Mud Island Session

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi all

Yesterday arvo/evening, Charlie (@TheCharliefisho) and myself were lucky enough to be invited out for a fish on Brian's (@ellicat) boat in the bay, targeting some Mud Island snapper. After launching a little after 1PM at Manly, we were jigging for pike by half past one in a calm Moreton Bay. I was on the baitjig first, and despite a couple of pretty promising shows on the sounder, all that I could manage on the jig were some small to just undersize Moses Perch and some unknown small reef fish. After jigging for a good half hour, the decision was made to start fishing. Whiting was the bait of choice for the heavy rods, and cuttlefish was what we used to start with on our light bottom fishing rods. The tide was still moving pretty fast, but it wasn't long until I had the first fish of the day on the boat - an undersize Moses Perch. I think Charlie and Brian also caught some undersize squire, and maybe a grassy and tusky or two at this spot as well (all undersize). It is worth noting Brian had a pilly floating out the back, but this remained untouched. Eventually, we decided to try for some pike again, and then reposition for the late arvo/dusk bite.

It had gotten a bit windier, but there still wasn't a heap of chop as the tide and wind were blowing the same direction. Charlie had a go on the bait jig now, and once again we found a lot of baitfish and pike on the sounder. Unfortunately, apart from some more unknown reef fish, there were no pike eating the jig. Charlie also hooked up to a fish on the jig which put up a bit of a fight, and we were all surprised to see a legal Painted Sweetlip surface, which was kept for dinner.

Painted Sweetlip

We tried jigging for bait for a bit longer, and saw a couple of bustups as well, but soon enough decided to go and anchor up at a slightly different spot for the high tide/dusk bite. After losing a bit of tackle to a snag (the group of us started to land a few little fish), I changed my rig to a tiny ball sinker with a 3/o or so hook on my light rod, and a 6/o circle hook with a 00 ball sinker on my heavier rod. As the sun began to creep down, the fish came on the bite, and it wasn't long before we began pulling in an assortment of squire and grassies, and I think even a couple of tuskies at one point too. Unluckily for us (lucky for the fish), all of the fish we landed were undersize, apart from a bream Brian got early on that would've been 30-35CM (released). 

During this period, there were plenty of bites, meaning it was a bit hard to keep track of exactly what happened when. A few highlights were when Charlie hooked up to something a bit bigger on his light rod which managed to reef him after a couple of runs, and myself hooking something pretty large on my heavy setup, which took a few rather fast runs before my braid snapped (or as others on the boat would attest to my FG knot gave way ). I believe Brian was also busted off at least once by something alright as well. As it got dark, the bites were still very active, and after getting snagged another time on my heavy rod I chose to just fish with my light line. I was floating the bait out the back of the boat and trying to keep my reel in freespool, and although I missed some fish doing this, I did land about three squire and a couple grassies, all of which were a few centimeters undersize to barely undersize. 

At about 7:00PM, we decided to head back into the ramp. Overall, even though we didn't catch the biggest fish, it was a fun arvo/evening on the water with plenty of bites. Thanks heaps for taking us out Brian, hope you didn't mind having us along! 

Quick Stats:

Tide: High tide was sometime around 6PM. 

Moon Phase: 68%, there was a fair bit of run

Bait Caught and Used: Used whiting, cuttlefish, prawns, pillies. 

Tackle Used: I used a 3000 Shimano Stradic on a Shimano Raider Snapper 4-7KG, and a 4000 Shimano Symetre on a Ugly Stik Gold 2-4KG 8 foot rod. Both reels had 15 pound braid on them and leaders were 15 pound and 30 pound. I used circle hooks and ball sinkers from 00-3 ball. Brian and Charlie had similar rigs and setups. 

Other Notes: It got a bit windy mid way through the session but calmed off again back to great conditions later in the arvo and evening. 

Overall Success Rate: 41% - fun session on the bay, didn't land any monsters but plenty of bites. 

Thanks for reading,

Cheers Hamish  

[Angry51]

Looks like a fun trip even though not a good catching one.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

3 minutes ago, Angry51 said:

Looks like a fun trip even though not a good catching one.

Thanks Angry. We caught lots, just not quite the right size.

[Bretto77]

I feel like I have forgotten how to tie on and bait a hook... At least there was plenty of activity. Sounds like you were just a bit unlucky. 

[ellicat]

I think we had fun, which is half the battle when fishing. There were some decent legals with those reefings, for sure.

8 hours ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Overall Success Rate: 41%

8 hours ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Thanks heaps for taking us out Brian, hope you didn't mind having us along! 

You're good fishing buddies. Always good to have you guys onboard. Thanks for coming along and for bringing the dietary delights.

 

 

[Neil Stratford]

Much better than the alternative of staying home and watching the grass grow.Don’t despair I recon it’s always hard to catch fish during a spell of westerly winds , 

regards

Neil

[charlie.hans.fishing]

Thanks for the great report Hamish, and thanks for taking us out Brian. It was a fun afternoon, despite the disappointment of losing those better fish.

 

 

[Bretto77]

2 hours ago, Neil Stratford said:

Much better than the alternative of staying home and watching the grass grow.Don’t despair I recon it’s always hard to catch fish during a spell of westerly winds , 

regards

Neil

I never found westerlies great.

[Bretto77]

5 hours ago, ellicat said:

Overall Success Rate: 41%

That's fairly specific

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

16 hours ago, Bretto77 said:

I feel like I have forgotten how to tie on and bait a hook... At least there was plenty of activity. Sounds like you were just a bit unlucky. 

Thanks Brett.

10 hours ago, ellicat said:

I think we had fun, which is half the battle when fishing. There were some decent legals with those reefings, for sure.

You're good fishing buddies. Always good to have you guys onboard. Thanks for coming along and for bringing the dietary delights.

 

 

Thanks Brian. 

7 hours ago, Neil Stratford said:

Much better than the alternative of staying home and watching the grass grow.Don’t despair I recon it’s always hard to catch fish during a spell of westerly winds , 

regards

Neil

Sure is Neil. My Uncle always used to say the same thing about Westerlies.

4 hours ago, TheCharliefisho said:

Thanks for the great report Hamish, and thanks for taking us out Brian. It was a fun afternoon, despite the disappointment of losing those better fish.

 

 

No worries Charlie, it was a fun arvo for sure. 
 

[Another Wazza]

41% success rate huh, haha, oh your a hard taskmaster Hamish, I can only guess that if you landed a legal Squire that percentage would’ve increased to at least 60?, Hahahaha, nice work though 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

1 hour ago, Another Wazza said:

41% success rate huh, haha, oh your a hard taskmaster Hamish, I can only guess that if you landed a legal Squire that percentage would’ve increased to at least 60?, Hahahaha, nice work though 

It definitely would’ve. 

Benno made a prediction on the success rate and it was pretty accurate. Obviously, I couldn’t have him getting it exactly right though .