queensland brisbane river session #261-#272

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi all,

Thought I would chuck up a report about my last few unsuccessful fishing trips in the Brissy River. The first session was a couple of Mondays ago, at a local jetty. I arrived at about 5 and got a bit of bait together, but the bite was slow to begin with. Fishing the low tide change, I was hopeful of a threadie, but unfortunately all I could manage was one pup bullie. It wasn't long until my mate came down, but the bite didn't seem to change. That was until he took a phone call, and a rather large fish picked up my live bony bream, swimming against the current before I set the hook. This increase in drag pressure didn't seem to phase what I assume was a rather large shark though, and it screamed off without stopped until the spool of my 5500 baitrunner reel was empty of all line. Bugger. No more bites were had after this. 

Stats:

Tide: 8:20AM, .6M, Low. 

Moon Phase: 63%

Bait Caught/Used

Fish Caught: Shark

Tackle Used: Okuma Coronado CDX 5500 on Silstar Crystal Powertip Rod, Shimano Baitrunner on Kmart rod, Shimano Stradic on Shimano Raider, Penn Live Liner on Ugly Stik. 30 and 15 pound braids, 50 pound/80 pound traces, size 6 ball or size 3 snapper sinkers. 6/o circle hooks and barrel swivels.

Air Pressure: 1008

Humidity: 80%

Overall Success Rate: 40% - hooked up to a big one at least

The next day I went fishing with @Thorbjorn Hale - the spot we went to initially had no bait so we went back to his usual spot, where there was still hardly any bait. I did manage two large mullet in a couple of casts which saved the session, so after we got them a couple of baits were lobbed out. Things started off slowly, with myself only catching one catty for the whole day, but Thorbjorn did hook up to two very large sharks, both of which jumped out (around 2 meters) but managed to get off before he could land them. We left at around 1ish, with no more fish coming in for the day. 

Stats:

Tide: 8:50AM, .9M, Low

Moon Phase: 54%

Bait Used/Caught: Mullet

Fish Caught: Catfish

Tackle Used: I used three 6000 baitrunners with 8 foot fibreglass rods, 30 pound braid, 50 pound trace, size 4 star sinkers, barrel swivels, 6/o circle hooks. 

Air Pressure: 1010

Humidity: 64%

Overall Success Rate: 40%

On Wednesday, I was back at that spot, with a heavy shark rod and a couple of live bait rods. First up, I sent out some mullet fillet, which brought an undersize grunter onto the jetty. Then, I caught a decent sized live mullet which I sent out on my shark rod, which seemed to remain untouched for quite a while. Thorbjorn arrived soon as well, and sent out some shark baits too. 

Eventually my mullet got some action, and upon undoing a tangle and checking my line it turned out I had a 52cm or so tailor on. This was cut into half and sent out as a bait, and it wasn't long before the pieces started getting munched up by pup bull sharks. Thorbjorn eventually landed one, a decent shark around the 80cm mark. Later in the session, he also sent out a herring, and after about two minutes of fishing he pulled in a very solid 95cm thready. Nice!

Stats:

Tide: 10:00AM, 1M, Low

Moon Phase: 44%

Bait Caught/Used: Mullet, tailor, herring

Fish Caught: I got grunter, tailor, Thorbjorn got shark, threadfin

Air Pressure: 1010

Humidity: 61%

Tackle Used: I used a Penn Spinfisher 8500 and 15-24KG Savage Gear Salt rod, Penn Liveliner on Uglystik, and Shimano Sedona on Abu Garcia Nexus. 50 pound trace or wire trace, size 4 star sinkers, 6/o circle hooks, barrel swivels. 

Overall Success Rate: 70% - a few bites. 

On Thursday, I was at the same spot again, trying for a big shark. Bait collecting was successful for once, with myself managing 6 big mullet in one cast, which was enough to fish for the whole day. Thorbjorn and I sent some pieces out on our shark rods, and strips out on our lighter rods. There isn't really much to say about the days fishing, apart from the fact I caught one pike eel and the bite was very slow. I headed off a bit after midday again to get to work, and got my gear ready to go fishing the next day. 

Stats:

Tide: 11:20AM, 1M, Low

Moon Phase: 35%

Bait Caught/Used: Mullet

Fish Caught: Pike eel

Air Pressure: 1011

Humidity: 69%

Tackle Used: I used a Penn Spinfisher 8500 and 15-24KG Savage Gear Salt rod, Penn Liveliner on Uglystik, and Shimano Sedona on Abu Garcia Nexus. 50 pound trace or wire trace, size 4 star sinkers, 6/o circle hooks, barrel swivels. 

Overall Success Rate: 20%

That Friday and Saturday, I was away camping at Mt Barney, which was good, but I didn't catch any fish in the small creek nearby our campsite. 

On Sunday, my Dad and I launched into a spot in the river we hadn't kayaked before. There was heaps of bait skipping around when we got there, but the first half an hour was pretty unsuccessful with no touches on our lures. A while after that, we decided to go and catch some livebait - about half a dozen prime size poddy mullet made their way into our cast net bucket, and we continued fishing lures now with an unweighted livie swimming out the back. This to was unsuccessful, and at about 9:00AM we headed off defeated with a big donut. 

Stats:

Tide: 9:50AM, 2.1M, High. 

Moon Phase: 10%

Air Pressure: 1010

Humidity: 71%

Tackle Used: Shimano Stradic and Raider, Shimano Curado and Cranx rod. 15 and 20 pound mainlines, 30 pound leaders. 

Bait/Lure Used: Zerek pyra, Atomic slim twitcher, soft vibes, live mullet

Fish Caught: - 

Overall Success Rate: 20%

On Monday, I was back fishing with Thorbjorn at his spot. I arrived a bit before seven to some rather dirty water, which was a bit of a surprise. This did mean I managed to catch a couple of bony bream in the cast net, and seeing as though I already had some spare this meant we had a decent amount of bait. Another fisho caught a stingray and catfish early up, but I only got off the donut with an eel and a toadfish later in the day. Around tide change I also caught two pup bull sharks, but unluckily didn't manage any bigger models. I headed off late in the arvo and got my stuff ready for fishing the next day.

Stats:

Tide: 8:45AM, 2.5M, High, 3:10PM, .7M, Low. 

Moon Phase: 5%

Bait Caught/Used: Live mullet, herring, prawns, bony bream

Fish Caught: Sharks, toadfish, eel

Air Pressure: 1010

Humidity: 59%

Tackle Used: I used a Penn Spinfisher 8500 and 15-24KG Savage Gear Salt rod, Penn Liveliner on Uglystik, and Shimano Sedona on Abu Garcia Nexus. 50 pound trace or wire trace, size 4 star sinkers, 6/o circle hooks, barrel swivels. 

Overall Success Rate: 30% - a couple of bites

On Tuesday I just went for a morning session at high tide at one of my local spots, targeting threadies and sharks. I got a bit of bait relatively quickly, although the bonies were a bit smaller than what I would've liked using. Despite this, I lobbed a mixture of baits out, and waited for a bite (which seemed non-existent). Eventually, I hooked up to something - a fat catty. At around 10AM I headed home feeling a bit defeated with the complete lack of fish.  

Stats:

Tide: 10:00AM, 2.3M, High

Moon Phase: 1%

Bait Caught/Used: Live bony bream and poddy mullet

Fish Caught: Catfish

Air Pressure: 1011

Humidity: 59%

Overall Success Rate: 10%

The next day, I was lucky enough to be able to go out in Thorbjorn's boat. We launched at Jindalee, and gathered some livies for the first bit of the fishing session. It wasn't long before we had a few bony bream and mullet, and we were anchored at the first spot. Here, Thorbjorn caught a shark before it went a bit quiet around high tide change, so we went up and tried two different spots. These were unsuccessful, so we went down to the Jindalee Bridge, where Thorbjorn caught another shark. 

A while later we were back at the starting spot. Here, I caught two sharks and we also had a few more missed bites. Overall, it was a great day fishing, thanks again for taking me out on the boat @Thorbjorn Hale. 

Stats:

Tide: 11:00AM, 2.4M, High. 

Moon Phase: New Moon

Bait Caught/Used: Live mullet and bony bream

Fish Caught: Sharks x 4, Catfish x 2

Air Pressure: 1010

Humidity: 67%

Overall Success Rate: 60% - fun boat day

On Thursday, I was fishing with a mate from school at a spot I hadn't been to in a while. Upon arriving, it took us about half an hour to get a few livies, but after that we were fishing. It was only five minutes before the first bait got something alright on it. My mate took the rod, but to my disappointment (he was still pretty excited), a rather large pike eel surfaced. It got tangled in my dilly quite badly, so I decided to keep it for shark bait. After that, the fishing only got worse, and we landed several small catties and another eel before calling it quits in the arvo. 

Stats:

Tide: 11:00AM, 2.4M, High

Moon Phase: 2%

Bait Caught/Used: Live mullet, bony bream, anchovies, ponyfish

Fish Caught: Pike eels and catties

Air Pressure: 1007

Humidity: 85%

Overall Success Rate: 50% - no donut

On Friday I was back at one of my local spots, seeing if I could get a more desirable fish (answer, no I couldn't). I got a nice size school of poddies at the top of the jetty walkway, and decided that would be my bait for the day. It wasn't long before I was also on the first shark of the day, and then another one which jumped out, and then a third one. The bite went a bit quiet as the rising tide really started to rip in, so I called it quits after that and rode my bike home at about 11:00AM. 

Stats:

Tide: 5:30AM, .2M, Low. 

Moon Phase: 6.3%

Bait Caught/Used: Live mullet

Air Pressure: 1003

Humidity: 72%

Fish Caught: Sharks

Overall Success Rate: 30% - no donut

Not being able to catch anything in the salt, my Dad and I decided to go bass fishing on Saturday morning. We got up nice and early and arrived at the spot a bit after first light, greeted with a very muddy track. We slid through spider webs and on the mud but eventually made it down to the first spot, where I got snagged but overcasting twice (not awake) but retrieved my lure, before my Dad and I moved on to a different spot. Here, my Dad got a decent bass first cast, and I got two in the next few minutes, but then the surface bite died down a bit (bass were around 30-40cm). We continued with surface for a while longer, before I switched to a Duo Shad and proceeded to catch 4 bass up to about 40cm, including one of which I caught on the way back of swimming out to get my lure from a snag. 

Biggest thanks goes to my Dad for swimming into over head high water to retrieve my Cicada after I did a dodgy cast. 

Stats:

Tide: Low

Moon Phase: 13%

Lures Used: Cicadas and Duo Shad

Air Pressure: 1002

Humidity: 82%

Overall Success Rate: 60% - got a few bass

The last session of this report was yesterday, at a local jetty again. I got there a bit after 5:30AM, and although bait was slow I still managed to get a few livies together. I hooked up onto the first shark of the day, but it snipped through my 30 pound leader, and then my mate got two, one of which bit him off as it got close to the jetty. Later in the session, as the tide changed, a got a 55cm or so catty on a 20cm mullet, which was surprising, and then called it quits at about 11. Overall, it was another pretty average session.

Stats:

Tide: 6:15AM, .2M, Low

Moon Phase: 22%

Bait Caught/Used: Live bony bream and mullet

Fish Caught: Sharks, catfish

Air Pressure: Moderate-high

Humidity: Moderate

Overall Success Rate: 20%

Thanks for reading, sorry for the long and unsuccessful report, hopefully I'll catch something this week. Gave it a break today for the first time this holidays but will go and try and catch an eel this arvo. 

Cheers Hamish. 

[Old Scaley]

Good to see you getting all the donuts out of the way before the Suburbs of Origin kicks off. . We need to team up in January for a no bait session targeting jacks on that rock wall. Might be another donut but would be fun. 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

13 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

Good to see you getting all the donuts out of the way before the Suburbs of Origin kicks off. . We need to team up in January for a no bait session targeting jacks on that rock wall. Might be another donut but would be fun. 

Sounds great to me Steve. It would definitely be a lot more fun than most of those sessions lol.

[Thorbjorn Hale]

We’ve had a few good sessions recently Hamish but we’re a bit short of the 6 threadies in six weeks plan haha

[Rebel]

Top reports.

Well done.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

On 19/12/2023 at 12:18 AM, Thorbjorn Hale said:

We’ve had a few good sessions recently Hamish but we’re a bit short of the 6 threadies in six weeks plan haha

Thanks Thorbjorn. Hopefully we turn it around soon.

On 19/12/2023 at 9:12 AM, Rebel said:

Top reports.

Well done.

Thanks Rebel

[ellicat]

A few sessions saved by some bullies. A 50+ tailor is a good fish for the river.