jon

Hi all
Today I went out for another session at the local park. If you haven't already as well, I recommend you read Brisbane River Session #16. It is a lot more exciting than this, although today was still a good day out. I was targeting bream, cod, and threadfin salmon/sharks. It was a early start as well, as we left at about 5:50AM to get there for a 6:00AM start. 
So, after arriving at six, we got the net out to see if we could get some live prawns. First cast of net net brings a prawn which I put straight on next to the pylon. The next cast brings two, and this one went straight out. We got about 5 more prawns, and this was while the tide was still rising. It was just about to change when my dad and I got a double hook up on the livies. I was on first, on what I thought was just small. After a little bit into the fight though, we hear a screaming noise and the other line is going off. My dad stops goofing around with me, and he proceeds to pull in the fish. Mine surfaced first, and I was surprised to see a decent catfish, which i only landed after 1 or 2 runs. We tried netting it, but it took a run under structure. Then my Dad pulled up a decent bream, and told me to sort it out while he sorted mine out. Eventually, we got the two fish up onto the jetty and took some pics. Here they are - 

The bream went twenty-nine on the brag mat, and the catfish went about 40cm (though it was an estimate). After that, we proceeded to do some more cast netting, which resulted in a couple of prawns, but mainly leaves and sticks LOL. It was about half an hour to when the fish was pulled up, and then I saw something swimming towards the bank. "Holy crap, a dog," was what I initially said as it looked a bit like a little Chihuahua head or something but then my Dad saw it and we realised it was a kangaroo. Swimming across the river, practillay in suburbia 😉. It was actually a pretty bad situation as it was going towards the bank but then turned around the second it saw us then swam around in circles in the middle of the river. Luckily, the tide was just about changing so there wasn't any run to push it downstream any more. It was starting to go under, so my Dad said he might need to swim to get it, which would've been a great photo, but we decided to wait a bit more to see if a paddler could come along. Luckily one did, the old guy who comes down there for a paddle every day, so we asked him if he could paddle out to help it. He did, and while another guy came along with little to no care for it (my Dad yelled at him and he didn't bother about it), the man sort of shepherded it back to the jetty. Our plan was to scoop it up in the landing net then send it on its way, but it had other plans. We got it in the net but then it decided to hop straight back out into the drink. The man then proceeded to guide it back to the bank around the jetty and go off on his paddle. I know it was good, but I am just wondering how it will go in the local park since so many people go there. I suppose it will just stay around the outskirts and eat grass. Here it is - 

Sorry for the bad photos, but that is a wallaby in the BR!
After that, it was about 7:30AM. Since the tide had started to go the other way, I had the heavier line out. It had nearly gotten caught on the kangaroo, but fortunately with some manoeuvring it was free. It was baited with a dead frog mouth pilchard as we hadn't caught any live fish (mullet, herring, silver biddy, frogmouth pilchards, etc) , which was a pity any we didn't have enough prawns for one big bait. Within about 20 minutes, I had done a quick bait check and re-baited, but then the rod went off. I could distinctly see a bend, but I couldn't hear anything, so that told me it was a pretty small fish. I didn't even have a fight with it, I just basically pulled the catfish in. Here it is - 

After that, I chucked out another frog mouth pillie and checked the prawn lines. They had no bait, and I wondered if something had somehow picked them off without us noticing, and I doubted they had fallen off as we pinend them well through the tail. I rebaited the lines and chucked them out regardless, hoping for another fish. Though, in about ten minutes, there was another strike on the big rod. I ran down, hoping it was still on, but to my disappointment whatever it was had dropped the bait. I casted it out with another frogmouth pilchard and hoped for something. In another short while I was on yet again, pulling up a decent catfish. I de hooked it, took a quick pic and back in the drink it went. Here it is - 

After that fish, I got the line out again. My dad headed off now, and the bite was quite. My friend came down shortly after, and we were social distancing. I had one more strike on the heavy combo, and I missed it, so I decided to reel it in as I was out of frogmouth pilchards. I had a couple more throws with the net, but there were no prawns around so I resorted to the Australian farm prawns I had gotten the other week. I was doing everything from chopping them up to peeling them, to see what worked best. I found the peeled bits chopped up was a treat, so this is what I did. I had numerous nibbles, but they were all small. I then had a little take, but I unfortunately missed this. Then, with a new bait, slightly larger, the rod went off. I picked it up eagerly but to my absolute dismay whatever it was had dropped the bait. 
After that, I gave the other rod a bait check. after winding up the slack, I felt a tug, then a pull, then realised I was on. Whatever fish it was, it was in a bit of structure, but after a couple little runs and a bit of positioning, I got it out. I started pulling it up, and to my surprise up came a cod. I think there are a few cod under the pylons, so I was pretty happy with that. It didn't look to big, but when I got it up onto the brag mat it was about 30cm. No where near legal, but still not a bad fih. Here it is - 

After that, I put in about ten more minutes but it was starting to slow down. It was about ten, so I decided to call it a day. I was very happy with the results, 1 bream and cod in the day. 🙂. Hopefully you all stay safe with COVID-19, I hope you enjoyed the report. Sorry for any errors in the text. Here are the stats or the trip -
Statistics of trip-
Tide: High, 2.0M, 6:55AM, Low, .5M, .5M. I fished the run out
Moon Phase: Third Quarter Moon, so not that much run
Weather: 30c, 14Km/h winds, 41% humidity in Brisbane
Time fished: 6:00AM-10:00AM
Bait used: Prawns, live and dead. Frogmouth pilchards, dead.
Bait caught: Dozen prawns or so
Fish caught: Catfish x 3, Estuary Cod x 1, Bream x 1
Tackle Used: 14lb braid mainlines, 9 and 12lb leaders, 80lb trace for threadies due to sharks and structure, 30lb trace, 4/o circle and suicide hooks, size 2 sinkers, size 6 ball sinker, large swivels, size 1000 sienna shimano, size 2500 Shimano Nasci, Size 650 Penn, 30lb braid mainline.
Overall Success: 80% - A nice morning out with some good fish
Cheers Hamish 🙂 

Hi all
As I said in Brisbane River Session #15, I would be going out today. I did, and while the silly Iphone camera broke (I didn't get many photos) I caught some great fish, a new PB, and had a great time. I hope you enjoy this report and I also hope this doesn't turn out to be a novel... 😉
So, I arrived at the park at about 6:15AM. The fishing cart went good, and I have a new system to carry the wet cast net (I can't fit it into the tiny bucket, we are going to get a bigger one) - I put it in a plastic bag which takes the water and mud. Back to the fishing scene - I casted my lines out, baited with fresh prawn I caught yesterday. I had some eel for shark fishing but since this was frozen solid I opted for a large, fresh, frog mouth pilly. Just as I was going to cast the shark line in, the lighter line goes off. I sprinted up (not very fast, I am a slow runner LOL) and set the hook. After a decent fight, I landed a decent catty of roughly thirty centimetres. 

After that, the shark line was casted out. I started to throw the net as well, trying to kill time. By now it was about 6:30AM, and I was seeing some decent prawns, silver biddy (bony bream), herring, and frog-mouth pilchards. I fired up my aerator and started to pull together some live bait. A guy came down and we had a chat about him going fishing in the Fitzroy River, I told him I have been there but I mainly fish around Yeppoon as I have family there. He said he'd caught threadies and barra, etc, and well, I may have caught one of them this morning. The next fish was a catty, just another small one, so I fought that and brought him up. Unfortunately, there isn't a photo due to my hands being wet. 
I rebaited the shark line with a live biddy as well, because I remember reading in an old thread that biddies were great shark bait, so I decided to give it a crack. After that, I needed some more prawns so I got into catching them. I was getting 1 or 2 every cast, so I had about 3 due to the constant need to put them on the hook. 🙂 They did work, and eventually I pulled up a great sized river perch that would've been 30-35cm. This fella was gut hooked, so I tried taking a pic (but the bloody camera didn't work) so back he went. He floated on the surface for a bit, but then kicked off, much to my relief. 
After that, the rod next to the pylons went off. I set the hook and whatever it was, it was fighting nicely. It took some runs going for structure, but I used the rod to keep it out. To my surprise, up came a small bream, which I measured at 26cm. I think this may have been a bit dodgy though, as I didn't quite measure from the tip of the tail, so it might've been a bit smaller. Back into the drink it went, it put up a good fight. It was unfortunately gut hooked as well, but he kicked off fine thankfully. Soon after this, the rod went off again, but this time with a river perch of about 25cm. I picked him up, got the hook out and sent him on his way.
Now it was about 7:15AM, and just as I was going to tie 2 new hooks onto the lines, I heard a squealing noise. I looked down, and to my shock my shark line was buckled over! I ran down (this time fast enough to kick of my thongs) and struck. I was on. At first, I pulled like I would when it was normal, and it was coming in steadily. This is what all my sharks (so far) have fought like. Though, as it was about to surface, it took a screaming run towards the pylons. I coaxed it away, but then as it was going to surface again into the pylons it went. I got down, crouching, and was heaving it out. I didn't want to loose this fish, and I felt it might be a bigger shark than I usually caught. To my shock though, when I pulled it up, there was only one thing it could be. A bloody threadfin salmon! On wire. On a shark rig. At the local park! I asked the passers by to take a photo, as the phone still wasn't working, and they did. They also gave me a hand netting it, as they held the rod for me. On to the brag mat it went, and it measured 84cm. My new PB thready by 10cm. I caught it a year and five days later as well, LOL, my last was on April 10, 2019. Here it is - 

The best fish I have caught in a long time - an 84cm threadfin salmon.
This guy was safely released, and gave a big kick away. He wasn't quite gut hooked but the hook was down his throat (surprised with a circle hook actually)  so they gave me a hand snipping the wire off. After that, it was about quarter to eight. I tied up my lines again ready for a fish and back out they went. 9lb and 12lb leaders were used on the lighter lines, and I used an 80lb mono leader instead of 80lb wire due to there being snags and sharks (after I cut the wire trace off). I am still in shock I caught this fish so I will certainly be trying a bit harder there now. 
After the salmon, I managed a bit more bait, especially frog mouth pillies, which were in abundance today, some herring and prawns. I got a couple little nibbles and did some experiments to see what the smallest piece off prawns I could catch a fish on was 😉. Unfortunately, the camera had started working again (well fortunately) but I didn't catch any more fish. It was starting to warm up, so I left the tide running out, the bait everywhere, the bite quiet and a good day. 
I am very happy with this fish, it is a bummer the phone didn't work but I suppose we have next time. I'll probably take my brother down so he can take photos 🙂. All the best with COVID-19 everyone as well, hope you enjoyed the report. Sorry for any grammatical or punctuation errors, I am feeling pretty tired so even though I've done a couple proof reads I might've missed something. Here are the statistics of the trip - 
Stats of Trip:
Tide: High at 4:30AM, 2.0M, Low at 11:40AM, .7M
Moon Phase: It is the third quarter moon, so not as much run as there could be.
Time fished: 6:15AM - 9:30AM
Weather: Currently 26c, so cooling down at bit. 52% humdity, so quite muggy. 11Km/h winds (I don't know how to convert to knots and the sight gave Kilometres). Partly cloudy.
Bait used: Live silver biddy (bony bream), frog mouth pilcards, live and fresh prawns
Bait caught: Silver biddy (bony bream), herring, prawns, frog moth pilchards
Fish caught: Catfish x 2, Bream x 1, Threadfin  Salmon x 1, River Perch x 2
Tackle Used: 30lb mainline, 30lb leader, 80lb wire trace, 80lb mono leader, 9, 12, 20lb mono leaders, 2-4/o suicide hooks, 6/o circle hook, 1000 Sienna Shimano Reel, 2500 Nasci Shimano Reel, 6"6' and 8" rod, Ugly Stik, size 6 ball sinker, size 2 bean sinkers. 
Overall Success: 90% - The camera broke but otherwise a great day (it broke due to me having wet hands LOL) It's fixed now. 
Cheers Hamish 🙂 

Well done, That’s a great fish, to be proud of mate mate! I used to spend a lot of time chasing threadies from the bank as young fella. If there are plenty around don’t be shy to tail hook multiple prawns on the one hook. And if you find an old bait runner on gumtree these dual drag setups can really help

Well done, That’s a great fish, to be proud of mate mate! I used to spend a lot of time chasing threadies from the bank as young fella. If there are plenty around don’t be shy to tail hook multiple prawns on the one hook. And if you find an old bait runner on gumtree these dual drag setups can really help

Might have to have a crack at these soon, also have started using a whiting scaler bag, I just rip off heads first and throw the heads and bodies in the bag. Comes out great and beats making a mess at home

Might have to have a crack at these soon, also have started using a whiting scaler bag, I just rip off heads first and throw the heads and bodies in the bag. Comes out great and beats making a mess at home

Drop Bear (Robbie) and I went out squidding today started off a bit sqaully so we had to don the wet weather gear. Once we got to the spot it dried off and turned into a beautiful day the squid were steady and we kept catching good size tiger squid. 
Some drifts were insane getting 7 squid before resetting the drift. Then the last drift we scored 11 squid with triple hook ups.
Back at home Robbie and I took a couple of pictures then cleaned the squid and split it up. Fresh Calamari for dinner tonight and a enough for another night or 2.

SOLD!

Plenty of favourite catches over the years but for me the best was watching my 10 year old son catch his 1st billfish.  The day started off with the intention of targeting mackerel so my son Brock a friend Brad and I jigged up some live yakkas and anchored on the gravel patch off Burleigh heads.
Brad fought the 1st fish which was a big Mack tuna then another bait got hit and Brock grabbed the rod. He sunk the hook and the fish jumped clear of the water I shouted MARLIN. It was a fair distance out and I thought it was a black marlin I was wrong. 
We dropped the anchor rope with a bouy and started the engine to chase it down. Brad was spotter man and I drove the boat , Brock worked hard and the fight wore on. The fish was fast and peeled line incredibly fast and jumping clear of the water many times
It was February and hot so we poured water over Brocks head and gave him sips of water. This fight was taking a toll on the young boy and he wanted to pass the rod on but I challenged him to keep going. If we had touched the rod he could not say he caught it by himself so he kept at it.
After 1 hour and 15 minutes we finally boated a sailfish that went 9 foot long and approximately 80kg. It was fantastic to watch my son fight and catch this awesome fish Brock and I will never forget that day.
 

SOLD!

Hi Ive just done a clean up and have some old gear for sale. Many of the hooks need replacing but there is a few decent lures amongst the bunch. Please don’t ask me for types or models or brands. A bunch of half used rolls of braid and leader to. All items in photo go together take one take all. Fifty bucks for the lot pickup today from Parkinson 

SOLD!

SOLD!

Hi Ive just done a clean up and have some old gear for sale. Many of the hooks need replacing but there is a few decent lures amongst the bunch. Please don’t ask me for types or models or brands. A bunch of half used rolls of braid and leader to. All items in photo go together take one take all. Fifty bucks for the lot pickup today from Parkinson 

Ok no worries if any body can pick up today I’ll throw in a laser pro and two more riedys lures good for mackeral

Hi mate I’ll be leaving Brisbane early Wednesday morning need gone before then

Hi Ive just done a clean up and have some old gear for sale. Many of the hooks need replacing but there is a few decent lures amongst the bunch. Please don’t ask me for types or models or brands. A bunch of half used rolls of braid and leader to. All items in photo go together take one take all. Fifty bucks for the lot pickup today from Parkinson 

Hi mate when can you pick up?

How long after a rise in dam levels does it take for Redclaw to fire from the banks @rayke1938

I’ve been arriving around top of tide and go for a couple hours after that 

I’ve been arriving around top of tide and go for a couple hours after that 

Yep. Powerlines, Jackson’s, Redlands just out side of weinam creek, nudgee, salt works and Karragara. The prawns are nice and thick at the moment it’s just a pitty  it’s blowing all week

Yep. Powerlines, Jackson’s, Redlands just out side of weinam creek, nudgee, salt works and Karragara. The prawns are nice and thick at the moment it’s just a pitty  it’s blowing all week

Yep. Powerlines, Jackson’s, Redlands just out side of weinam creek, nudgee, salt works and Karragara. The prawns are nice and thick at the moment it’s just a pitty  it’s blowing all week

Go crabbing and prawning