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Yeah we’d planned on doing a much bigger trip than we did, we had some serious engine dramas and spent most of the trip in limp mode. This was combined with a broken marine radio which made this interesting to say the least Especially as the dramas started 100km offshore. Most importantly we made it home safely. Worst part was the motor was serviced two days before the trip ( specifically for the trip) and radio was three weeks old. We didn’t get to fish our big red grounds but thanks to some bush mechanics and luckily having good tools and spares on board we still had a great trip considering. I CANT stress enough to anyone undertaking long range trips how important it is to be prepared for the worst and have a good understanding of your equipment the weather and the grounds you are heading to. We were able to do the majority of our fishing on anchor in the shallows withIn protection of the reef Or at least in sight of it. Then it was a matter waiting it out two nights for a break in weather for the run home. We spoke to another boat we knew out there who was heading home on Monday and gave them the track we would be taking home (as we had zero radio comms) and left four hours before them as we were at fairly lows speeds. Knowing if engine totally gave up the ghost we could drop anchor and wait for them to come by. This option was probably a result of good karma as on day one that other boat had busted a hydraulic steering line and luckily we had a few litres of hydraulic steering fluid to give to them and some hose clamps which saved their trip. Keep in mind both boats are well maintained and always serviced and regularly checked over before big trips so it can happen at any time. And last but not least on night one our gas mate cooker with a Brand new freshly opened canister started spewing flames at a rate of knots directly from where the canister connects to the cooker so was promptly sent for a permanent time out at Davey Jones’s locker, as with 300 litres of petrol on the deck this was NOT good . So it was cornchip an salsa sandwiches and a couple of skipped meals for the next day and a half( not ideal in the middle of winter) in conclusion with high spirits and a bit of know how we still had a really good trip which could have been so much worse we managed three reds, twenty one trout, 1 gold band and then a good mixed bag of lipper parrot and some nice coral tomato and Māori cods. So the fishing front was pretty great! ( I’ll get my big red next time !!) anyways enough dramas here’s some pics enjoy and stay safe !!!

Hey everyone! Just an update. It's been a while since I've drifted onto here, but it crossed my mind. Plenty of familiar members and many new ones it seems! What a community. Anyways I work for QFES now at straddie part time after over a year of training and study, and also a barista on the side. This leaves lots of spare time for fishing and gardening (I try to be self sufficient with about half of my meals). To aid in this I've purchased a brand new offshore kayak weapon! Coulda bought a boat with that money but it falls into place with my sustainability project; I can go out for free if I'm hungry A few pics from recent times

Went to the doc last monday with a sinus problem, bleeding from the nose, had it a hundred times. Result you better have a covid test, next result you are in lockdown until you get more results. Next result a phonecall 5pm friday, all clear. I blxxdy knew that,OH well it gave my sore back a chance for a rest.Now planning next fishing trip, you ripper.

Hey guys My mate (who is a keen paddler) has been pushing my dad and me to go for a paddle with his dad and him for the last while. Dad hasn't been available recently, as he is busy with work and cub scouts (he's a leader), but this week he decided to do it! We met at the local park and after I had caught some live bait we left. The livies consisted off prawns, mainly smaller buggers, but there were a couple OK ones in there too. I had three rods - one with a simple running sinker rig, one with a swivel, and one with a special hardbody lure (more on that later). They looked appealing to me, but not so much to the fish The plan was to go to the nearest bridge (a bit over 3 clicks away) so we set off. The tide was going out, and we were going downstream, so it worked quite well. Quickly, we were at the large feeder creek that we have named 'Three Pylon Creek', as there are three pylons at the front of it. I need to fish it more, but the few catfish I have pulled up from there fight like bloody salmon! We went down the bend next, and then saw my school pontoon. I won the bet against my dad as well as he thought we weren't going to reach it. Sooner than later, we were at the bridge. There is actually a sandy beach there, so we put the lines in the yak and waited with our live prawns. My friend and dad (and friends' dad) starting having some races in the kayaks while I just kept fishing. I had one throw of the cast net eventually but to no avail. There was a drop off just on the edge of the bank, which I hoped would make the fishing better. It was a bit weird taking one step then getting knee deep, but it was only a scouting mission. This spot seems like it would go OK to fish from a rising/run out, and tie up to one of the big bridge pylons. Hopefully then we could catch a big salmon, or something along the lines of that. You'd have to think there'd be big cod sitting near the pylons too.. The set up #relax I think it's a bit eroded here!!! It is also worth a mention that this place used to have a ferry terminal or something along the lines of that. I have read on this forum people have caught threadfins here, but on the jetty that was here prior 2011 floods. If anyone wants to know the bridge, I'll just PM you... but anyone who's been on for a long time might know from this hint - Cobia. My dad gave the net a couple throws too, and it seems there is a lot of bait there. In two throws, he got a bunch of big glassies, some mullet, bream, and even a little whiting! Soon it was time to reel the lines back in, but just as I was about to reel the light one in it got some nibbles. I missed them though, and when I retrieved the bait it was now headless. Oh well! The salmon line still had it's larger prawn perfectly intact, so it was a bit disappointing I couldn't just chuck it back out. The 3Km paddle back to the park was nice and relaxing, and I didn't have any back pains like I did on the way there. I paddled for the whole time straight, which got us there a bit quicker and allowed us to compete with our mates in surf skis! I chucked the lines out back on the jetty, and once again, no fish. The one is the cod spot got pickered though, but I guess I won't know if it would've been worth fishing this arvo. We left for home then, and I gave the yak a quick hose off and put the gear around the side to pack up tomorrow. On a side note (thought I'd tell everyone), we got a new car! The suba is gone now though, so that is a bit sad... The only thing is with the new car, we hate the smell of the leather? Or something like that. I was just thinking as well, there are a few different yakkers on the forum! @Leosonfire, @Cavvy, @benno573, @samsteele115... (probably more I can't think of right now). Maybe a social trip to Wello Point or something along the lines of that guys? (Or anywhere better for our locations..) I hope you all enjoyed the report, and let's hope that we don't have to go back into isolation due to COVID-19 or something along the lines of that. Here are the stats of this report - Stats of trip - Tide: High, 9:50AM, 1.7M, Low, .3M, 3:50pm, High, 10:40PM, 2.4M Moon Phase: First quarter moon, nearly full moon - lots of run Air Pressure: 1026 Tackle Used: 12lb, 14lb, 30lb braid mainlines, 20lb, 30lb fluorocarbon leaders, 80lb mono trace, size 4/o circle and suicide hooks, size 6 and 2 ball sinkers, custom made hardbody lure (approx. 3-4cm), size 2500 Shimano and Diawa Nasci and Shinobi, Size 650 Penn reel, Ugly Stik 8" rod, 6"6' Vemonet rod, Rogue Firepoint boat rod (6"6'). The hardbody lure was given to me by a good friend's dad. I was at his party, and since his dad makes lures, he made one for me! I will post a picture up when I get the chance. It is a deep diving hardbody, probably good for bream, bass, and maybe even lizards! Bait used: Live prawn Bait caught: Prawn, mullet, glassy, whiting Fish caught: - Time fished: 3 (something) until 4 (something) Weather: Glassy, no wind, moderate temp Overall Success Rate: 70% - a good scouting mission Cheers Hamish

Day 2 Met up with Leon @Leosonfire at Manly at 8am and we launched and headed straight to Wello again. Leon was first on board with a nice Moses Perch just under legal. Then the little mackerel were around again but not in great numbers. After we had both been snipped a few times without landing one we decided to move onto Mud and deploy the anchor (with fingers crossed). We were entertained here for a while with nibbles from little squire. In amongst that we landed a few tuskies, slipping two of the slippery suckers into the esky. Someone also managed a good (is that possible) sized grinner. I won't say who but it wasn't me. Having reached what I thought was the peak bite period, we moved on to the Rous. We reached our destination and I checked my Garmin fishing almanac and realised the bite period was not finishing for a few more minutes. Damn, we had wasted fishing time traveling for half hour. Oh well. The usual plan of attack was made to float pillies for macks and entertain ourselves with some whiting whilst waiting. Someone forgot to let the fish know the plan. The whiting were giving inconsistent nibbles infrequently and, in the name of Truth Telling, I landed a baby grinner. The shame of it. One of the mack lines saw some attention but I don't think it was from a mack, instead it was pickered by something too small for 4/0 gangs. Beautiful day on the water again with conditions perfect in the morning with the Bay glassed out. The usual afternoon chop was setting in for the ride home. It was great having you onboard, Leon, especially as you didn't throw away my anchor like @Old Scaley did yesterday. haha Look forward to another session soon.

My son and i headed out this morning for another snapper session. Although this time we decided to change it up a bit, so we left our normal spots alone, and also this was a catch and release session. The challenge was on to try some new ground even closer to the boat ramp and we both decided we were only going to use little 2-4kg bream rods with 8 pound line. I had found some interesting spots on Google Maps at home the other night, so after a short 10 minute trip from the ramp we arrived and sounded around and settled on the likely spot. Baited up our little Shimano Raider bream rods and little Sienna reels, sat back and before too long the little reels are peeling line off ! We managed four Snapper between 60cm and 74cm and then ran out of bait but had a ball, and needless to say we have a new mark to fish at and to research ☺ All fish were sent back down to swim another day.

Hi guys, been a long time between drinks here on the forum, have been busy fishing and diving around the place. thought id start to throw a few reports up on here. Have had a mad few months moving house, travelling and fishing all over the place but ill start with a little session I had in Airlie beach. This was mainly a bait collection mission to collect a few barra baits, everyone in FNQ knows how tastey a snake head gudgeon / mud cod is to a big barra, so what better way to spend an afternoon in Airlie beach than with my head burried into my phone on google maps, searching for a likely creek that might hold a few. Didn't take me long on satalite view to find a few small pockets of water and away I went. I chose to take a 6ft Nordic stage dynamic F1 in 10lb with a 2000 caldia, anyone whos been around these forums for a while will remember the craze with Angus and Henry with the Nordic stage rods, and I still rate these small light rods very highly for fishing small creeks and native species. I managed to find a good few of these awesome coloured fish in a few decent sized pools in the heart of Airlie beach, stay tuned to see the results when they get rigged up under a balloon and floated into a barra lair.!!! tight lines for now! Callum Im not too sure how to upload videos, I must have forgotten as its been a while since posting here but ill work it out again soon.

I rocked up to Cooktown jettie around 5pm with some servo sardines/phillies and some small suicide hooks a type of fishing I rarely do .went with some people that were staying near us .took my 6lb braid and leader setup and my 3-8lb rod first cast got a fish line snapped second cast got a big butter bream no photos for that one .3rd cast got a huge run and a few headshakes after a 2 minute fight I landed a decent queenfish and then another cast after that got a slightly smaller one . A few cast later I land some small Moses perch . After that the bite slowed down and the light did to it was now dark I spotted a big squid I casted my phillie at the squid it picked up the bait and ate It I set the hook as I’m bring up the squid I pull the hook on it and it flops back into the water I go back fishing for fish now as I drop my bait into the dark water I wait and then get a massive run I set the hook and get a massive run and huge headshakes bigger then the queenfish also note after I caught the queenfish I switched to 10lb leader to avoid losing fish after another big run I pull the hook on the fish but some bait is still on the hook a cast in roughly where I lost the fish get a run and set the hook I feel nothing I bring my line to see no hook left it snapped the line clean I retie and bait up and quickly get another run I bring up a pike . After that not much action then all of the sudden I go to bring up my bait I feel like Im stuck to the bottom at first I thought it was a snag but this snag started moving and then running and then I started walking around the jettie like a mad man as I have no control over this fish after a bit of walking around the jettie walking closer to the fish as it was moving fast along the jettie Like I said I had no control over this monster I it started get closer to another jettie I tried pulling but it was useless my drag was super tight and it was still running eventually my braid just snapped . Some people said it was a crocodile another said it was giant grouper but what ever it was I didn’t move it by a single inch it was giant after packing up I go pass the spot where my line snapped and I see this giant probably 2 maybe almost 3 metres grouper . And I’m pretty sure that was it and yea I didn’t take any more photos after the Moses perch .fishing session ended at 7:50 overall a pretty decent session I was the only one that caught fish on the jettie besides a bloke catching a few pike and some kid catching baby Moses perch

I know it has been mentioned many times in posts on this forum but I thought it might be worthwhile to make a separate topic letting everyone know that we have now entered the one month closure for snapper and pearl perch in Qld. A mate who is not on this or other fishing forums called me yesterday to see when we were going snapper hunting and that made me realise that it would be easy to miss these changes. Let’s hope it has the desired effect long term. Here is further info. http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2020/7/2/snapper-and-pearl-perch-spawning-closure

If everyone would just catch hardly any of them like I do, there'd be heaps of them ..........

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Hi all Today was the day I had my charter for my b'day. It was at the Gold Coast, around the Jumpinpin/GC Seaway area. I was fishing onboard Coastal Spot Fishing Safaris, which is owned by Thomas Seabach. It was my third time going out with him. We certainly had our hopes high, as each other time it had been great fishing. Here is a link to their website - http://www.coastalsportsfishing.com.au/ I went to bed early last night so I could wake up early, as we were driving there in the morning. I managed to wake myself twice over the night, once at 11:00PM, and the other time at 3:30AM. My clock eventually went off though, at 4:30AM. After preparing everything, we were out of the house by five. It took a bit over an hour to get there, and we were eventually at the Runaway Bay boat ramp, waiting for Thomas. He got there, at 6:30AM on the dot, and we were on the water at about quarter to seven. The first part of the day was to catch live bait. We motored into the first location, and saw some rises, but unfortunately after he did a few casts of the net we had nothing, so to the next canal we went. Yep, you guessed it - nothing after about 20 more minutes in this canal... We finally found an OK spot, up one of the side canals. As well as herring, there were some big mullet being chased, and something really big chasing them. Jack? Trevally? Bait was eventually caught, which consisted of some big herring and a lone silver biddy. We motored out to the first spot, the GC Seaway (mouth). It wasn't very nice here, but I was feeling OK. I dropped the first bait down, and in about ten minutes, I got a good hit. It either spat the hook, or I pulled the hook, but no hook hooked it. I was told it was most likely to be a jew, because of the strike. Bugger! I really wanted a legal jew today. Something far smaller began picking it after, and I set my circle hook in the mouth of a bream. It wasn't that big, 26cm, but we like our bream, and while we get little meat off it, it is still good. I quickly pulled up another one, but it was to borderline to keep so back he went. My dad had still gotten nothing - surprising. This spot we normally pull up lots of big, solid, breambos but right now, it was quiet. At least i got something! I started to feel sick, and since it was just us onboard, and i was told to go back if I even felt slightly crook, we reeled our lines in and went to drift for flatties. My dad's line actually had a small one on, which turned out to be a sand flathead. Cool! That was the first one of them I've ever seen. At flatty spot number one, we managed a grand total of... Nothing! The guide was flicking a little blade, while we were still drifting. He managed a couple though. A flatty, one or two centimetres under legal size, and a flounder, which unfortunately spat the hook as it was coming into the boat. The next spot was similar for us, but there was still some action. Thomas was getting the odd hit on his lure, and while I was caught off guard my line went off. I missed the strike completely though, and lost what would've been an OK fish. Sigh! The last spot we shot off to was another flat area. Thomas said there is good structure, weed patches, that is. That means it's good for squid, as well as flatties. We started our drift, and down went our live herrings. It was quiet for quite a while, and we had some choc-chip biccies, but then I got a hit. I struck hard, and probably started pulling up my catch to eagerly. It just so happens this was a squid, and the second it saw us, it dropped the hook . It was apparently an OK one too. (Thomas saw it). I love calamari. That was disappointing. We kept up the drift though, and in the last five minutes of the days session, I struck, and I WAS ON! Woohoo. A short fight ensured an OK flatty coming up, which looked very borderline legal. We measured it, and it was 38cm... Ahh, that was disappointing. One keeper for the whole day! It wasn't happy to see us - tried to run away from the boat twice! (On the surface!). We got back to the ramp, and I took out the left over herring (not many) for freezer baits. We chucked the bream and herring in the esky, and after saying thank you and our goodbye's to Thomas, we went on the journey home. It really was a nice day out. Just enough wind to keep us at a good temperature, good boat, good food... The only disappointing thing was that we struck out on the fish . Me looking depressed with a 26cm keeper I cleaned the fish when I got home, which is pretty hard when it is so small. In hindsight, I should've scaled, gutted, and just kept the rest of the body on the maximise meat but I knocked some fillets off and did a dodgy bone removal job. I need to improve my filleting! (Tomorrow's dinner) Here are the stats of the trip - Trip stats - Tide: High tide, 8:35AM, 1.26M, Low tide, 3:10PM, .37M Moon Phase: 56% full, so not the strongest run Tackle used: I'm unsure on most of it, but we had large-small ball sinkers (depending on current), small circle hooks, and small lines. Fish caught: Yellowfin Bream x 2, Sand Flathead x 1, Dusky Flathead x 2, Flounder x 1 Bait caught: Herring and biddy Bait used: Herring Water Temp: 17.5 degrees Celsius Air Pressure: 1017 Overall Success Rate: 50% - A good day out at least Hope you all enjoyed this report, because it'd done now. We certainly didn't do as good as expected, but at least we got onto a couple of fish in the whole day. Sadly for me, my hols are over, but they's been great fun, with lots of fishing... Oh yeah, and there are still three mor BR sessions to be reported (not that they are that exciting though). Cheers Hamish

Took my son and my grandson out for a fish this morning.It was a costly exercise, my grandson hit the end of the rod he was using while trying to net a lousy catfish for his father. Result rod overboard and poppy $200 out of pocket,last 2 trips he done with me only cost $30 each time for tangled braid.Anyway we had a good morning with bass, yellabelly,catfish and even a lungy. Dino P1000359.MP4

Twas a miserable wet and windy morning out at NPD, it rained the whole time I was on the water. Rain coat usually last for about 2 hours before it starts leaking, then the cold sets in,so soon as I got home it was straight into the shower, followed by a big bowl of home made chicken soup (not like the bought one where the chicken walks through the soup, this was full of chicken.) Managed 26 bass, casting,jigging and trolling and a couple on shrimp. Dino

Well I’ve been trying to get away all year to 1770 and beyond and something always gets in the way but it’s looking like this weekend might be a goer fingers crossed. Anyone else heading up??

Series of action shots of a Hinze eagle taking a barred grunter taken by Neal last week.

So we headed out from Manly around 8 o'clock and headed straight to Wello. First spot saw us getting pickered by something too small for 3/0's so we moved in a little shallower where the bites were better but we were worse. Fish were leading about 4 to nil when @shaun1800 finally avoided the donut boating an undersize grassie. Tick 1 off the species list as this was the target for here. Fish continued to rack up a score against us so decided to head to the Rous where @Drop Bear pointed me this morning saying the mackerel were still on the chew.. So we arrived at the Rous and deployed our lines with pillies under a float and proceeded to berley up. The current wasn't ripping through but was a good steady pace. To wile away the waiting we deployed our light gear hoping for some whiting to stock the bait freezer. They played the game sporadically amongst some rock whiting, tarwhine, tiddler squire and other little creatures I can't remember (or choose not to....grinner). I replaced my pillie at one stage with a whiptail hoping a bit of movement might help us. After about 2 hours of being patient we upped anchor and headed towards Fisherman's Gutter where we drifted a line about 5 times collecting a few whiting each drift to add to the esky. I also managed to hook this beast on the retrieve - Not the size I was after but another target species ticked off. A beautiful calm day in the Bay with crystal clear water. Not so good for fishing but great for the soul. Hope you workers enjoyed work today... Thanks for the day @shaun1800. Welcome aboard again if you dare.

Just FYI we are making a lot of shellfish (oyster) reefs in Moreton Bay so that the fishing will be better for our next generation. Every hectare of reef that we restore "produces" 2.5 ton of harvestable fish every year forever. Every adult oyster filters 180 ltrs of water every day. All the algae sediment and micro plastics etc are filtered out and stored on the sea floor. They are pretty awesome. If you are keen to learn more or get involved let me know.

Lets hope it works well for the future and our Children's Kids get to enjoy these magnificent fish .

After reports on FB about winter whiting on the chew headed over to rous/small ships channel. Launched from Manly @1st light (6ish). Tide was running out at start of session but turn of tide was only a few hours later. Have found that ideal scenario is first light, incoming tide and either wind or current pushing our drift about 0.5-1knot so our guess was the bite would be hot around from 7 to 9am So we pulled up in the middle of spot x and we were straight on. For the next hour and half the action was non stop, between me and my partner we ran three rods, two in the water and one in the boat with whiting to be dehooked and rebaited. We started with peeled prawns but bite was too hot and swapped to squid which was being readily taken as well as Berkeley red worms. (I run 3 droppers). Action was hectic and as we were out at first light only a handful of boats around. By about 9am we had 60 in the bucket. By this time quite a few more boats probably grown to 30 boats. Even with all the boats we could see everyone was catching just not at the same rate from earlier in the morning. We decided 60 was enough to fillet and also we like to our whiting fresh. We left the the whiting still on the bite but I was was keen on having to constantly adjust my drift with so many boats around. Could have continued fishing but Back at the ramp by 12pm no ramp rage to be seen . Sorry no photos other then what we cooked up for lunch. So good and fresh as.... Tight lines. hweebe

Hey all, Got out the other arvo before the wind was forecasted to blow again from the south Headed for the Northern side of Mud hoping to get a snapper for a feed whilst the kids are on school holidays. Anchored up about 3pm and put some burley out and set some baits. Tide was running just nicely to float some baits back in to a little bommie in 8m of water. Didnt have to wait long as I was floating the 2nd bait back it got picked up by a good fish. Set the hooks and this one ran straight for the boat, few tense moments with the rear anchor but managed to get the net under her and fish on the deck. She went 6.1kg and about modn80cm Quick picture and straight to the esky. Decky and I thought to ourselves. Could be a hectic session. Next 2hrs nothing but catfish, 5pm came round and the wind has died off and the tide was ripping so we started cleaning and sorting the boat before dark to make the trip back to the ramp... As normal. You take your attention away from fishing and my rod goes off again. This fish ran hard for the bommie and had me tied up on 30lb gear for a minute but managed to get him out . Netted and straight in the esky. As by this stage im late for a 6.30pm appointment. . Glassed out bay made it to the ramp bang on 6pm and home at 6.30 as promised for the wife. pic below of the 2nd fish, one on the rod trying to get him back off the bommie and got a nice one of the sun setting just before hook up. Cheers Josh <><

Decided to hop on the ferry from Macleay Island to Karragarra Island this morning a couple of hours before high tide. My mum and her friend came along to keep me company. My mum's friends husband headed out on the bay in a mates boat to a special spot. I fished one of the little beaches. Landed my first flathead. Just over 45cm. No fight whatsoever - wasn't even sure there was a fish on the line. After a while going up the beach and getting no bites I returned to the spot where I got the flathead. Mum wanted to go to the toilet so I went with her. Her friend asked if she could have a go so I cast for her. Briefly told her what to do if she felt anything on the line and left. Came back to her jumping up and down about not being able to kill it - she landed a decent sized Bream. Anyway line was all tangled around my reel and had to give it up for the day. Travelled back to mums, scaled, gutted fish. Awaiting her friends hubbies arrival he had been out for hours longer than us. Thought he must be filleting at his mates. But they had no luck. I feel a little better about land based fishing now!

Mitch and I are heading out to Glenlyon Dam next Friday. We'll be chasing yellas and murray cod. Hopefully we'll get onto a few to enter into the Suburbs of Origin comp on Sunday, but unsure if we'll have wifi reception so may not know the secret code in time. I could always keep one alive and put it in my pond to catch again, @christophagus ?? haha Checked the weather today - it was 9 degrees at 11am. We'll be camping this trip so the fire will be welcome when we get back from fishing each evening. A little bit of excitement is creeping in. All rigged and ready already. One for yellas and one for the cod.

1. Get her hooked on fishing!

If you spent a higher budget you could get a boat she could invite her friends out on. ‘Think of it, dear, off to Tangalooma for the day, a quick swim in the crystal clear waters, lunch and a Chardonnay or two at the bar and a leisurely drive back to end a perfect day. Your friends will be envious!’ It’s worth a try at least and I always find if you aim for the sky and then scale it back somewhat later on, she feels like you have listened to her better judgement and compromised.

Sounds like a lot of fun fella's Im a southsider, i was going to say count me in but....... Then i saw Ellicat was on team southside..... sorry just realised im busy that month....

The weather is looking too good to miss out on this week. So Monday @Old Scaley and I are heading out, Tuesday @Leosonfire and I are heading out and on Wednesday @shaun1800 and I are tagging up with @GregOug and decky and heading up Curtain way. Tuesday is showing up as an 'Excellent' day for fishing according to the almanac, with Monday and Wednesday showing as 'Good' days. Hopefully with 3 days on the water there will be something to show for it (other than an early tan) and the reports will keep those who have to work entertained.

We left Pinkenba around 8.30am and headed towards Curtain. Stopping at a beacon on the way, where there was a good show of bait on the sounder, a few herring and pike christened the new livewell. Arrived at Curtain about 10, an hour before the high, and sounded up some structure and set the anchor while Greg and Steve chose to drift. We put a couple of rods out and set the berley trail and not long after a kingy of about 4 feet paid us a visit. The dentist floated a bit of pilly amongst the berley and it wasn't long before the kingy emerged and swallowed the bait in full sight and it was on like Donkey Kong. With the fish heading straight for the bottom, the Dentist held on and double thumbed the screaming overhead. I went for the phone to get some video but it was all over with the kingy reefing him. The Dentist was pretty rushed up from the experience with bursts of giggling for the next five minutes. Woohoo. The Dentist was next on again with a Big Eye trev about 45cm coming aboard and released to the esky, followed by another strong fish on a spin outfit that played like a cod that also reefed him. Finally it was my turn on what turned out to be silly string for here - a fifteen pound outfit. The fish took a lightly weighted anchovy and peeled a fair bit of line before making its way under the back of the boat close to the motor. A few tense moments later the line went slack. It had spat the hook. I was disappointed but still happy to have at least hooked something decent. Not too long after, on another anchovy, my setup got monstered with the drag screaming and the fish heading away at at rate of knots. Woah, this thing was serious. It reefed me eventually without me slowing it at all. In between this main action we landed a few decent sized bream that I kept to give to the Old Man and The Denist got that juvenile Red as well. There may have been some other fish that I can't recall as I am still a bit tired after a big week on the water. Again another kingy showed up in the berley trail. This one would have cracked 5 foot easily. The Dentist was quick to get his rig in the water, setting the piece of pilly in the berley but this fish was 'cleverer' and wouldn't take the offering. Probably just as well or The Dentist may have lost both thumbs. Haha Around 1 we looked for a mark The Dentist had caught some Goldens at previously but couldn't get us on the spot so we headed for Mud to chase a couple of tuskies while Greg and Steve headed to try some marks Greg had. We stopped at Mud but things were quiet with only two tuskies coming aboard, both under. A metre long hammerhead was boated and released. It put a up a decent account of itself on the lighter gear. The others rejoined us and we had a brief dangle at a couple of spots for some unders squire so we headed back to the ramp about 4.30 with an unsatisfactory esky but a memory of a good days fishing in great conditions. I'll be back on a smaller tide when the weather is right for sure. Sabotage. When I got home the traffic was a little heavy for backing the trailer in and I had a fail on the first attempt, so drove forward to reset. Clunk ! Bang ! Got out to investigate and the trailer hitch had come off the towball and was on the ground. Bugger ! I went up to the garage and grabbed the trolley jack and brought it back. On closer inspection I discovered the little lock that locks the hitch clip was missing and the trailer coupling was in the unhitch position. So I suspect sabotage by some germ at the ramp without a real life. How we made it home I'll never know but small mercies it didn't happen on the road doing 80kmh. Fortunately no damage done in the end. I will be more vigilant with checking the trailer after a day on the water now, for certain. Thanks for reading and sorry there were not more pictures.

Slipped out to the dam early this morning to have a few cast to see if I could hook my lost rod. No luck with the rod but the bass were hungry.Lucky I had been saving shrimp for my outing with my son and as Ihad a few left over and a few more in my pots I decided to make a morning of it. Managed 54 bass with one 50cm and a couple nearly 50cm and the rest were all OK as well. Dino

Hey there ellicat, I can relate to your lack of enthusiasm regarding the Ray, I hooked a shovel nose half an hour after swinging by, you know straight away it’s not cool, but I consider myself lucky it took my heaviest outfit, otherwise I’d probably still be playing it, got him alongside the boat 3 times before he’d behave long enough to trim the leader

DONUT WARNING - do NOT read this if you are easily bored, or are expecting action photos or descriptions of epic piscatorial battles.. Haven’t been out for a fish for a couple of weeks so decided today was the day. With snapper off the target list at present I decided on a lizard hunt, using lures and plastics only. With the wind forecast to get up in the Bay and a lunchtime low tide, I thought I might pick up a couple down at the mouth of the Brisbane River. I started out at Boggy Creek, tossing plastics up onto the sand banks and hopping them back to the boat. Did this for an hour or so then decided to have a troll along the edges with hardbodies. Not a touch, so moved back to a couple of spots that have produced previously. Same deal, no touches. Headed closer to the mouth and fished the channels and banks in front of Nudgee for nothing. Tried trolling along the wall at the end of the port for zilch and called it a day. I guess the solunar tables were right - today was a poor day for fishing. Still, the wind was better than predicted so it was a beautiful day to be on the water. Next time I will take back up bait as usual. Interesting that a few boats were fishing in areas where the target species would usually be snapper, but maybe they were targeting cod? Anyway, we all have a donut from time to time, but it has been a while sine I haven’t had a single touch in 4 hours of fishing. Tight lines everyone.

Must admit they tasted ok. Just worried my finger and toe nails may fall out. Thanks Neal and Grant for looking after the old bloke.

I will be going to Agnes Waters Qld. with the missus for the 1770 AusFish meet and greet trip in about a month and hoping to get out a few times to the Barrier reef (about 65Km out to sea), whilst I have a reasonable sized inbuilt fuel tank I would hate to get there and find that I need more fuel. So decided that rather have portable fuel cans lying around I would build myself an extra 60L fuel tank. Got a sheet of 3mm Ally 5083/H116 and cut it down to size, had to take it to a sheet metal worker who put the bends in, however found that this ally temper needs a much wider radius in it and it had developed many thin cracks in the 90 degree bends. I set the TIG to 150A and just quickly blasted the bend corners inside and out, that caused the cracks to melt into each other and fuse solid. Put in a fuel filler cap and also a 3/8" NPT threaded Boss with a 90 degree elbow to a 1/2" fuel line plus with a tap, added 4 angles to the tank to screw it in place in front of the passenger seat. This tank will double as a foot rest for the missus. Thinking of gluing a bit of carpet to the top so the missus can put her feet on it in the summer. Just need to have some sort of clip added to the seat to stop the tap from rubbing and becoming loose. Tested the tank up to 8PSI as it is a small tank and it is about twice the pressure that most manufacturers do, so no leaks. So when I get to the reef, I will just open the fuel hatch near the base of the tank and just let the spare tank drain into the main tank next to it, which you can see the cover in the last pic. I will be taking the boat to the mechanics on Wednesday to see if the problem I had with the motor going in to limp mode recently can be simply and cheaply fixed, otherwise this will have been a futile attempt.

Took the boat in to the mechanic at Brisbane Marine, he connected the computer to it and found the problems and they can be be fixed without me having to sell a kidney. Two faults found, first one is a faulty alarm speaker hence the reason for not having heard any alarms and the second one which actually caused the problem was the sensor in the reserve oil bottle in the motor. Bottle was full of oil but the sensor was faulty and so reported that there was low oil hence the reason it went into limp mode. Ordered the parts and will cost a total of $537 for parts, labour and today's diagnostic check. So a doable repair, will bring the boat back to them next Wednesday as the parts should be in by then. So at this stage, 1770 is looking good. Better get my gear ready, also need to build myself a burley bucket, do some maintenance work on the trailer and lastly find a spare battery.

I agree with the longer comp idea. Covers all options for weather, tides, work, school, moon phase etc so hopefully everyone should be able to get out and give it a smash. Also gives time to plan trips etc. also agree with the catch up afterwards. Could be as easy as find a place with public bbq and byo dead animal to cook. should be good for a bit of banter during the comp anyway.

Heya all I just wanted to say (it has been said a lot recently so I don't mean to just create another thread) but I LOVE THIS FORUM. As well as the countless facts, and information learned (Tonight, I learnt that dolphins once came up to Kooka Park.... and to hate the ski lice!), there are plenty of laughs and good threads on here that I can somewhat relate too. I still need to put up another report, but nothing happened in it, and I'm pretty busy with school at the moment. The activity currently is great. There are lots of new members and everything is buzzing. Cheers Hamish .

well here we go... time to make plenty of enemies... @ellicat @Old Scaley @kmcrosby78 From July 2019, my colours have changed. After being a lifetime member of the southern burbs, I now reside on the north side of the river. As such, to follow the rules, I will be representing team northside this time. i know several of you will be disgusted and will look to disown me etc... but whatevs. it is what it is. things i miss since moving - quick and easy access to gold coast - access to arterial roads (when not peak hour) - my very cost effective local fruit shop Things i don't miss - air traffic - hearing the trucks on the gateway all night long - paying gateway tolls to get anywhere northside - hearing "3 car accident on the M1 at greenslopes" on the traffic report and losing the will to live and following on from the above, @ellicat @Old Scaley - any decky spots available during the comp??

Bit cool yesterday but the fish were reasonably warm but scattered with the most productive area being on a 20 to 30 ft drop off opposite the fig tree. The fad ( Number 6 i think) at the end of koala straight also producing a few fish on the last few trips. Grant happy with his PB bass of 48cm.Finished up with 48 bass and 2 yellas on live shrimp. Last couple of trips there have been people flying a drone around the dam so I inquired with SEQ water and received the following reply. Recreation <recreation@seqwater.com.au> To:'raymond kennedy' Thu, 23 Jul at 9:34 am Good morning Ray, Our biosecurity team have advised that researchers for QUT are currently studying deer in the catchment with the use of a thermal drone. They are trying to teach the drone how to recognise deer from other animals. They will be there until the end of the month running a series of flights over the catchment. Kind Regards, Ellen

What type of moreton bay brutes are u interested in chasing @ellicat Snapper,tuna,cobia,tuskfish,Golden trevally,cod, quite a few XOS species frequent Moreton Bay at certain times of the year... let me know i might be able to pm u some sneaky tips

Ill fish it quite a few ways @ellicat Ill do run in and run out tide based around sunset, from there ill look at fishing it slack water/tide change in the day time May take me a few trips and weeks to get something but it looks good as I marked plenty of fish on the sounder Like @jon says... Big black spot tuskies often coat them selves in slime and jamb them selvestight into cover at night making targeting them quite hard in the dark Hopefully I can position the boat at anchor in the right spot and get what ever lives there to take a bait a fair bit away from the ledge as i think hooking a tuskie in close to it only means one thing and that's bust offs. I think the 80lb gear will make an appearence for this spot,

Well I took everyone’s advice and headed out for a fish today. Left from Pinkenba Boat Ramp near the mouth of the Brisbane River. There was probably half a metre of chop most of the way, up to three-quarters of a metre the closer we got to Tangalooma. Had a look at the wrecks then decided to drift from Cowan Cowan Point out towards Bulwer. Ended up drifting all the way to out past Comboyuro. Did a few drifts back and forth past Bulwer for a net result of one huge toad fish. And this was over the same ground I used to catch quite a few decent reef fish. Mind you, that was forty years ago! Anyway, Bulwer has now joined my ever growing list of unproductive grounds. Oh, for one bloody spot where you can actually catch a decent fish. So frustrating! The weather itself and the boat were beautiful though. The boat ate it all up, just as @ellicat said it would. Still a bit choppy on the way back, but still managed to go past the eighty kilometre an hour mark that the speedo goes to. Might have to change to mph or knots for future trips! Anyway, that’s my report for what it’s worth. Lol. cheers Greg

Hi Dropbear, It is a great project. I signed the family up to OzFish through Covid shutdown & would like to come along to the meetings to find out more.

Record the PB, take a pic & you’ll always know you caught it. doesn’t have to be in the esky to be a PB

Getting monotonous starting off each report the same Had to search hard today with only scatted fish found , Just finding isolated fish on the sounder and dropping down a live shrimp. Found 3 yellas and 2 bass and a tandan on point opposite koala straight on the way back to the ramp which brought the tally up to 38 fish for 8 hours on the water between 4 people.

Far from a snapper king @Leosonfire , Plenty of guys who catch them in the bay bigger than what I do, I have just been lucky to spend time fishing and learning from some of those guys over the past probably 18 years who get the real big fish in the 9kg + bracket and produce a little more consistent results than what I do. floating rigs using small running ball sinkers seem to be the best way,, Few of kayak guys I know who fish Scarborough, Margate & Clontarf they spend a lot of time throwing 3 & 4inch plastics on 8lb braid & 10lb leaders some times even lighter using 1/8,1/6 & 1/4 ounce jig heads, Light line is key to these areas as the fish spook very easy, You will get them at this time of year in the 65cm+ sizes , its just putting in the 1000's of cast's to get one. .

Had to be home early so had to make it a quick session.Got a few on shrimp to star with then manage to jig a few, troll a few on spinnerbaits and a couple on hardbodies, then back at the ramp by 10am with a tally of 38. Dino

Seeing as how I can’t catch any fish ( which I suspect has at least something to do with having only taken the boat out four times in the last four months) I thought I would post a couple of photos of some of the fish my nephew catch’s up at Mackay. I think I might tow the boat up there this Christmas holidays when we visit the rellies for our annual pilgrimage. Any thoughts on stone guards for the trailer?

I was sitting on my front verandah this morning enjoying a leisurely late breakfast and thinking about the snapper closure kicking off next week. I haven’t landed a decent snap for months and usually the port area can be relied on at this time of year as a reliable source of those 40 to 50cm fish that go well on the line and on the plate. Then a number of things occurred to me: it was not raining; it was not windy; I had fuel in the boat; I had pilchards and squid in the freezer; there was a high tide in the middle of the day; I was free all day and the car was available until 3pm. I had no excuses for not going so I grabbed a bit of tucker for lunch and headed for the ramp. I decided to focus on areas close to the ramp that had delivered in the past, sounded around and found fish on the sounder but no hits on bait or plastics for the first hour. Moved up and out of the channel and found some bait schools so deployed the spot lock (love the electric) and was soon pulling in squire at the rate of a fish per cast. Trouble was they were all about 25cm, which seems to be my new limit. Fished up to the tide change and then headed home. So no keepers (hence the “short” snap sesh title) but still an enjoyable outing in great conditions. Maybe the bigger snaps will move in after the closure. Oh, and my new sunnies are fantastic. For all those viewers who enjoy my terrible photos of dead fish on a dirty esky, sorry there is nothing for you today, but here is an even worse photo of a live fish for your viewing displeasure.

@ellicat I would say using lighter line gets a better bite rate for sure - as is the case with most fishing, but if you want to consistently land each snapper in the boat a bit heavier would be wise. We did get 4 in the boat but got busted off on others, but today was a bit of an experiment and to up the challenge.

So I’ve sold a bunch of gear recently cos it wasn’t being used but also to help fund my next project... had a zodiac inflatable when I was a kid (still think I’m 16) and the trailer and outboard sitting idle under my brothers house. 1997 models! spoke to The blokes at Stones Corner Marine and now have a Sea Jay 3.85 Nomad HS on order! Being built at the factory in Bundy I should have it in the coming weeks. Very excited! A new tow bar for the rocknrolla, new hubs, bearings and wheels for the trailer, a new impeller and fuel filter for the outboard and i’ll be off in no time. yew!