mangajack

5 hours ago, Peter K said:

Many thanks Mangajack, in relation to your rating system, would you know anything about Daiwa Jbraid x8 expedition for number 3,4 and 6 from your list?

Cheers,
Peter

Diawa Jbraid is decent braid, i have come close to buying it before.

Spin or baitcaster?

I rate braids characteristics in the following importance:

1. is it a fused braid line? least desirable

2. is it a coated line? prefer uncoated.

3. is the line truly limp and memory free?

4. is thin for breaking strain....Siglon PEX8 and Tasline All white are my two long term favorite braids.

5. is it white or orange.

6. Does the PE rating on the box also include actual test breaking strain? If not I do not buy it.

For me the PE system for braid is crap you can get the same PE rating across multiple brands and versions and have wildly different breaking strains.

Casting diameters mean bugger all if your bait does not have enough weight or is too much weight for the rod that you are using.

My preference is for white or orange simply for visibility for me.

For the fish it does not matter at all.

On 09/05/2024 at 8:41 PM, Sasha Hess said:

Nice report. Good to see there are some tailor getting around

Tailor have been a problem for me since early December.....I try and avoid them.

usually it is polyethylene.....grades vary greatly.

UHMWPE is a high end version of this.....you do not need that high a quality plastic.

Holland Plastics, PM Plastics, Nerang Plastics all will have what you are looking for.

A google search will give you dozens of suppliers near you.

For me I get up to about 10 of these fish a year in SEQ.

I am not sure if they are more numerous now or our techniques and lures have changed that is enticing more bites.

II regularly caught smaller models in the 80's in Bribie Passage....usually on small live baits.

These days I catch larger models on soft plastics off Redcliffe, at the Port and in the Pine River usually.....mostly around the 60cm mark.....I think the presentation is the key to not catching many or any small ones these days.

About 12 years ago i caught my first legal nanny off Redcliffe, there had been small models about for about 5 years before that that I know of. I have since caught 3 more legals and maybe around 10 undersized models.

They are definitely becoming more common. My decky caught one at Clara Rocks in February...undersized but still surprising.

Two interesting sessions for your party.

I find the bridge fishes best drift fishing it rather than anchoring....the current is not an issue then.

Explore the channel up from the bridge to around 750m....there is lots of low reef through the area that all hold fish.

Good work Andrew.

Nice selection of components and finishing.

I agree with Neil, different spots at different stages of the tide....

Incoming look for feeding banks about to get a few inches of water on them....they will be feeding hard there for about 30 minutes. Keep following the flooding banks as the water rises. You want to cast into about 6 inches of water roughly.

Once the bites have tapered off you need to find where they will wait for food to come to them....look for a sand bank that tapers down to the river bank along the river.....you can bet a years wages they will sit there until the top of the tide vacuuming up all the worms and small crabs and yabbies dislodged by the sand bank being disturbed.  You really should recon the river towards the last of the run out tide to learn where this high tide spot will be. Ideally the sand bank should be at least 1/2 the river wide and taper down to the bank on one side only on the upstream end.....the fish will be over the last 15 metres of that bank guaranteed. Google Earth Pro shows these sand banks quite well too....another way to plan your run.

I have never had an issue with 1.5m of chain fr my reef anchor....or sand anchor.

I think 2.5m of 8mm chain will be all you need in a 4.5m.

Dyneema / spectra is not a good option for anchor rope...it has next to no stretch and often will un-nest an anchor with surges coming down the rope. Use silver rope, it is a good stretch rope that helps keep an anchor holding.....plus it is enormously cheaper.

If using a cheap reef anchor you can shorten the spikes to about 6 inches long and bend them quickly back towards the eye....not long slow bends. they will hold better and release better when you need them to. Long slow bends are far less effective.

3 hours ago, Huxstang said:

Consider a Mooloolaba Pick anchor https://www.whitworths.com.au/mooloolaba-pick-anchor

Thats what all the boats have on the swains that I have been on.  

Shackle to the top then lay chain down the shaft and heavy zip ties to what you would normally attach to.  If its stuck you just pull back over the top and it snaps the zip ties and you then pull the anchor up from the head.

Mate bought a very expensive version of one (cannot remember the name) but it uses a sheer bolt to hold the fins in place and all you do it drive over the top and it sheers the pin and the fins collapse.  A guy up in Mackay makes them.  Very neat.

Kyzanka in Mackay. Way over priced.

Two bends up past Castle Hill is the slabs.....between the concrete slabs and the rocks before them is a large reef crossing the river......you can't miss it.

16 minutes ago, Ross.warwick said:

Thanks for the tip. Once the kids leave for school I might head out Redcliffe way. I usually play in the pine, just shy of Hayes Inlet, so heading further afield might do me some good. I'll play the weather by ear, if its too rough, its too rough. and i might head back to around the pine bridge and try that

Plenty of fish smashing prawns up near the slabs in the pine on Anzac day....brassy trevally, jew and tailor....been a few decent jacks there recently too.

The Ripples at Bribie would be worth a shot in the kayak.....just outside the mouth of the canals near Bansia Beach. Been a lot of squire there recently.

Not as bad for the winds as Redcliffe and same sized fish.

That is the most popular spot there for squid....and the most accessible.

Good to see you back at the water's edge again.

Thanks for the report.

11 hours ago, Neil Stratford said:

Yes my flathead spots have been very quiet for the last couple of years .

imo the waters been way too hot for them . 

 

I am leaning towards too many flushes or floods in the 13 years since 2011 has altered the habitat and or bait locations and cycles.

We get dusky flathead all along the east coast and deep into the Gulf....so I am not sure it is a temperature change that has them shut down. I used to catch lots in Mackay and the Capricorn Coast when I was there.

2011 saw every worm bed in the Pine River scoured to rock and repeated in 2013....the worm beds returned after 5 or 6 years and things started to normalise...since 2019 we have had reasonable to large flushes recurring randomly in relatively quick succession....some in season, others not.

I think this weather pattern needs a break....we actually need a drought to stabilise the rivers and creeks. Getting heavy flushes 4 times a year is not good year after year.

I will go high and say 11 years