hour and a bit, nothing happened at all, except the fact my mate came down. I briefly summarized the day so far, which wasn't much, and we kept fishing. 

The salmon line was still baited with some dead prawn, but luckily my dad came down. He did one pancake of the ten footer, and got 7 poddy mullet! I chucked one out (well two actually as one went flying off the hook), and left the livie out. This fella lasted for ages. I gave him about three bait checks and he was still as lively as anything. The rod which had caught my bream also had a live prawn on the end. I think my dad (see, I don't fully remember) got a juvenile bream in the net at one point, which was safely released as well. I think it is great to see that bream are thriving around and in the river. I guess it can be expected as they have just bred though. 

Small Bream 

After that one, my dad headed off. It was around five now, and I was still doing some cast netting. In one of my throws, I felt a good tug. I was hoping for a mullet, but the second I saw the bugger I knew what it was. A dirty old scat. You will not get me to change my mind ever. These are one of the most annoying bloody things to get into your net. The barely come out, spiky everywhere... That's a recipe for disaster. I got mine out after about 5 minutes, and after a quick picture put him back into the water. The funny thing was he got sucked straight back down by a whirlpool made by the current. Funny to watch, that is  

30cm of Yuk!'

After that scat, it was nearly half past five. The salmon line was untouched, and apart from some small hits the other line was too. I was disappointed that I couldn't get a salmon, but at least this session was no donut. Here are the stats of this report - 

Statistics of report - 

Tide: 12:11PM, High, 2.15M, 6:30PM, Low, .1M

Moon Phase: New Moon, so quite a bit of run!

Fish caught: Scat x 1, Bream x 2

Bait caught: Poddy Mullet and prawn

Bait used: Dead and live prawn, live poddy mullet

Tackle Used:  12, 14, 30 pound braid mainlines, 20-30lb leaders, 80lb mono trace, size 4/o suicide/circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 2500 Shimano Nasci and Diawa Shinobi, 6"6 Venomat? rod, 8" Ugly Stik, Size 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, shocker and blood knots. 

Weather: Cloudy, light sprinkles of rain

Overall Success Rate: 40% - a good bream

Okey-dokey, now to the last session that took place at the local park. This one was in the early morning, mainly because one of my friends wanted to come down. We got to the park a little before six, and he got there a little before seven. My dad and I started cast netting first up... He got a couple good bait prawns in the first cast, but I got nothing. On my dad's second cast though, up came two bream. Both tiny ones, but still an OK start to the morning. The certainly gave a good tug in the net, and they were safely released. 

Two bream, just about legal (or maybe a tad over)

That was a good start, and as well as them my dad and I had manged about 5 poddy mullet soon after. Yippee. That was our cod and salmon bait sorted for the day. Not long before my friend got there, my dad manged to get a solid 33cm mullet which will most likely become crab pot bait. It gave him another good pull too. He was getting all the good ones and what was I stuck with? Glassies!.. 

My Dad's 33cm Mullet

The mullet and bream were a good way to start the day, but it was still not what we can there for - a thready! My dad found out about the scats too, as he got a bigger one as well (I still had to remove it). I hope they don't start becoming common here, but then again if they did they'd become crab bait! 

Scat number 2

After he was put back, the netting went quiet. The lines hadn't even been touched this whole time, so I was starting to think this might be a donut session for me. It kept this way for another hour or so, until the tide changed. The same thing with the mud on the reels happened (like I said in the above post), and it was most annoying. Seeing as though it only happened on the rising in tide, I'm thinking there may be a lot of dirt stirred up on the tide change causing this to happen? 

The bite still stayed quiet, and for the rest of the morning I couldn't manage a fish. I tried my best, by re-positioning rods, but it still didn't work. I kept bait checking the lines, and eventually I was onto the cooked prawns I had. These certainly didn't help the bite rate, and it seems the fish completely stay away from them. I've read that they make a great bait in lots of old threads but I haven't been able to prove that true at all. Both the live mullet were still going strong, but I didn't end up getting a fish on either of them.

At about 10:00AM, I left the park and called the session. At least I've got some more crab bait now. A couple more and it'll be POB crabbing time! Here are the stats of the trip - 

Statistics of Trip - 

Tide: High, 12:25AM, 2.3M, Low, 7:00AM, .1M, High, 1:00PM, 2.2M

Moon Phase: New Moon so a bit of run!

Weather: Cloudy, cool-ish

Fish caught: 2 x Bream, 1 x Scat, 1 x Mullet

Bait caught: Poddy Mullet (and a couple prawns)

Bait used: Live and dead prawns, poddy mullet

Tackle used: 12, 14, 30 pound braid mainlines, 20-30lb leaders, 80lb mono trace, size 4/o suicide/circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 2500 Shimano Nasci and Diawa Shinobi, 6"6 Venomat? rod, 8" Ugly Stik, Size 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, shocker and blood knots. 

Overall Success Rate: 30% - crab bait!

OK, so here is the spot you want to be if you are only reading the yakking trip, but otherwise, good job in keeping up! This was a night time session at Dutton Park around Green Bridge, which while is heavily fished, still seems to hold fish (or it did the last time I was there). We got there at around 6:30PM to catch livies and set off. 

After getting numerous herring, poddy mullet, and a couple prawns (as well as glassies and scat), we launched in the kayak. Collecting bait was quite fun, with me getting the odd school of (small) herring, and my dad getting the same. I got most of the good mullet though. Another fella fishing there gave us some bigger herring as he must've heard me say, "These buggers are bloody small!", and gave me a hand. He was trying for early season sharks, which I don't think he was too successful on. 

We got out, and decided to drift the last of the rise up towards a red marker buoy. I deployed a good live mullet, and my dad chucked on a small winter whiting which I'd caught. I sent the baits down though, and we hoped the first drift could bring some big fish! 

 

Deploying a livie (mullet) down to the depth below

It was very deep, and since we didn't have time to put on the sounder before we left we simply estimated it to be between 20-25M. My bait was on the bottom first, and it was clearly going crazy. It was bending the rod, and felt like a bloomin' fish! Surely if this went over a salmon's head it would be smashed! We drifted about 150M from the middle of the river to the red buoy, and did the same thing again. It was very serene out on the river being the only thing there, and the only way to make it better (or we thought) would be for a fish. 

Before the second drift, we checked our livies. Mine was still kicking stronger (than usual, Lol), but it had gotten into the worst tangle I'd ever seen. We almost drifted back to the jetty it took that long to un-tangle it. I guess problems like that are just problems you'll always encounter when live baiting.  We started the second drift though, and proceeded along bottom bashing. When we finished that drift, we made the call to fish some of the pylons and hopefully entice something hanging around structure. We sat around and in the eddies made by the pylons, to no avail whatsoever. My dad was disappointed alright, as he though the pylons would be the spot to catch 'em on. 

We hit the pylon on the UQ size first, then did another drift through the middle of the river. It was nearing 8:00PM now, but I was still going strong (like my livie). 

                  

Oops. You can see my dad's very ugly feet in this one!

We finished that drift, and even though it seemed like there wasn't any ground below us (just mud), I still thought this area would hold fish. I guess I was wrong, that's for sure. It was getting a bit later, and we thought the Dutton Park side pylon would hold something. We fished all around the pylon for about 15 minutes, and apart from getting snagged, it was deadly quiet. For the final half an hour or so before my dad succumbed to the 'not-having-a-chair-to-support-my-back' issue, we fished about 50 metres away from the jetty. It must've been right on tide change here, as we were barely moving at all. Then, we got back to the jetty by 9:00PM - a different group of people had moved in since the last time we were there, but luckily there was space for one of my rods. I kept it out until about 9:30PM, and then reluctantly wound it back in and departed Dutton Park...

Boy, was it disappointing to not catch a salmon on the last night of Suburbs of Origin.. Oh well! Here are the stats of the trip. 

Statistics of Trip -

Tide: 6:45PM, .2M, Low, 12:30AM, 2.1M, high

Moon Phase: New Moon, lots of run

Fish caught: - Sigh

Bait caught: Herring, Mullet, Prawns, Winter Whiting, Glassies, Scat

Bait used: Herring, Mullet, Winter Whiting

Tackle used: 12, 14, 30 pound braid mainlines, 20-30lb leaders, 80lb mono trace, 30lb fluorocarbon trace, size 4/o suicide/circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 2500 Shimano Nasci and Diawa Shinobi, 6"6 Venomat? rod, 8" Ugly Stik, Size 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, shocker and blood knots. 

Weather: Windy, cloudy, cool

Time fished: Approx. 7:00PM - 9:30PM

Location: Dutton Park/Green Bridge 

Overall Success Rate: 20% - Pretty Dud!

Alright, thanks for reading everyone. I hope you all enjoyed this report marathon, that's for sure. Sorry for not getting that thready, Southside! Maybe if I kept my lines in for a minute more I would've . Stay safe  Sorry for any spelling errors/errors in this report as well. @GregOug, I'm sure you'll find something wrong with the punctuation . 

Cheers Hamish

Great report Hamish - must have taken some time to write. Lucky you're on holidays.  It was certainly peaceful out there and even though we caught nothing and I felt stiff as a board getting out it was a fun night.  A couple of things you missed though.....

- how you got me there on a Sunday night after getting me up at 5am to help catch some live bait.  "Apparently" some one on north side had entered a whole lot of fish and it was now 6 all with only one day remaining - a threadfin salmon could ensure South side wins!  What a sucker - clearly I need to read more posts.  Hamish filled me in on the way home that actually south side had it well won.

- who was unloading post trip at 10:00pm and who was off snoozing in bed?

Anyway can't complain as all I need to do is show up with all the gear prepared for me and all the rods and reels being cleaned the following day.  A bit like a charter!

[rayke1938]

I thought that the fishing up river would have improved with the lack of rain.

About 65 years ago before I met my wife her brother who lived in Harrogate St buranda on a saturday ued to take my wife and her sister and the dog, (Dog was to protect against ghosts in Dutton Park cemetery) and fish that area from the bank. Reg used to skite about a big jew that they caught there that was too big for one person to carry and Reg and Judy had to carry it back between them as Jenny refused to touch it.They tried to get onto a tram from Dutton Park and go into town and catch another tram to Buranda but the conductor would not allow them on the tram with a dog.

Reg was still fishing that area when I first started taking Judy out.

Cheers Ray

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

8 hours ago, jon said:

Nice report Hamish, those salmon can be a real pain to crack sometimes but keep at it you’ll nab another one soon. This is a good time of year for them so hopefully a few more will pop up for you

Hey jon

Yep, they've sure been a bit tricky at the moment. I was thinking that too, as the majority of the ones I've caught have been in April/May, so the temps in September/October may be similar, causing similar fish to be caught!

7 hours ago, Cavvy said:

Great report Hamish - must have taken some time to write. Lucky you're on holidays.  It was certainly peaceful out there and even though we caught nothing and I felt stiff as a board getting out it was a fun night.  A couple of things you missed though.....

- how you got me there on a Sunday night after getting me up at 5am to help catch some live bait.  "Apparently" some one on north side had entered a whole lot of fish and it was now 6 all with only one day remaining - a threadfin salmon could ensure South side wins!  What a sucker - clearly I need to read more posts.  Hamish filled me in on the way home that actually south side had it well won.

- who was unloading post trip at 10:00pm and who was off snoozing in bed?

Anyway can't complain as all I need to do is show up with all the gear prepared for me and all the rods and reels being cleaned the following day.  A bit like a charter!

Yep, it was very nice out there.

In my defence everyone, my dad would've been far more reluctant to take me out if I'd told him we were smashing it, (and his reaction was bloody funny when I told him). 

... But I've got nothing to say about unpacking everything. Guess I was too tired  

You could start paying me $90 every time I fish with you as I am now the family charter man?

48 minutes ago, rayke1938 said:

I thought that the fishing up river would have improved with the lack of rain.

About 65 years ago before I met my wife her brother who lived in Harrogate St buranda on a saturday ued to take my wife and her sister and the dog, (Dog was to protect against ghosts in Dutton Park cemetery) and fish that area from the bank. Reg used to skite about a big jew that they caught there that was too big for one person to carry and Reg and Judy had to carry it back between them as Jenny refused to touch it.They tried to get onto a tram from Dutton Park and go into town and catch another tram to Buranda but the conductor would not allow them on the tram with a dog.

Reg was still fishing that area when I first started taking Judy out.

Cheers Ray

Hi rayke1938

Yep, same here. Almost always when the water is more saline I catch better fish.

That is very interesting, a jew that big must've been a stonka! I met one fella there who caught a 1M+ jew off the jetty, but that was when it wasn't fished so hard. Another great story you tell, thanks for sharing  

Cheers Hamish

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

I'm sneaking out my telescopic rod, some bread, and some lures (from Sam Steele) right now... To Southbank so I can catch bream and cod!  

I think I've thoroughly pi$$ed off my mum though, so I'll have to earn some brownie points this arvo  

Cheers Hamish

[Old Scaley]

Pretty busy around Southbank with school holidays happening. Not sure where you are planning to fish, but a few weeks ago I was walking around that area and stopped to watch a guy fight a fish that turned out to be nice thready around the metre mark. He needed some help to land it because of the rocks and no long handled landing net. He was using prawns, it was mid-morning and near the bottom of the tide. The secret location was right beside the Capt Cook bridge. Go get em, Hamish!

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

2 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

Pretty busy around Southbank with school holidays happening. Not sure where you are planning to fish, but a few weeks ago I was walking around that area and stopped to watch a guy fight a fish that turned out to be nice thready around the metre mark. He needed some help to land it because of the rocks and no long handled landing net. He was using prawns, it was mid-morning and near the bottom of the tide. The secret location was right beside the Capt Cook bridge. Go get em, Hamish!

Thanks for the tips, Old Scaley. I have seen a few threadies caught in that general area on the internet. I mis-heard (alright maybe I just thought Southbank was near the Botanical Gardens) but that is where we ended up going. To start off with, I fished with bread under a mangrove tree, then when that didn't work after about 20 minutes I walked the rock wall with an EcoGear Bream vibe. 

I thought I might manage a bream on the bread as I did this last time, but unfortunately I was wrong. Then, I also didn't manage a bream/cod when walking down the rock wall  Next time I'm in Southbank I'll have to try under that bridge! And I know my lure was hard up against structure because I could feel it bumping along the rocks. 

Cheers Hamish