benno573

hey mate, i went up there years ago with next to no gear and even less of an idea. found plenty of action with mackeral and trevally around some of the mainland headlands (I was landbased and did a lot of bush bashing to get to places), that was just throwing metals around. I dropped some baits in around bommies and only got smaller reefies but being right in against the mainland i wasn't really expecting much. fisheries are quite active up there so just watch the zoning plan. i would look for headlands/edges with good current pushing past and troll around them as a starting point. hope you have a good trip mate.

Just beware of any green zones in this area particularly and remember just because it looks pretty on the outside doesn't mean it isn't poisonous...

That’s a fat yella. Great way to spend a morning.

Slugs usually about 40g so you can throw it on not massively heavy gear - more exciting fight and easier to throw it round for longer. If I have my heavy rod there I will throw anything up to 120g, just depends on where you are and what you are targeting.

Sorry Hamish, haven’t been on for a while owing to other commitments on the home front. rigs - I usually fish a running sinker to a swivel then a trace to hook/s to suit the bait. Usually a single for baits like prawns, mullet fillet, worms, pippies etc, snell or gangs for bigger baits, pillies, gar etc. I always have a 2nd rod with a slug rigged up ready to go - you never know when something is going to show. I usually spend a bit of time throwing a slug around even if you can’t see fish actively feeding. Really erratic retrieves work best, you’ll pick up tailor, trevally, huge dart and the odd kingie, queenie etc. have even caught mulloway on slugs before. You’ll sometimes get mackerel or tuna in close enough to have a crack as well. id be happy to take you along on a future trip - just might be a little while before I get to head out. good work on the threadys though - I have been trying to get one land based for ages and haven’t quite cracked it yet.

hey mate, there is no right or wrong answer to this question. bread and butter species are found on any rocky headland, rock groyne or breakwall. your two hour drive window basically opens up anything from byron to noosa. the best thing to do at this time of year is to try and be in a spot when most people don't want to be - i.e. early morning, night time etc. crowds can be a killer, especially if there is limited space in a location because of wind and waves. take a couple of different rigs and baits, definitely a few lures etc as well. remember your fishing licence in NSW. Spots to try (roughly south to north) broken head cape byron brunswick river mouth cabarita hastings point fingal tweed river mouth snapper rocks tallebudgera creek mouth burleigh headland southport seaway walls point lookout on straddie cape moreton on moreton isl caloundra headland mooloolah river mouth point cartwright point arkwright noosa river mouth double island point thes best spot depends a lot on tide, wind and swell conditions, on the day, for example fingal head in a 15kn southerly is not safe whereas mooloolah river mouth is safe in a 30kn southerly. I like river mouths in rougher/windier conditions as there is usually a more sheltered side of the breakwall. hope you get onto a few. Cheers, benno <'><

i'd be looking to chase mackeral at this time of year, any of the beacons along the shipping channel in the eastern bay are a good place to start. Good luck.

hey mate a lot of people go the measured mile because it is close and often produces. the best catches i have found are if you can find a beacon with bait and no other boats - this usually means going further out and further north but it is not always necessary. boat traffic will kill a bite really quickly, especially if a lot of people are trolling the area. my personal favourite in closer was the m8 beacon but usually went further north in the channel between moreton and bribie. i usually drifted past a marker and checked for bait (and if there way anything hanging around the bait) and then anchored up about 40m upcurrent of the beacon and set pilchards or livies back towards the beacon. i usually set one just under the surface, one on or close to the bottom and one about mid water. just use a different sinker size for each. avoid wire traces, i used to make a set of 4 gang hooks and only put the bait on the bottom 3 of them - very rarely lost a fish using this method and still got plenty of bites. usually 30lb fluro leader and 15-20lb main line will suffice. pilchard cube burley definitely helps if the bites are slow. Another option is to use slugs - certainly effective but can result in a lot of bite offs which gets expensive and annoying. not to mention this is a much more active method of fishing and i usually got over it after a few beacons and took the easier way out. try and land your slug as close as possible to the base of the pylon and crank like all hell. you literally cannot wind too fast for a mackeral. if you don't get a bite best to drop back down and repeat until you drift well away from the marker. 20g-40g slugs are the go, best if you can see the bait to match the hatch of course. I like halco twisties as they have a bit more action and flash but they all will work, just make sure they have a decent treble on them. I tend to avoid using plastics - they are super effective at getting the bites but you lose more than you land and again can become an expensive and frustrating day out. Often the mackeral will snip your plastic on the drop and you won't even feel it happen. bycatch - if there's bait around you will get tuna, bonito etc on any of the above methods. if using livies you will get the occasional hook up on a kingie or cobia, sharks can be annoying at times though. Other spots to try are in the shipping channel along bribie and around bray rock / the blinker off caloundra. Plenty around on the shoals and reefs off currimundi as well at the moment. Also out on any of the shallow reefs and coffee rock around cape moreton, if you find bait the fish won't be far. good luck!

Somerset dam or maroon dam are other good options - little further to drive to though.

you went fishing TWICE without me???

nice one mate, some cracking fish in that lot. shame about the whiting - would have pushed the 40cm mark if you hadn't gotten so hungry before the photo!

I like to think I’m an equal opportunity angler...

Not this time mate... only crumbed and deep fried snapper fillets this time. Need you there to fully appreciate the mars bar option. fishing generally was off the chain this trip. When I throw back 11 legal flathead you know it’s going well... forgot to mention - managed the perfect trifecta of flatties on one morning with a dusky, sand and bar tail all landed and released within about 2 hrs. That was a first for me.

Hi all, Had an awesome week on Moreton last week. Took the barge over on Saturday 19/10, weather was average at best, we even had hail on the way over! The squalls moved out to sea just as we arrived and we quickly set up camp at north point before the next storm came through. After the storm passed, the sun kind of came out and the ocean glassed off. No time like the present – kayak was launched with the aim being to get a couple of dinners for the next few days. Conditions were amazing and in short time 2 nice pan sized snapper and a school mackerel were on board and I was heading back to the beach before the next storm arrived. A LOT of plastics were lost to school mackerel, at one point I was right in the middle of a bust up with a heap of schoolies, tailor, a few small sharks and even some snapper racing around smashing into the bait. Awesome to watch. Crumbed snapper for dinner followed. Sunday morning presented a 30kn SSE so after a bit of a lie in, we headed down onto north point beach where the wind would be at our backs. First spot wasn’t all that sheltered, however, the first flathead of the trip was landed – a nice mid-40’s model that was released as dinner was already well in hand. A move to another spot provided both more shelter and more fish. 5 more flathead were landed and released, 3 of them going over 60cm long. Awesome session, could easily have filled the freezer but was happy to release them to fight again another day. Mackerel in a thai red curry for dinner was superb! Monday the SSE was still up around 20kn but was forecast to drop through the day. Another lazy start and a mosey down to North point beach showed the wind was up but the ocean was flat. Kayaks were launched and a lovely paddle along the back of the surf break featuring dolphins, turtles and 1 nice 42cm snapper for me. The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the beach, a few more flathead were landed and released. We headed up to the lighthouse on sunset for happy hour. Tuesday morning I awoke early and it was totally still. We had a quick breakfast and launched the kayaks again in idyllic conditions. We were greeted by a pod of dolphins, a few turtles and even a manta ray. I landed one nice snapper but could barely get a plastic near the bottom without being snipped off by the school mackerel. I put a slug on to have a bit of fun and caught 4, the last one was hooked up around the gills so wouldn’t release, I shared the fillets around the camp site that afternoon. Wednesday I headed out kayaking early again, this time I bagged 3 nice snapper and another schoolie that was kept at the request of some neighbours. We then jumped in the car and headed for Tangalooma for a snorkel, timing it with a tide change for best water clarity and least current. Highlights were two wobbegongs and a huge blue parrot, generally a very good snorkel. On the way back I found middle rd block by a fallen branch, when I picked this up to move it a squirrel glider jumped out of the end and climbed up a nearby tree and then glided away. Can’t believe it stayed in the hollow during and then after the branch falling! Thursday morning I elected to sleep in and we then headed over to our favourite spot on the island where I landed a very nice tailor off the rocks (released) and then spent a few hours looking in rock pools and relaxing on the otherwise deserted beach. We headed back to camp for a late lunch, conditions were not perfect but I went for a final kayak and nabbed 3 nice snapper – should have been 4 but had to pay my taxes for the week which was a good bit of fun getting towed around for about 15 minutes before the teeth inevitably won out. Friday morning I headed up to the north point rocks early and had a spin for tailor. I landed 10.2 tailor, the 0.2 coming when a huge Spanish Mack decided to grab a hooked tailor, narrowly missing the treble on the back of the slug – part of me was disappointed, the other part quite relieved. All tailor were released. Friday afternoon we had a fish with some pippies for dart and landed a couple, pretty quiet as the northerly was ramping up by this point. Saturday was pack up day – good thing too as the northerly was 20kn+ at sunrise and only set to increase. We packed up and headed right down to the southern end of the island out of the wind a bit for a final swim, chill out and picnic lunch. We watched a 2-2.5m hammerhead cruising in over a shallow bank and through the south passage bar – likely heading in to birth some pups. Then all too soon, that was it, back up the beach and across middle rd and onto the barge home. Some photos from the week are below, might throw some video footage up on the you tubes or grab some stills out of it and add them soon. Cheers, Benno <’><

hard to say mate. definitely try and stick with something australian. as @ellicat said, whiting is always a good choice and very likely to be australian as well. i personally don't buy fish from the supermarket other than the occassional salmon fillet - it is too hard to know the age of the fish especially when the magic "thawed for your convenience" sign is showing.

Hi mark, They are definitely around - on Friday morning off the rocks on moreton I lost two good tailor to big spanish macks. Also got a heap of schoolies. Looks like an awesome day out on the water anyway mate, some good chewing in that lot. Cheers, benno

Used to camp at wood gate a bit as a youngin, other than a few whiting and other bread and butter stuff it was pretty quiet. not sure if there are many other beach options available to fish near Bargara, however, bit further south around Elliott heads there is good land/sand based options and you will get blue salmon and other fun stuff land based there too.

Cracker mate, well done braving the forecast and coming up trumps.

They’re quite different things and I think both have their place. agree with what @ellicat said though - gobblers are even tougher than zmans and have a great action and look in the water as well. Heaps of colors and designs. And supporting a small local business is always a good thing IMO.

You’ve pipped me by 1cm! cracking catch mate. One to remember for many years.

Nice one mate. Love a feed of fresh whiting. Should have got a photo of my 35.2cm one from paradise point the other night to add to the mix!

Wouldn’t we all @ellicat! Imagine one of those monstering a popper in 30cm of water! how is did you find the stargazer on the chew @Old Scaley?

Great way to blood the new stick mate!

Nice one mate. Sounds like a cracking trip. That’s a big bream for that area. Fairly lightly conditioned for that length though, probably trying to feed up again post spawning. Glad you got a few, look forward to more reports from your trips soon!

Hi all, cleaning out a few bits, have 6 opera house pots to give away, each one with about 8m of 6mm silver rope spliced on. pick up ferny hills 0422377848 cheers, benno