queensland No luck in the bay

[Tuna are fish]

Went fishing on the weekend (Saturday), it was a beautiful day as we headed out at 4am and got on the water by 4:50.  We headed to our spot where we sounded around with on luck, we eventually found a school on the bottom and dropped our rigs down.  The only note worthy fish was a 40cm red emperor.  then out of the corner of my eye i saw tuna, a small school of tuna.  I was so excited and we pulled up line and chased them, we followed them chucking metal slugs into them with no prevail.  then we headed to Morton island and had a troll but still nothing. i then decided to head to Morton and try and get some day time squid but did not really know where to go to get them so caught nothing.  we soon headed home after burning 80-100 litres of fuel.

[ellicat]

Conditions looked great on Saturday. Shame the fish weren't playing the game.

[Drop Bear]

I hope you enjoyed the day on the water all the same. 

Sorry for no fish. We all have days like these. If you go into the rouse channel and throw jigs around the 3m - 5m mark you should have more luck with squid. 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hey Tuna

Bad luck. It is a shame you didn't get more.

That Red Emperor is really cool though. I just guess it shows the effects of Global Warming are still happening here and changing the oceans a bit too.

Cheers Hamish

[GregOug]

On 23/08/2021 at 9:09 AM, Tuna are fish said:

Went fishing on the weekend (Saturday), it was a beautiful day as we headed out at 4am and got on the water by 4:50.  We headed to our spot where we sounded around with on luck, we eventually found a school on the bottom and dropped our rigs down.  The only note worthy fish was a 40cm red emperor.  then out of the corner of my eye i saw tuna, a small school of tuna.  I was so excited and we pulled up line and chased them, we followed them chucking metal slugs into them with no prevail.  then we headed to Morton island and had a troll but still nothing. i then decided to head to Morton and try and get some day time squid but did not really know where to go to get them so caught nothing.  we soon headed home after burning 100 litres of fuel.

Pity about the lack of fish. 100 litres is a heck of a lot of fuel to use in the bay. What motor do you have?

[Andrew_P]

One for your science teacher Hamish - juvenile reds have been in Moreton Bay for years mate. Like other tropical snappers they spend their time as juveniles in shallow bays like Moreton Bay, then migrate North to deeper/warmer waters. For years there has been reports of reds, coral trout and juvenile nannies around Bulwer and Peel. My bro caught a 45cm chinaman in the bay a few months ago, and Jeff from the Qld museum said they are known to be in the bay as juveniles.

The way to assess if changes in water temperature/currents are having an effect on species populations is by investigating trends of abundance of these species in areas over time.

[Andrew_P]

[Tuna are fish]

8 hours ago, GregOug said:

Pity about the lack of fish. 100 litres is a heck of a lot of fuel to use in the bay. What motor do you have?

We have an old 75 mercury. but we do use av gas from dad's work.

[samsteele115]

1 hour ago, Andrew_P said:

So cool! Chinamen look tasty as... I wonder if they are ciguatera ridden down this far also. Or are they flat out a no take species? 

[Andrew_P]

flat out no take species in Qld

ciguatera risk unknown, but likely to be very low (in my opinion) given it is a juvenile and has probably lived most of its life in Moreton Bay which isnt a known ciguatera hot spot. So similar to other tropical snappers caught in and near the bay (mangrove jacks, moses perch, green jobfish etc)

[Ed.]

From experience as one who has had a dose of Ciguatera 21 years ago, it is not nice, so you definitely don't want to risk it. 

[Drop Bear]

On 23/08/2021 at 6:29 PM, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Hey Tuna

Bad luck. It is a shame you didn't get more.

That Red Emperor is really cool though. I just guess it shows the effects of Global Warming are still happening here and changing the oceans a bit too.

Cheers Hamish

Just FYI I caught a good sized Red in the bay 30+ years ago. Not commenting on temp changes just thought you may find this interesting. 

[Drop Bear]

55 minutes ago, Ed. said:

From experience as one who has had a dose of Ciguatera 21 years ago, it is not nice, so you definitely don't want to risk it. 

Hey Ed,

sounds nasty. I really don't want that. 

Did you have lasting effects from that? 

[Ed.]

Yep, for months on end, didn't eat any fish for about 10 - 12 years afterwards and I am still selective in what type of fish I eat. Once you become sensitive to that toxin you apparently have it for life.

[GregN70]

On 23/08/2021 at 6:29 PM, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Hey Tuna

Bad luck. It is a shame you didn't get more.

That Red Emperor is really cool though. I just guess it shows the effects of Global Warming are still happening here and changing the oceans a bit too.

Cheers Hamish

Back in the 1980s I regularly caught Juvenile Red Emperor at Bulwar. Biggest was about 35-40 cm. Nothing bigger.