rayke1938

Hi all, 
I still haven't been fishing much recently but managed to go for a few quick sessions recently. First one was a couple of weeks ago on a Friday night. I went with a mate, and after a quick stop at a bait spot where I got a bucket of anchovies and herring and a few prawns we were fishing. Unfortunately, the bites were quiet, and I couldn't manage anything other than a pike eel. 
Stats:
Tide: 5:20PM, .5M, Low. 
Moon Phase: 5.4%
Humidity: 69%
Air Pressure: 1017
Bait Used: Live prawns, herring, anchovy. 
Overall Success Rate: 30%
The next session was at Kangaroo Point and I was just having a quick cast with my net to see if there was any good size prawns getting around yet. Unluckily for me I only managed a lot of small baitfish and prawns, but a couple of nights later I saw a photo of someone who had caught a pretty good amount, so I'm hopeful they will be around the next time I'm there. 
The final session was with @Thorbjorn Hale and one of his mates. I arrived after school a bit before sunset and got about 30 anchovies first cast of the net. The bites were pretty good and it wasn't long before I was hooked up to a solid fish, but I pulled hooks after it took a good run. It wasn't long before the bites quietened off but eventually Thorbjorn and I had a double hookup, with him bringing in a small (approx 60cm) thready, and myself bringing in a decent size stingray. We both fished for a bit longer but each finished up when the bites went quiet again a bit past nine. A baby thready and undersize jewie was also caught by others on the jetty that night. 
Stats:
Tide: 3:00PM, .5M, Low, 9:35PM, 2.6M, High. 
Moon: 99%
Bait Caught: Anchovies, prawns
Humidity: 66%
Air Pressure: 1015
Overall Success Rate: 60% - some bites
Anyway, hopefully I will be able to do some more fishing in a couple of weeks when its school holidays,
Cheers Hamish. 

Not many shrimp in the first few pots. We went to the drop off opposite the fence and quickly caught 20 bass before running out of shrimp so we went downstream to the rest of our pots that were productive and foolishly decided to check out some downstream spots for a total of 4 more bass instead of returning to the first spot. At least we enjoyed the glassed out conditions. 

Not many shrimp in the first few pots. We went to the drop off opposite the fence and quickly caught 20 bass before running out of shrimp so we went downstream to the rest of our pots that were productive and foolishly decided to check out some downstream spots for a total of 4 more bass instead of returning to the first spot. At least we enjoyed the glassed out conditions. 

Not many shrimp in the first few pots. We went to the drop off opposite the fence and quickly caught 20 bass before running out of shrimp so we went downstream to the rest of our pots that were productive and foolishly decided to check out some downstream spots for a total of 4 more bass instead of returning to the first spot. At least we enjoyed the glassed out conditions. 

Not many shrimp in the first few pots. We went to the drop off opposite the fence and quickly caught 20 bass before running out of shrimp so we went downstream to the rest of our pots that were productive and foolishly decided to check out some downstream spots for a total of 4 more bass instead of returning to the first spot. At least we enjoyed the glassed out conditions. 

They are very good fish. Eva got three of those mac tuna. 

Returned this week from a camping fishing trip to Cape York. I have done a few of these trips with the same guys so I knew we would have a good time, with lots of laughs, too many beers and a lot of hard yakka for us old fellas. 
None of my camping buddies are social media fans and we have a pact that we won’t post pictures that would identify each other or the locations we fished. None of these spots are secrets but the fear is that the more online exposure they get, the more people will come and take away some of the remote feel. It wouldn’t be a problem anyway since zero coverage meant the phones were usually left at the camp uncharged. 
The original plan was to head north in the boats from Mapoon on the western Cape to camp at one of the rivers between Cullen Point and Seisha. The fishing there is insane. Unfortunately the road was still closed at Archer River, and since we were towing a couple of tonnes of boat and gear we decided that it would be a tough trip before the first grade of the dry season. So the decision was made to head to a location near Princess Charlotte Bay which we knew would be accessible and where we had caught barra and jacks previously. 
It was a long camp (16 nights) but we were well set up with plenty of solar, a 200 litre water bladder that we could refill from a freshwater dam not too far from camp, lots of food, 16 cartons of beer, a couple of cartons of wine and several bottles of spirits. 
Last time I went there it was virtually empty. This time there was a surprising number of camps. The May long weekend and the road closure may have contributed. People came and went over the period of our stay. The place is extremely croccie so I was pleased we camped well back from the water. This big fella was floating around in front of the camp, up and down with the tide for most of the time we were there. We called him Mr Stinky and estimated he was at least 4.5 metres 

Not sure if he was shot by someone or died of natural causes  
The first 2 days was the run up to the new moon and Barra were boofing everywhere. Others were using livies and it took us most of  the first day to find them. We tried trolling but only managed blue salmon which were good size but not what we came for so they were used as strip bait and crab bait. That worked a treat and we started getting big threadies (or kingies as they call them up north).  I don’t know how many we caught but several each and none were under the magic metre mark.

The Barra were getting harder to find as tides started to get smaller, as were the livies. We switched back to lures and got a few. They were all 70cm+ so the quality was there even if the numbers were down  I got my PB of 85cm (previously 82cm) but am yet to crack the metre.

The last few days the barra and threadies slowed right down and we were catching more sharks and catfish. Blue salmon kept biting but we didn’t get a single jack, which is unusual there.  Mud crabs were pretty reliable and we only lost 2 pots to crocs or sharks. 
By the end of the camp we were all pretty tired and over the mosquitoes and snakes, so ready for the big pack up and 2 day trip back to Cairns. We had a few mechanical failures as is usual on those sorts of trips (2 blown trailer tyres, 1 blown tyre on the tow vehicle, trailer hydraulic brakes taken out by a flapping blown tyre, and one of the batteries for the Minn Kota stopped charging on the last day) so overall not a bad result. We are planning to make this an annual trip now that most of us are retired. Fish while you can! Sorry there are not more photos but you can get the idea. Tight lines everyone  
 
 

Magic day today after having to work out how to deploy Ricks new ulterra. After doing some of the shrimp traps We found fish at the bunyip tree but they were on the small side so we moved about 1k upstream and hit the spot lock and did not move until we ran out of bait at 10.30. Final tally was 64 bass and 2 yellas. Joy really enjoying the auto deploy on the new motor. Best bass 47

Magic day today after having to work out how to deploy Ricks new ulterra. After doing some of the shrimp traps We found fish at the bunyip tree but they were on the small side so we moved about 1k upstream and hit the spot lock and did not move until we ran out of bait at 10.30. Final tally was 64 bass and 2 yellas. Joy really enjoying the auto deploy on the new motor. Best bass 47

Interesting morning with the wind. It was blowing a bit when we launched so we went to bottom end of Ians Island and inly found a few barred grunter so we headed to the half way spot where we boated 17 bass before the school moved on so next spot was the tip where it was a bit uncomfortable with a good chop rolling through but the bass were hungry the wind really picked up and when we finally decided to move I did not have enough power with both 24 volt motors going flat out to make way straight into the wind so had to go sideways to get out of the trees. We then slowly made our way across the lake where we found some calmer water in a couple of bays where we increased out final tally to 42 bass,2 yellas and one tandanus after running out of shrimp. As usual the eagle shadowed us all the way and enjoyed a deed of barred grunter. Best bass 46cm.

Magic day today after having to work out how to deploy Ricks new ulterra. After doing some of the shrimp traps We found fish at the bunyip tree but they were on the small side so we moved about 1k upstream and hit the spot lock and did not move until we ran out of bait at 10.30. Final tally was 64 bass and 2 yellas. Joy really enjoying the auto deploy on the new motor. Best bass 47

Magic day today after having to work out how to deploy Ricks new ulterra. After doing some of the shrimp traps We found fish at the bunyip tree but they were on the small side so we moved about 1k upstream and hit the spot lock and did not move until we ran out of bait at 10.30. Final tally was 64 bass and 2 yellas. Joy really enjoying the auto deploy on the new motor. Best bass 47

Magic day today after having to work out how to deploy Ricks new ulterra. After doing some of the shrimp traps We found fish at the bunyip tree but they were on the small side so we moved about 1k upstream and hit the spot lock and did not move until we ran out of bait at 10.30. Final tally was 64 bass and 2 yellas. Joy really enjoying the auto deploy on the new motor. Best bass 47

With the big swells on the beach & rocks 3 to 4 meters we headed for somewhere Quiter.
Arrived around sunrise, sunny & cool.
Blackfish & bream were the go.
Caught two nice blackfish straight away. Went quite. Moved to the south side of the bridge.
Waited for a while, then two bream. Puppy was happy.
Moved further up the chanel. Landed two more blackfish.
That was enough. Called it a day.
Cheers.
 

Our education system needs to teach kids to tie FG knots and only convene for classes in bad weather/tides. 

Following on from Max's landbased Spaniard last month, the kids had another crack at landbased pelagics at Amity Point and they were not disappointed. The highlight was a metre plus longtail tuna that Max caught on live bait. He lost a much bigger one. Max and Eva also got a few mac tuna on various chrome slugs and plenty of Watson's leaping bonito. 
 
 
 

Great trip

Great trip

Just had a great holiday up at Fraser Island to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary.
Day 1
Brisbane to Rainbow Beach for breakfast and refuel .
Rainbow Beach to Inskip point to air down tyres and for the barge trip to Hook point .
Drive up beach from Hook Point to Dilli Village to exit to Lakes Drive .
Dilli Village to Lake Boomanjin to Lake Benaroon to Lake Birrabeen to Central Station to Lake McKenzie to Eurong Resort 
Check in  Dinner at Resort.
Day 2 
Eurong to Poyungan Rocks to Yidney Rocks to Happy Valley to Maheno Wreck to The Whale Carcass to The Pinnacles to Red Canyon Indian Head for lunch  to Champagne Pools .
Return to Eurong for dinner.
Day3 
Eurong  to Indian Head to Waddy Point to Ngkala Rocks to Orchid Beach Pub to Waddy Point for Lunch.
Return to Eurong to for dinner .
Day 4 
Eurong to Elli Creek to Sand Blow to Woralie Creek  / Coongul Creek /Bowarrady Creek .
Spend day parked up just north of Woralie Creek relaxing on beach for lunch and afternoon tea. 
 
Return to Eurong
Day 5
Breakfast at Eurong Bakery 
Check out of resort  at 10am
Drive down beach to barge .
Car Wash at Rainbow Beach 
Lunch
Refuel 1/2 between Rainbow beach and Gympie
Drive back to Brisbane 

 








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Thanks Hamish and Kat and Brian, if the wind calms down and the stars align, there are plenty of bigger ones out there in the bay to catch in May yet.... and of course bring on June and July 🙂
Wobbygong, i think u can camp on Peel island and North Straddie with a permit.
Jason caught the old stonefish in the eye i think Brian, and yep it fought like a rock lol... bluudy ugly things... eeerrk

Headed out with Jason for a quick fish this morning, heaps of bait still around in southern bay. We kept 3 squire at around 45cm for lunch and released a 70cm which always gives me a warmnfuzzy to watch swim back down.
By catch was an ugly old stone fish 🤮

looks too good to use.

looks too good to use.

Interesting morning with the wind. It was blowing a bit when we launched so we went to bottom end of Ians Island and inly found a few barred grunter so we headed to the half way spot where we boated 17 bass before the school moved on so next spot was the tip where it was a bit uncomfortable with a good chop rolling through but the bass were hungry the wind really picked up and when we finally decided to move I did not have enough power with both 24 volt motors going flat out to make way straight into the wind so had to go sideways to get out of the trees. We then slowly made our way across the lake where we found some calmer water in a couple of bays where we increased out final tally to 42 bass,2 yellas and one tandanus after running out of shrimp. As usual the eagle shadowed us all the way and enjoyed a deed of barred grunter. Best bass 46cm.

Interesting morning with the wind. It was blowing a bit when we launched so we went to bottom end of Ians Island and inly found a few barred grunter so we headed to the half way spot where we boated 17 bass before the school moved on so next spot was the tip where it was a bit uncomfortable with a good chop rolling through but the bass were hungry the wind really picked up and when we finally decided to move I did not have enough power with both 24 volt motors going flat out to make way straight into the wind so had to go sideways to get out of the trees. We then slowly made our way across the lake where we found some calmer water in a couple of bays where we increased out final tally to 42 bass,2 yellas and one tandanus after running out of shrimp. As usual the eagle shadowed us all the way and enjoyed a deed of barred grunter. Best bass 46cm.