queensland Brisbane River Session #152

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi all

Yesterday arvo I organised a fishing trip with a mate to a spot on the Brisbane River. I was keen as to get out, and between floods, covid, and school I hadn't been fishing for 6 weeks! I rigged up my rods and packed the fishing cart in anticipation for the session. After a good nights sleep I played tennis in the morning and arrived at the jetty at around 9. There was one fella at the jetty with three rods, so I baited up on the other side of the jetty and wasted no time getting to cast netting.

My initial throws were not fruitful but as soon as I dispersed some berley (sand, tuna oil/tuna, old veges, weetbix, bread, old biscuits) I started catching some prawns. To my dismay there were quite a few glassies swarming to the baits as well, but I kept going. After about 10 throws I had 12 or so prawns/baitfish, so I got my landing net and swooped a couple net fulls of foam/bottles out of the river. The flooding has left a tonne of Styrofoam in the river which I think would easily be the worst affect. Even when the larger chunks are removed the small pieces get everywhere.  

I kept casting and soon my mate arrived at the jetty. It was quite crowded now but we each had room for two rods. We baited up with livies and decided to try our luck casting on the slack tide, as it seemed there were a lot of good baits about. We got a few more prawns then came back to our seats on the jetty. I baitchecked my lines and to my dismay, a 20cm catfish had hooked itself on my 6/o circle hook. I chucked him out live in hope of a shark and we decided to go back to netting. Our attempts were futile and we soon retreated to our seats in an effort to cool down.

It was then I noticed my Abu Garcia overhead was getting some small taps. I dismissed it as a bream, as Michael had gotten similar nibbles. I sat back down and then I heard the great sound of line speeding off my reel. I untied the rod from the bollard and set the hook when the fish slowed. It had plenty of weight and a short but fun fight ensued. The fish took a couple of speedy, decent length runs early on, and I continued to try and turn him away from structure. He attempted to dive below the jetty, and hopes were high. We were pleased to see a nice little thready surface after the fun fight. He netted him up and kept him in the water so he would release well, and wet the brag mat. He was barely hooked, just like the last one I lost.

We wet the brag mat and measured the thready. He came in at a couple centimetres over 80 - a nice way to open my account for the school holidays. Michael vented the thready and after a quick swim he gave a strong kick off back to the depths. Woohoo!

Sorry for the crappy editing job guys. I am happy to send (PM) the photo to any member on AFO - I just do not want this spot being shown to any random person on the Internet, as the photo is quite location revealing. I will try and master the sky shot to avoid having to do this next time!

Anyways, after he swam off, hopes were high. I re rigged my 30 pound trace and 4/o hook and fired my bait straight back out. Things seemed to be going quiet though, so after eagerly anticipating any action we got back to cast netting. We gathered around 10 more good baits (maybe a few more), and then another fella (not a fisherman) came down who we chatted with for a half hour or so. He was on holiday from a place where he catches Murray Cod (can't remember where), but it seemed like he like to fish. After he left we kept waiting for any bites, but the tide began to move faster. It seems at this spot high tide at mid-early morning is ideal, or when there is no boat traffic. There were a few more little nibbles, but apart from getting pickered a few times we were having no success. We had gathered some big mullet and herring while cast netting too, so I chucked out a herring (catfish replacement) and Michael put on a mullet.

The bite had definitely gone quiet, and the tide was starting to pick up. A fish of some sort was pulling on Michael's bait a lot, but it seemed to not want to hookup. After a prolonged period of time it eventually ate the bait, but after a short-lived fight a rotten pike eel surfaced. I decided I would keep this one for crab bait, so I thought I would dong it. Ten minutes later, and after at least 30 whacks with my pliers, the pike eel was still alive and kicking. Arrgrghh!

It began getting slower and slower, and the tight was really picking up pace now. It would've been sometime around midday, and another fella rocked up. I fished with him before at the same spot, but he didn't bother bringing rods this time and just came down for a chat. Another group of fisherman did rock up shortly after though, and the jetty was getting packed. We could barely fit our lines off the jetty, and this is when a bit of chaos began.

The guys who had just arrived had tiny sinkers, which meant they tangled with us miserably. I gave them a larger sinker, but their lines were still tangling up. "Oh well", I thought... I kept cast netting, and it was good to have a chat on the jetty. There were plenty of clouds, and that meant that I wasn't going to get too sunburnt (or so I thought - even though I had my buff + sunnies on I still came home looking a little bit cooked ). We got a few more livies, and lines were deployed yet again. I nearly had my herring ran over by a Go-boat, so I wound it in nice and close to the jetty. 

The people who had came along had also brought their dog. It was having a fun time with another dog, who jumped in the water. The first time it was OK, as it was in an area where the current wasn't that bad. The second time the mischievous dog leapt in, it soon realised it had bitten of something a bit too big - the main current of the Brisbane River! I lent over the jetty - trying to net it did not result in anything. Luckily, I managed to grab it by the collar just in time. It's owner retrieved it from the water. He didn't go swimming again, lol. Then, the other dog promptly scuttled up to my landing net and took a wee, right on it! Ewwww!!!

We kept fishing, and decided to sit back down on the jetty. Everything was relaxing, and upon bait checking my lines (the original large herring had come off, I replaced it with a smaller one) another pike eel came up. This one luckily spat the hooks, which was good as I didn't want to deal with it. I kept fishing, but it had really gone quiet. The fish just weren't nibbling, and with ever increasing boating activity (a 48.5 foot luxury yacht had come in to pick up guests for a Hen's party), bites were not looking likely. We all kept fishing, and eventually Andrew headed off.

I decided to try my luck with the Abu Garcia Nexus rod Greg O very kindly gave to me a while ago, as I haven't had much luck on it yet. Michael and I kept casting our nets, and we were getting a few prawns. It was close to three now so we decided to give the cast netting a rest for the day. We were sitting down and chatting when a bit of line came off Michael's reel. The same thing happened a second time, but upon inspection it was revealed to be a catty (due to the presence of slime). I assumed it would be the same thing when line came off the Nexus dropped next to the pylons, but I picked it up and realised a good fish was on the line. It had me wrapped around a pylon from the start of the fight, and it became tense when a scorching run happened down into the depths. I was trying my hardest to extract this fish, but after another large run it managed to reef me in something and bite/rub me off. Ughhh!

I re-rigged with 50 pound line but my hopes were not high. I put a 6/o hook with a heap of livies threaded on it. Michael headed off soon after, and the other two guys on the jetty caught a little catty (which I kept for crab bait) and a perch. The old fella who had been at the jetty before me had only left a short time period ago for one catty - I felt bad for him!

Bait

I was picked up a 4:15PM as the ferries are down at the moment, and I was pleased with the day. 

Here are the trip stats:

Stats of TRip:

Tide: 4:3AM, Low, .4M, 10:40AM, High, 2.4M, 4:50PM, Low, .5M

Moon Phase: New Moon/29%

Bait Caught: Pike eel, catfish, prawns, herring, mullet, glassies, silver biddies

Bait Used: Live herring, prawns, glassies, dead herring

Fish Caught: Threadfin x 1, Pike eel x 2, Catfish x 1

Tackle Used: I used a Shimano Aero Baitrunner (from ellicat) on a Rogue Firepoint Boat Rod, A Abu Garcia Nanotech Nexus from Greg O on a just-held-together-by-a-biro Spinfisher, and an Abu Garcia Barra King + Ugly Stik. 20 + 30 pound braid mainlines. 30 and 50 pound fluoro leaders. 4/o and 6/o circle/suicide hooks. Size 4 star sinkers. Large barrel swivels. 

Air Pressure: 1013

Humidity: 81%

Weather: hot, cloudy

Overall Success rate: 80% fun 7 hours!

Thanks for reading,

I hope you enjoyed

Cheers Hamish  

[Old Scaley]

Nice report, @AUS-BNE-FISHO. Good to see you back on the horse, and getting amongst the threadies again.

[ellicat]

17 hours ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Sorry for the crappy editing job guys.

Understandable Hamish, although the site rules disallow the use of heavily edited pics, I'm happy to let this one go.

Well done on landing the first threadie. It beats my pb by just being a threadie. haha

What a bugger the other one beat you. A double would have been nice.

 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

7 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

Nice report, @AUS-BNE-FISHO. Good to see you back on the horse, and getting amongst the threadies again.

Thanks Steve

32 minutes ago, ellicat said:

Understandable Hamish, although the site rules disallow the use of heavily edited pics, I'm happy to let this one go.

Well done on landing the first threadie. It beats my pb by just being a threadie. haha

What a bugger the other one beat you. A double would have been nice.

 

Sorry Brian. I won't post an editted pic again. I didn't know. 

It certainly would've been go to land the last fish - it would've made the prior 5 hours fishing more worth it.

Hamish