Sunnycoast Success

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi all

On Boxing Day, my family headed up to Maroochy to do some camping near Lake Dunethin. Along with us was Charlie ( @TheCharliefisho ) - and the two of us planned to do some fishing. After arriving at our campsite and setting up tents, we grabbed a Canadian Canoe and went for a paddle in the lake. It was a pretty low tide, so we paddled to a fishy looking area and started to cast our lures. We had been down there previously that day to suss the area out and someone had caught a nice flatty of about 60CM, so we were hopeful for some fish. 

It wasn't long before Charlie was onto something, and a small bream surfaced with his small plastic in its mouth. We gave it a while longer in the lake after this fish but eventually paddled out into the river and tied up to the bank opposite the lake mouth, where we continued flicking. Here, Charlie hooked up to another fish, which was a small spotted grunter. I had a couple small bites but remained on the donut for the duration of the session. We headed off a bit before dark and got a fire going, had some dinner, and got our gear ready for the next mornings fishing. 

Bream and Grunter

We woke up at 4:30AM but didn't make it to the water until a bit past 5:00AM. We decided to try fishing for jacks, so I brought my Stradic 3000 with a 4 inch Zman plastic rigged weedless along. We drifted along the bank of the river initially, but after no luck except a stingray splashing around in the shallows we continued paddling downstream. While doing this, we tied off at plenty of likely looking snags, and with the tide relatively low we could fling our lures right into the sticks. Unsurpringsingly, we had no luck on the jack front prompting us to switch back to light gear at about 7:30AM. The wind had got up a bit, but paddling was still nice. We didn't end up going too far before deciding to head back, and at that point both of us were fishless (except Charlie who jagged a catfish on his plastic at one of the spots we visisted). Despite stopping at a few more spots, including a bank that looked good for flatties with two poles to tie up to, we ended up across from the inlet entrance. I was flicking a three inch Holt Prawn smothered in S-factor, and at about 8:30AM I hooked up in the shallows. It was a little flatty, which was undersize so went back. Fortunately, the next cast I hooked a slightly larger one that was legal. We had been tasked with bringing home some fish so this was kept, and even though we kept fishing for about another hour here we had no more luck that session.

Donut Saver

That arvo, we headed out in the canoe again. My dad had picked up a small sand anchor for 15 bucks from BCF, so we also decided we would give this a test too. We started off tieing up at various parts of the inlet, and testing the anchor. It held the canoe in place well, which was pleasing. Annoyingly, we didn't have any luck in the lake, so we paddled to the opposite bank to have a flick for some flatties. It was looking pretty quiet, and after getting through a couple of snags and moving location slightly Charlie hooked a fish. It was a decent bream, which went about 27CM - so we decided to keep this too. We fished until sundown but after getting no more bites we headed back to the lake jetty where we finished up and walked back to the campsite. Here, we cleaned the fish and prepped our gear for paddling the next morning though we decided we would sleep in. 

Legal bream

We ended up on the water at about 7:00AM, and decided to go for a paddle to look at some spots we had fished the prior day. After not having much luck close to the inlet, we went down a hundred metres or so. Here, we found a nice shady spot to have a cast, but after 30 minutes or so here we didn't have any bites so we went a little ways down again to a new spot. It was looking pretty quiet here again, but after about 30 minutes I hooked a little flatty which was safely released. We gave it a bit longer here but didn't manage anything more so went down to the bank with the two poles from the day prior. Apart from a couple of snags it remained quiet here, so we went on our way back to the inlet where Charlie stopped to have a flick at a couple of spots (I didn't bother rerigging my line). Once we arrived back at the jetty, I went to go and grab the canoe wheels. While I was gone, Charlie pulled in a tiny flatty, and once I was back he followed it up with a legal model that was somewhere in the low 40's. Another guy came down as well, who caught one that was just on 40. It was pretty hot so I went for a quick swim before rerigging - we fished about 30 minutes longer there before calling it quits as it seemed the fish had gone off the chew.

Flatty

Happy with our session, we went back to the camp, cleaned and cooked our fish, before getting driven downstream to The Cod Hole where we fished with some deadbait. I caught one small bream here but missed some good bites, and we left after 1.5hrs. After regrouping back at camp, we went back down to the lake. The jetty was pretty crowded, but after a couple of missed hits Charlie managed to hook something good. After a nice fight with a couple of runs, he had a good flatty next to the jetty. There were a few tense moments landing the fish as we had no net, but I managed to grab it and get it up. We gave it a quick measure and it came in at 53CM, Charlie's new PB. It was safely released, and we headed off after another 40 minutes or so of flicking our lure with no fish. Definitely a worthwhile arvo session! 

Solid flatty

That night, we went out for dinner at the Yandina Hotel, the oldest pub on the Sunshine Coast. The food and drinks were nice, and we left satisfied with our meals. At about 8:15PM, my Dad, Charlie, and I all headed down to the jetty for a flick. We casted our lures for about 45 minutes, but despite lots of bust ups we couldn't manage anything. The tide was low though, which was not ideal for this spot. 

Then, this morning/the final morning, we went for our last flick. We decided to not bother taking the canoe out, and it was pretty windy anyways so this probably wasn't a bad decision. We got down to the jetty after hearing reports some trevs had been caught there on livies the day before, and I netted some mullet, bonies, and herring. We casted these out on our bait rods, and got to work fishing. It was quiet at first, and with the tide quite low the fishing was going to be difficult. We persisted though, and after the best part of two hours flicking Charlie took my rod for a cast. On his first cast, he managed to hook a fish in the shallows, which was a surprise for both of us. A short fight ensued and I netted a nice little flatty, about 42CM long. This was released, and although we kept fishing we didn't manage any more fish.

Last Flatty

The drive home was considerably quicker than the drive there, when we were stuck in traffic for a good part of the trip. I had lots of fun paddling and fishing - and thanks for coming along @TheCharliefisho . It was good to improve my abiltities lure fishing but I'm going to have to try a bit harder for a jack! Thanks for reading everyone, I hope you enjoyed. Here are some quicks stats for anyone interested. 

Quick Stats:

Tide: High tide was best landbased whereas low tide was best from the canoe

Moon Phase: Increasing from around 35-40% to Third Quarter Phase each night

Bait Used: Live bait below

Bait Caught: Herring, bony bream, silver biddies, mullet, herring

Fish Caught: Me - 3 x flatty, Charlie - 2 x bream, 1 x grunter, 4 x flatty

Tackle Used: I primarily fished with a Shimano Stradic FL 3000 on a 4-7KG Raider with 15 pound braid and 20 pound leader, and a Abu Garcia Veritas 2-4KG with a Diawa Tierra 2500 with 8 pound braid and 10 pound leader. Charlie used a 1000 Shimano Nexave on an Abu Garcia Salty Elite Rod and a 2500 Diawa Legalis on an Exceller Rod. The standout lures were Holt Production Swimprawns in Whitespot or Zman Slim Swimz in Motor Oil. Bait fishing gear was small circle hooks and sinkers.

Overall Success Rate: 70% - a fun trip with some fishing action

Cheers Hamish  

[charlie.hans.fishing]

Awesome report Hamish.

We sure had a lot of fun together, thanks for bringing me along. 

It was a good trip, with some solid fish caught!

Another time, we must persist on the jack front; we really only gave it 1 or 2 goes this time around.

Like you, I've also improved some lure skills, and put a PB flatty under my belt. 

Thanks for some of those filleting tips too. 

 

- Charlie 

 

 

 

 

[charlie.hans.fishing]

Additionally, be sure to switch that "3x flatty" for me to "4x". 

(micro one at the wheel dropoff, 43 or so after that, 53 later that same arvo, and then the 42 on the last morning. 

 

[ellicat]

Good trip with plenty of fish, fellas. Sounds like you would have caught a few more had the tides been a bit better for you.

Congratulations on the new PB, Charlie. Did you take a picture with something green ?

 

 

[Bretto77]

You two are certainly dedicated. Well done! I could use tips on how to get someone else to fillet your fish for you if you have any?

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

9 hours ago, TheCharliefisho said:

Awesome report Hamish.

We sure had a lot of fun together, thanks for bringing me along. 

It was a good trip, with some solid fish caught!

Another time, we must persist on the jack front; we really only gave it 1 or 2 goes this time around.

Like you, I've also improved some lure skills, and put a PB flatty under my belt. 

Thanks for some of those filleting tips too. 

 

- Charlie 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, and no worries, it was a fun trip. 

5 hours ago, ellicat said:

Good trip with plenty of fish, fellas. Sounds like you would have caught a few more had the tides been a bit better for you.

Congratulations on the new PB, Charlie. Did you take a picture with something green ?

 

 

Thanks Brian, it was good to catch a couple.

3 hours ago, Bretto77 said:

You two are certainly dedicated. Well done! I could use tips on how to get someone else to fillet your fish for you if you have any?

Umm, ask nicely?

[Angry51]

Good report Hamish.

You and Charlie certainly put the effort in and it's a 

good way to spend your holidays.

Beats stealing cars.

[charlie.hans.fishing]

5 hours ago, ellicat said:

Good trip with plenty of fish, fellas. Sounds like you would have caught a few more had the tides been a bit better for you.

Congratulations on the new PB, Charlie. Did you take a picture with something green ?

 

 

Thanks, Brian. I didn't bother as i knew some 60s model was already up on the leaderboard,and 3rd place would have been a very close contender to mine. 

[Kat]

Great report Hamish.  Sounds like a lot of fun on your holidays and you fished new areas?

Well done on the flatties @TheCharliefisho!

[Kat]

1 hour ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Umm, ask nicely?

Apparently he didn't ask nicely enough

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

51 minutes ago, Kat said:

Great report Hamish.  Sounds like a lot of fun on your holidays and you fished new areas?

Well done on the flatties @TheCharliefisho!

Thanks Kat, I'd fished there a few times before, but this was the first time catching some fish. 

 

1 hour ago, Angry51 said:

Good report Hamish.

You and Charlie certainly put the effort in and it's a 

good way to spend your holidays.

Beats stealing cars.

Thanks Angry. 

[charlie.hans.fishing]

1 hour ago, Kat said:

Great report Hamish.  Sounds like a lot of fun on your holidays and you fished new areas?

Well done on the flatties @TheCharliefisho!

Cheers Kat

[Bretto77]

4 hours ago, Kat said:

Apparently he didn't ask nicely enough

I haven't even been able to muster up the verbal tact to entice her out of bed today