benno573

i would target the bread and butter stuff off the beach such as dart, bream, whiting. I have caught more tailor in summer over the past few year than winter so don't be shocked if there are some about. 20-30g halco twisties with the most erratic retrieve you can manage is the go (slow, fast, stop, twitch etc). jewfish are very hit and miss on beaches at the best of times. they are certainly most active at night and a live mullet or similar would be the best bet. you can get sharks on any of the beaches, however, this would likely be hit and miss as well. if you have limited time this might not be the most successful option available. hells gates is a pretty serious mission to get to and is hit and miss but can produce some cracking fish on its day. it is also exposed in any sort of E swell and not really the best place for the inexperienced rock fisho. there are plenty of other spots around the headland that fish pretty well for the usual rock species and are safer and less of a mission to get to. look for foamy, deeper water and don't be afraid to cast baits in close to any submerged rocks. flesh baits are good such as mullet fillets, fresh pippies if you can get them, everything eats pillies and worms and prawns will also work. also well worth throwing a metal around off the stones, 40g halcos are my favourite here as they stay in the water better when casting from height. expect tailor, trevally and maybe the occasional XOS dart.

hey hamish, fun way to spend the school holidays. mate they won't be yabby holes. yabbys can't live in pure mud, they need sand. as much as it would amuse me watching you sink up to your armpits in the mud trying for non-existent yabbies - i would strongly suggest not bothering. they will likely be a fiddler crab hole or one of the many other small mangrove crabs.

i think especially post floods there will be a lot of flash sales on 2nd hand vehicles - if it looks too good to be true it was likely fairly wet at some stage... i would try and get a second opinion from another mechanic just to make sure what old mate is telling you is gospel first. if so, i personally would spend the $ and keep the current car which you are both happy with. any replacement car will likely come with its own replacement issues as well, given the changeover figure quoted will likely limit you to the 2nd hand market. alternatively, get a job ya bum...

I have registered for the tipping comp. hopefully i'll member to put them in every week.

I was thinking it... you said it... I think it is a mutually beneficial decky/skipper relationship - @ellicat gets provided with snacks after all!

Hey mate, Don't think the report of prawns will be relevant any more given the date of the original post unfortunately. Powerlines run from rocky point (near cabbage tree point) across to the southern end of russell island. Not far from the mouth of the logan river.

Further research indicates the technical name is a striped sea perch lutjanus vitta but commonly referred to as a hussar. Grants guide agrees with me re edibility and says “they are not to be despised as a panfish”. Grow to 380mm apparently. Would fall under the category of “tropical snappers and sea perches” for legality purposes, bag limit 5.

Next time send a photo through and ask! At least they’ll be there for next time.

@Kat - that is a brown hussar and as long as they are 25cm+ should be added immediately to your esky. they taste just as good as that stripey you got. don't tell everyone my not-so-secrets either...

Last spot I show you @ellicat… very very rude of you to send me photos of tuskies while I’m run of my feet at work. glad you got a few decent fish though mate. You have to chip away constantly but there are almost always good fish there somewhere!

cracker day out that mate, plenty of good feeds for the family too!

that's a great haul mate. without being too specific of course... which side of mud were you fishing?

All of what has been said above. Alloy or stainless prop?

thoughts on what the unstoppable may have been?

They definitely get bigger than 56. I have caught several of them myself and seen one caught just on 70.

Thanks to @christophagus for organizing again this year, was a bit of fun, glad i was able to at least contribute for team north! I think tuna should stay - they are a summer species and i'm sure if there were more fishing days available there would have been some entries in this category (i hooked 3 on Oz day but pulled hooks on all! gah!) I think if we look at where the "usual" competitors are fishing, i feel grassys should be a category on their own. misc reef fish is a tricky one - eg does a 40cm moses perch beat a 42cm undersized red? not all reef fish are created equal...

yes kelvin, you need to contribute more and neil needs to contribute less...

Yeah… I was STOKED to receive that photo at work…

Since when did you become glorified?

Kingy, cobia… so many options. Best bit is because you didn’t see it it can be anything you want it to be…

I’d say PNP as there is no tendrils/barbels and the nose is really pronounced. It’s an invalid entry regardless so in this case it’s a moot point…

@kmcrosby78 - I’m not sure how it would go in that area, definitely worth using as a flesh bait though. Works well in the area we were fishing as there are often a lot of pickers and the chunks hold on very well/aren’t as appealing to the pickers. Grassys seem to love them - yakka or pike chunks definitely work best but whiptails are easily obtained on site so they suffice nicely. Just pin once through on a circle hook and send it!

Agree with @Old Scaley - haven’t ever been disappointed with grassy. Far superior to snapper IMO.

No brag mat photo… doesn’t count… how do we know it really wasn’t 48mm?

Fillet, crumb and deep fry…