Leeroy

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

Thanks for sharing and congrats on your first Barra. That first night fever is a killer and highly contagious. 😂

Sounds like a great way to tick off a barra from the list.
Top photos. You look very happy with yourself. Your dog looks bewildered. haha

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

Hi all,
I snuck out for a quick flick this morning in the river, hoping for something decent. The morning didn't start off great as I slept in, but I still managed to ride and arrive at the spot of choice by six. With the tide still running out, I was hopeful of a few baitfish, but I could hardly scrape together enough to continuously fish. Eventually I saw something of interest, a flathead lie. Maybe I will try flicking some lures around here the next time I'm fishing at high tide. I also caught a small flathead and flounder in the net, so clearly some more bottom dwelling fish get around here. 
https://lensdump.com/i/qGI3zP
Flathead Lie
As I continued to grind away for livebait, I saw someone drive by with a fully decked out lure fishing boat, which would be pretty cool to have. I didn't see him catch anything when he was fishing nearby though. Things just seemed to get worse for me though, as I managed to rip a couple of holes in my net that will need to be stitched to fix up. All my livies also kept seeming to get pickered but I never saw any bites.  
After about one and a half hours of fishing for absolutely nothing, I was out of bait and energy. I sorted all my gear out and had a drink, before getting back to netting. Here, I was lucky enough to net a nice size bony bream, which I chucked out on a 4/o circle hook pinned through the nose. I got back to the cast netting, and with no other rods out things weren't looking good... But then, I saw my rod get a couple of distinct hits before buckling over. I jogged back and as the fish went for another long run, I tightened my drag and the fight began. 
It wasn't long before more line was peeling off of my spool, and I was starting to get a bit nervous as the fish was running dangerously close to a very snaggy rocky ledge. Luckily, I managed to turn its head, and it slowly started to come back towards me. A few more cranks and I could see my sinker, then swivel... Sure enough, it was what I wanted! But the fight wasn't over yet, as the thready shot back down into the depths. After about 3 more minutes of fighting with some screaming runs on my 4000 reel, I managed to bend over and grab the fish in the mouth, landing it successfully. Nice. I got a walker to take a couple pics for me, before venting and successfully releasing the fish. The thready came in between 105-110cm, I don't know for sure as I didn't have it perfectly aligned on the brag mat. Although not quite a new PB, still a solid fish, and my first in ages.
https://lensdump.com/i/qGIsCZ
Thready
It was only about 8:15AM when I had that all sorted, so I netted and fished for a bit longer, catching one catfish, before riding home. On the way home, one of my rods fell through the floor of my bike buggy, and some pipes scratched another one of my rods up pretty bad, but at least I caught that thready. 🙂 
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. I probably won't be able to go fishing for a few weeks now because of school, so it was a good way to finish up. 
Stats:
Tide: 1:50AM, 1.4M, High, 8:00AM, .5M, Low, 3:00PM, 2M, High. 
Moon Phase: 40%
Bait Caught/Used: Live mullet, bony bream, silver biddy. 
Fish Caught: Threadfin Salmon x 1, Catfish x 1
Total Damage: Cast net ripped, had to do heaps of cast netting, made hole in bottom of bike buggy, chipped rod. 
Tackle Used: Shimano Symetre on Shimano Sentire Rod, Shimano Stradic on Shimano Raider, Okuma Coronado CDX on Silstar Crystal Powertip, Shimano Baitrunner OC on Jarvis Walker Aurora.   
Air Pressure: 1012
Humidity: 70%
Overall Success Rate: 100% - good session
Cheers Hamish

The other week, @Another Wazza and I headed up to Lucinda, with boats in tow, to meet up with @crazywalrus for 7 days of fishing.
The first 5 or 6 days the weather was rubbish. We tried to get offshore, but with 2 metre waves at the jetty we were turned away. The estuaries were where it had to be and there is plenty of rivers and creeks to explore.
On the 2nd day, at the mouth of the Herbert River, on the way back to the ramp, I ran into a sandbar. Slowly as it was only 40cm deep in the narrow way through. Unfortunately I sucked in some sand and the motor began to overheat. Wazza, who had made it through about 20 minutes earlier, came back and gave us a tow home.
The next morning the three of us all worked on getting the sand out by dropping the leg. A lot of sand came out, but when we put her back together there was no water coming from the tell tale. The impeller was in good nick.  I got on the phone to Mick at Coorparoo Marine. He ran us through some extra tricks to get the sand out. We got more out, but again when we put it back together the water wasn't flowing where it should. Bugger!! That afternoon we looked to get out again in Ted's 6.7M boat but it was still rubbish conditions outside, so we just fished the channel.
The trip wasn't panning out so well and after another dud day with Ted and I in his boat fishing the channel and Wazza fishing the creeks/rivers things were looking bleak. Then we got the message from Wazza with a picture of a Jack. Then another picture of a Jack. He was having a good time where we couldn't get to.
So, the next morning Ted decided to go home, as he had plenty of work on, and allow Wazza and I to fish out of his boat. That day Wazza and I decided to have a day off fishing. We put our heads together and Wazza raised some logic about my motor not getting water to the top but getting water out the bottom. The pump was working.
We dropped the leg again and repositioned a nylon sleeve that the water pipe wasn't seated into properly. Magic. The water was now coming out the top and I was back in action.
The next day we launched both our boats and headed for the creeks, as the wind was still rubbish. Wazza was into more Jacks. On the other hand I was struggling as my electric motor was now playing up. Spotlock would not hold and kept cutting out at low prop speeds. When I tried to drive it manually, it would not steer unless I turned the prop off. So I tried driving it by pointing the head in the direction I wanted, then turning the prop on, then turning the prop off and turning the head then turning the prop on, then off again etc etc. Very difficult and frustrating. Also at speed 9 it was barely moving the bow. I decided to go for a troll instead.
Trolling was slow and a tad on the boring side, but eventually I had a good hit and hooked up to something that was playing up nicely. I got maybe 8 winds and 10 seconds of excitement before the hooks pulled. Maybe a good Jack or smaller Barra.
The weather had turned the corner with good conditions forecast for the two day drive home, so we decided to stay an extra couple of days - stretching the trip to 9 days 'fishing'.
I pulled the prop off the electric to find a broken sheer pin. I carry spares, so I replaced that and was hopeful that was the cause of the other issues. The next day I headed out to the jetty while Wazza focused on the estuary again. The electric dramas were not fixed, so I motored around the jetty marking shows and throwing vibes and plastics for the poor result of 1 approx 25cm GT on the Squidtrex. Off the donut...just. There were a lot of boats out in the morning but most left by the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Wazza had added to his tally of Jacks, Cod, Queenfish and Barra.
 6 jacks 35 - 40cm
 2 cod 20 to 42cm
 1 queeny
 1 barra - 62cm
(from memory)
The last day had the best forecast and it turned out to be spot on. We both fished the jetty. I caught nothing, while Wazza was able to come up with a finiscad and some type of trevelly. Neither desirable, but way better than nothing. Some of the workers told us wher the GT's were, so we both threw stick baits at them, but they had lockjaw. I finished the session with a decent troll around hoping for a Spanish, but no cigar.
 
It was not the trip I was hoping for. I should have been able to read the tea leaves when the day before we departed, the accommodation I organised and paid for in December 2022 was cancelled. A mad scramble saw us find a replacement about 12 hours before we left. Anyway, I'd go back there for revenge. Next time a bit later in the year.
I think I have sorted the electric problem - a battery not holding charge. Hopefully, with a new one next week, the electric will function as it should.
 

Nice spot down there. 
The creek is pretty shallow and protected you can cross the creek to fish the bank on the otherside. Good spot for kids. 
the beach would be ok if no swell. 

Nice spot down there. 
The creek is pretty shallow and protected you can cross the creek to fish the bank on the otherside. Good spot for kids. 
the beach would be ok if no swell. 

Nice spot down there. 
The creek is pretty shallow and protected you can cross the creek to fish the bank on the otherside. Good spot for kids. 
the beach would be ok if no swell. 

Nice spot down there. 
The creek is pretty shallow and protected you can cross the creek to fish the bank on the otherside. Good spot for kids. 
the beach would be ok if no swell. 

Hi all
This report is a little late, but better late than never. Three Tuesday's ago, I hopped on a plane up to Rockhampton. I then got the bus to Yeppoon, near my Grandma's house. The plan was to fish Double Heads, a rocky headland near the Rosslyn Bay Harbour, as well as a couple sessions in the Causeway and the Harbour. Target species were going to be mackerel off the rocks and flatties in the Causeway. It wasn't the greatest trip in terms of fishing but was still nice to escape the city and stay up there for a while.
First Day:
I got the earliest bus I could to the Causeway, and aimed to fish in the lake for some flatties. There was no run through, so I wasn't sure how the fishing was going to be. I started off with a 3.2inch Baitjunkie minnow and after only one small hit after about an hour, I switched to a smaller grub. This too didn't bring me any luck, so I switched to a lipless crankbait that I was retrieving relatively quickly across the bottom. Sure enough, I hooked up to a flatty (legal, but not by much), that spat the hooks as I was about to get it on the bank. After that ordeal, there were no more bites, so I headed off to Double Heads. It was my first time ever going out there, and after following someone along the track so I knew the way I was good to go. This is what I arrived to – 

Good conditions
Annoyingly, after a few casts with Halco Twisties of varying sizes, the first fish I landed was a grinner. It must have been a bit of a quiet day because I didn't see anyone else catch anything for the next three hours or so that I was there, and even though I gave it a good shot I couldn't manage anything more myself. I called it quits knowing where the spot was now, hoping I'd be a bit luckier the next day. 

Grinner
That arvo, I decided to give it a crack at the harbor with some livies. I recently bought a new 9 foot drawstring castnet, mainly for Yeppoon, and I've got to say it worked quite well, catching me plenty of herring and also various other fish. After I got a couple herring however, I sent some down as cubes and some out as livies. It wasn't long before I caught a couple small cod and bream, and then the livie rod had a good bite. I set the hooks but sadly after a couple good headshakes lost whatever was on. I continued to fish until about 4:30PM - didn't catch anything worth mentioning. 
Second Day:
The next morning, I was back at the Causeway flicking more lures around. I started out with a soft plastic, but after a relatively uneventful series of casts, I switched lures again. A little while later and I was surprised by a small cod coming out of the water from under a rock and attacking my lure. It was only in about ten centimetres of water, but still was cool to watch. A couple more lure changes later saw me leaving with no fish - back to Double Heads. This time, things were looking a bit more promising. I had gotten the right type of lure (Flasha spoon lure from the servo) and was flicking that around on my light rod. Additionally, some other fishos had already caught a couple of legal school mackerel, one of which I saw get pulled in. I had my first cast in anticipation, but to my disappointment, I didn't catch anything except a couple grinners for the day, nor did anyone else. After this, I decided things must be better early in the morning, so a plan was hatched to come back to the spot for a sunrise session the next day. 
That arvo, I also gave it another crack in the harbour, but it was much the same as the day before. I got bait no worries (also a large turtle in my cast net, wish I got a photo of that before I let it go), but small cod and bream were all I caught. The livie rod had a couple of hits but it ended up just being small fish as my bait rarely got taken whole anyways. 

Unlucky
Third Day:
I woke up early and walked the couple of kilometres to the spot and arrived shortly after sunrise. A couple of other anglers had also made their way out, and we were all eager to try out luck on the fish. 
 
Sunrise
That is what greeted us, but for the actual sunrise period the bite was pretty quiet. It wasn't until the sun was up everyone was plagued with grinners, which would eagerly take a spoon on a fast retrieve. The fishing was still quiet though, so I figured I might be going for a fair while before I actually caught something. This was the case, except I didn't catch anything other than grinners for the whole day, and I called it quits at midday. One fella did catch an undersize mackie, so I guess they were around, just not for me. Bugger. I gave the harbour a miss that arvo.
Fourth Day:
The next day was much the same, and although I was there before the sun came up and was the first person to get a line in all I could catch were grinners. I tried all different sorts of retrieves, from quite a slow pace to a fast burn, as well as letting the lure sink or retrieving as soon as it hit the surface. It is worth noting one guy dropped a legal sized schooly as he was about to land it and another guy caught two legal ones, both on a slightly larger lure. He also hooked a tuna which spooled him. I did land my first ever wolf herring though, which was some redemption, as well as a small trevally on a jig. I gave the arvo session a miss again that day – but prepped for another morning session in envy of the others catches.

First wolf herring
Fifth Day:
Once again, an early start saw me at the spot by sunrise. The sky was pretty red, and being a Sunday I was expecting the ledge to get pretty crowded. I had it to myself at first, and things were looking promising.

Sunrise
Sure enough, after landing a couple of grinners, I hooked up to something that was pulling a bit more string. After a quick tussle, I was pleased to land my first mack off the rocks, an undersize schooly. It was promptly released after a photo, in hope a larger model would cruise by.

Mackerel
Shortly after that, I had another hit that didn’t feel like a grinner. I was happy to see a nice queeny on the end of my line, and although it was only small it was still a new species for me on the lure.

Queenfish
After that, I continued flicking my lure around until about lunchtime, but having no more luck except wolf herring and grinners made it tricky to stay any longer. I was glad to have caught my first mackerel, especially with the poor weather that was forecast to come the next day. I even cast netted a couple of herring and floated them out, but this didn't bring me any joy. 
Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Day
The next four days were all pretty uneventful, with some rough weather moving in for days six and seven making the rocks quite unpleasant to fish at/borderline unfishable. I was still out for sunrise both mornings, but with high winds and some rather large waves, I was struggling to keep sensitivity with my lines and ended up not catching anything at all.

Rough
On the sixth day, I went to the Causeway for an arvo session and did manage to land a couple of flatties and a small cod, one flatty would have been legal (soft plastics).

Pics
The seventh day I spent about 8 hours at the harbour after briefly going to Double Heads, having cast netted a truckload of herring I was optimistic a predator may come through, though apart from one bust off on the pylons and a fair few legal size bream and small fish on unweighted whole herring, it was a quiet day.
The eighth day I tried the harbour for the last time of the trip, but after catching nothing I went out to Double Heads to fish the arvo. The conditions were superb, and I was surprised to see only one other angler out there. He’d caught plenty of good fish off the rocks, and we had fun pulling in about 6 wolf herring each and losing plenty too. The highlight of that session would have been me hooking up to someone else’s line, which still had a big fish attached to the end. It was most likely one of the resident groupers, and it was a bit of fun until it broke me off.

Wolf herring
The ninth day was another quiet day, but I did try Double Heads in the morning. I think I only got one or two wolf herring but plenty of grinners, and unfortunately no big fish. There wasn’t really anyone else out on the rocks though, so it was nice to have the place to myself.

More wolf herring
Last Day:
Unfortunately, before I knew it, it was the last day of my trip. I decided to have a sleep in for the morning though, but give it a good crack in the arvo at Double Heads. I arrived shortly after 2:00PM with the goal of hooking up to a few wolf herring, and maybe a mackerel too. I had also topped up the braid on my Stradic 3000, so on my first cast my Flasha flew out into the strike zone.
It wasn’t until the second cast I got hit though, and it was a big hit. About half way through my retrieve, I felt the great feeling of my rod loading up, followed by the fish screaming away into the depths of the ocean. Very surprised to have hooked up to what I assume was a decent size longtail tuna, I crouched down and watched the line on my reel fly away. My drag was screaming, and after about 50 metres of line was taken I made the fatal mistake of tightening my drag. Sure enough, another ten metres of line peeled away from my spool before disaster struck, and the hooks pulled. I was pretty devastated to say the least, but after checking my line and leader I flung my lure out yet again. A couple of grinners later and the sound of line screaming off my reel could be heard again, although unluckily this one did not hook up as well and it came off the line after about five seconds. I assume that was because the take was on the drop and the fish was able to shake my hook out with the extra slack line.
It was only around 3:00PM now, so I had high hopes for the rest of the arvo. A few other people came and left, but all I could manage was one lone wolf herring as well as my second mackerel of the trip, even smaller than the first.

Mack
Eventually around four o clock, another angler using quiet heavily weighted dead bait hooked up and was spooled. I’m unsure whether that was a tuna or maybe shark/ray of some sort, but it was big whatever it was as he had heavy gear. Fortunately for him, fifteen minutes later he was on again on a smaller combo, to another good fighter. 20 minutes after the hookup, a 115cm whitespot shovelnose had been landed on the rocks, which he kept for dinner. I had a few more casts after this but eventually decided to have my last cast for the trip, which did not result in anything. Bugger.
So, as I left the rocks for the last time, and got the plane home the next day, I still think it was a pretty great trip overall. I’ve found a spot that works for big fish on live bait and lure, caught a couple and know what to do for next time, and also spent a lot of money at the servo on Flashas. In hindsight, I probably should’ve done every session at Double Heads, but oh well, there’s always next time.
Overall Success Rate: 70% - no big fish but still a fun trip
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.
Cheers Hamish

Any recommendations for a mobile mechanic in Brisbane for a mate? 15hp 2 banger Evinrude.

Any recommendations for a mobile mechanic in Brisbane for a mate? 15hp 2 banger Evinrude.

Decided to pop out for a quick flick chasing flatties on the rising tide on Wednesday night. The fishing was extremely slow with very minimal interest at the multiple different lures I was using. We were almost about to call it a night until we noticed a couple of squid that were giving me the side as they swam past. It probably wasn't the smartest thing for the squid to do, so after quickly changing to a couple of jigs, the madness started. In the space of no time we had boated 33 squid of various sizes. Here is a pick of the ones that I didn't eat and have decided to pack them up and hopefully turn them into something bigger and angrier. 

Easy as. 
 
Sit steak on bench and let rest to room temp. 
 
Get heat beads going in fire pit. My pit is from bunnings. Little round smoker oven, but I don't use the insert spacer or lid, just the bottom and bowl for heat beads. 
 
Cut room temp steaks down the middle length ways to make 2 halves. 
Skewer steak on sword thingies. Can buy from BBQ shop. 
Lightly cover steak in rock salt and place over open heat bead pit and add wood to smoke. 
 

 
Cook til medium or clearish blood color juice start to form on steak. 
 
Remove steak and clean off any rock salt that has stuck to surface. 
 

 
I cut mine into strips and feast. 
Yum. 
 

Jas, Mitch, Dan and I headed out to Bonshaw for a few days winter camping. I had found a great spot to camp on the Qld side of the Dumaresq River, when exploring about five years ago. Unfortunately the floods had seen to it that it was undesirable with long grass and weeds covering the whole area. We had a look on the NSW side and found a top spot with only one solitary camper about a kilometre or so away. Win!
The mornings were a tad cool, with -3.5 and -2 to endure, but the days warmed up near 20, so quite pleasant and no annoying insects or snakes. We caught no fish, with limited effort put in. On the third day, somewhere between waking up and when I got up, I heard a big splash and a bird squawking for a few seconds. I can only surmise a decent cod took said bird from the surface. I should have got up 5 minutes earlier.
Anyway, if you're interested, I'm posting daily summaries in 15 minute vids. (Produced with family in mind.)
If you do watch, remember to change the quality settings as Youtube is defaulting to 360p for some reason.
@Angry51, What's the go with brindle cows ? Never seen one before this trip.
 
 
 
 
 

Went out with a couple of mates on Tuesday in my mate’s new boat. He wanted to get some hours up on the new motor. So the plan was to tour Moreton Bay and drop a line every now and again. 
Left Victoria Point at the gentleman o’clock (8.30am) to a moderate SW breeze and did a bit of running around the southern Bay Islands. Stopped at one of them for a fish around the last of the run out tide, with a few undersize squire coming over the gunnel and lots of pickers. Moved to Peel where there were more unders before finally boating a legal squire. Only 40cm but we were off the donut. 
Did a lap of Peel, then headed to Blakesleys for a lunch stop and stretch the legs. Then up past Dunwich for a cruise to check out the bar. No intention of crossing, just sightseeing. Saw some dolphins working in the shallows in the exact spot where I saw dolphins herding a school of snapper a few years ago. On the way up we saw a few boats circling around an area in the Rainbow Channel. We thought why should they have all the fun, so motored over and started trolling hard bodies. No luck. I had one paravane in the tacklebox so threw that out and had instant success. Caught 2 decent macs in quick succession, then handed the rod to my mate who dropped 3 in a row. Just unlucky, I guess.
Then as he was dropping the paravane back into the water it was hit before it went more than 10 metres. Fish on before a strange thing happened. The rod tip started bouncing in a weird way for a couple of seconds before the line went slack. The 40lb almost brand new braid had parted just back behind the boat. We can only assume, there was a fish on the spoon, but something else hit the braid accidentally and did the damage? In any case, my only paravane was gone and didn’t float to the top, so if you catch a mackerel in the Bay and there is a paravane attached, let me know. Shame because there was not shortage of hits to keep us entertained.
We headed for home after that. My mate was happy, s few hours up on the motor and some blood in the new boat. We each had a fish for dinner and it was a great day to tour the Bay.
Thanks for reading.
 

Hi all
I'll try and keep this short - this report will be about fishing the last week in the river. Now that I'm into holidays I've been making best use of my time, and although I haven't really done anything else - 6 sessions in 6 days is decent going. 
The first session I'll talk about was with @Thorbjorn Hale at one of our spots. We got the earliest ferry we could and started off by gathering bait on a jetty. Although it wasn't plentiful, we eventually got a decent amount of biddies and herring - enough to start fishing. It is also worth noting I caught a 25CM or so school mackerel in the net, which was a cool catch for the river (upstream of the Gateway Bridge). 

Mackerel
We eventually arrived at our spot, and deployed some livies. It was pretty quiet at first, but I netted a bunch more biddies, and also hooked the first fish of the day - a decent river tailor somewhere in the forties. Hopeful a few more of these would be getting around, baits were redeployed to the middle of the river.

Tailor
Sure enough, I hooked another slightly more formidable model, which I believe provided some aerobatics for us. If I remember correctly, this one was the largest of the day at 52CM, and was also released as we had just started fishing.

Largest
I got a few more baits in the cast net but after catching a copious amount of ponyfish in the net (if you don't know, these are one of the worst pests - they are slimy, spiky, garbage bait, school up, and get stuck in your net) I gave it a rest. This didn't stop the tailor, and I got my third and final fish for the day. This one was another forties model, and seeing as though Thorbjorn had some tags we decided to tag it. I'll be excited to hear if anyone ever catches it again. 

Last One
The bite went quiet now, and even though things were looking promising we could not really manage anymore fish. I was even fishing with some of the prawns I cast netted the other night which were getting no love at all. Around midday, Thorbjorn hooked up to something on his heavy rod. We were pleased to see a quality breambo surface, which was a nice capture for this spot.  

Thorb's Bream
I ended up staying until about 6:00PM (yes, I was desperate for a fish), but only caught one catfish on a ponyfish. The bait was really dead, and even though there were lights there were no prawns on dark. Here are the stats of the trip:
Stats: NH
Tide: 4:30AM, .7M, Low, 9:45AM, 1.9M, High, 3:43PM, .5M, Low
Moon Phase: New Moon
Bait Caught and Used: Silver biddies, herrings, ponyfish, prawns
Air Pressure: 1013
Humidity: 84%
Tackle Used: I used a Shimano Baitrunner DC on Kmart Rod, Okuma Coronado CDX on Silstar Crystal Powertip rod, Abu Garcia Nexus on Shimano Sedona 6000, each with 30 pound braid, 50 pound trace, a size four star sinker and a 6/o circle hook. Thorbjorn used similar weight rated Penn gear. 
Overall Success Rate: 60% - good to catch up with a mate and catch some fish
The next day was Monday, and my first real day of holidays. Charlie and I met up and decided to hit a spot we hadn't been to in a while. He did the report for this session, which is worth the read!  
Stats of Trip: BW
Tide: 10:30AM, 1.8M, High
Moon Phase: New Moon
Bait Caught and Used: Live herring
Fish Caught: 3 x Jewfish 
Air Pressure: 1011
Humidity: 61%
Tackle Used: I used a Shimano Baitrunner DC on Kmart Rod, Okuma Coronado CDX on Silstar Crystal Powertip rod, Abu Garcia Nexus on Shimano Sedona 6000, each with 30 pound braid, 50 pound trace, a size four star sinker and a 6/o circle hook. 
Notes: Good day for the jewies. I also got busted off by one because I was using 30 pound. 
Overall Success Rate: 90% - great day for the jewies, good to see Charlie got his first. 
On Tuesday, it was just me, so I went back to the spot the jewies had been caught the day before. The tide was gushing in, and I was the only one on the jetty when I got there. It wasn't long before I had a fair few herring in my bucket and was fishing, watching my rods like an eagle, brimming with anticipation.
An older fella came down for about an hour who I had a good chat with, but disappointingly, the only thing I managed was a couple catties. By about 10AM, things were looking grim. It definitely cheered me up to see Thorbjorn and Steve coming down on the jetty, who proceeded to get some herring and their lines out. I also met another nice fella named Mick. 
We were all fishing, and it was pretty crowded at this point. Despite the lines out, it was not meant to be, and it took ages before the first decent fish of the day was landed. Luckily, it was just what we needed, as bait was running low, and Thorbjorn had the perfect idea to strip bait his tailor for us. This resulted in a bunch of fish including catties, pike eels, and a small flounder for me. I left a little past three, and no one caught any big ones for the day. 
Stats: BW
Tide: 11:00AM, 1.8M, High
Moon Phase: New Moon
Bait Caught and Used: Live herring, tailor strips
Fish Caught: Flounder, catfish, pike eel
Air Pressure: 1012
Humidity: 47%
Tackle Used: I used a Shimano Baitrunner DC on Kmart Rod, Okuma Coronado CDX on Silstar Crystal Powertip rod, Abu Garcia Nexus on Shimano Sedona 6000, each with 30 pound braid, 30/50 pound trace, a size four star sinker and a 6/o circle hook. 
Overall Success Rate: 30% - still a fun day on the jetty
That Wednesday, Charlie and I hatched a plan to give a spot we hadn't tried for ages a crack. We were there before sunrise, and even though it was freezing, I got to cast netting. The first cast brought a rather large sea mullet, which we kept for bait, but after that I struggled to get livies to start fishing. By about 7:30AM, we were so cold (hands numb, feet numb, freezing cold) we were about to call it quits. Luckily, the sun came out and we started to feel better. 
When we did get our lines out, the bite was slow. The first set back of the day was when a Citycat hooked one of my lines, dumping my whole spool in a few seconds. Luckily I ran back from cast netting and cut it off before all my line was lost, and seeing as though I salvaged about 50 metres of line I locked my drag up and casted a bait back out there.
While netting, I caught a decent size flounder, which caught me by surprise. Small flatties have been a common catch recently and it seems these are getting thicker too - this one Charlie kept for a feed. Also, one of my rods had a big run while netting, but annoyingly it didn't hook up. 

Flounder
Eventually, I got a nice size school of poddy mullet and called it quits for the cast netting for the day. Charlie and I enjoyed ourselves while I made sure all the ferry drivers knew I had lines out, and sure enough about an hour later one of my lines was getting the tell tale jewie 'nibbles'. The first half of the fight was me just pulling in the dead weight, but before long, the vicious headshakes started. Then, it was onto the first run. The rod which hooked up was actually the rod which only had 50 metres of line left from the ferry, so the drag was locked up. This fish stripped line like it was nothing. Hopes were high - would we finally crack a monster from the river?
It wasn't meant to be. When we were mere seconds away from seeing the size of whatever fish was on the end of my line when it took one last bid for freedom right under the jetty, snipping my line off in seconds. Whatever it was, I hope my hook is out of it's mouth by now, and that I'll catch it again soon!
After that explosive bust off, the bite went quiet. We gave it until we ran out of livies but decided to call it quits by about 2:30PM. 
Stats: KP
Tide: 6:30AM, .6M, Low, 12:00PM, 1.6M, High, 5:40Pm, .4M, Low
Moon Phase: 8.5%, just off New Moon
Bait Caught and Used: Live mullet, winter whiting, silver biddies
Fish Caught: Zilch
Tackle Used: I used a Shimano Baitrunner DC on Kmart Rod, Okuma Coronado CDX on Silstar Crystal Powertip rod, Abu Garcia Nexus on Shimano Sedona 6000, each with 30 pound braid, 30/50 pound trace, a size four star sinker and a 6/o circle hook. Charlie also used similar gear. 
Air Pressure: 1016
Humidity: 64%
Notes: Need to fish heavier and be quicker with getting fish in when around structure. Live mullet and whiting best bait at this spot. 
Overall Success Rate: 50% - at least we had a bite
The next day, I decided to go back to this spot with some mates from school. They aren't serious fisherman, so the aim of the game was to pull in at least one nice fish and teach them the basics. We got there by 10:00AM and after catching a few livebaits, we were set to start fishing.
The bite was slow, but to sum up a pretty relaxed day I ended up pulling in one squire. I noticed a large amount of slack line, and thinking a fish had taken the bait and swam up current I wound in and discretely struck. That's how I ended up getting in a 43CM squire without anyone noticing 😉. Also, I ended up keeping this guy for a feed for once.  

Squire
Stats: KP
Tide: 12:15PM, 1.6M, High
Moon Phase: 15%
Bait Caught and Used: Mullet, winter whiting, silver biddies
Fish Caught: Squire x 1
Tackle Used: I used a Shimano Baitrunner DC on Kmart Rod, Okuma Coronado CDX on Silstar Crystal Powertip rod, Abu Garcia Nexus on Shimano Sedona 6000, each with 30 pound braid, 30/50 pound trace, a size four star sinker and a 6/o circle hook
Air Pressure: 1015
Humidity: 74%
Overall Success Rate: 80% - fun day with the boys
Anyways, the final session of this report was another solo one. It was back at the same spot as the previous two sessions, and I decided to sleep in a bit so ended up getting the 7:24AM train. I was there by about 8:45AM though, but to my disgust, some grubs had been there the last night and left so much mud all throughout the walkway you castnet off it would have been wrong not to spend half an hour cleaning it up. 
After I had done that, I got some bait of my own. It was slow going at first, but I eventually got some solid mullet - about half a dozen. It was looking like it was going to rain, but luckily the storm cell avoided me. The river was really busy though, and with some nearby bridge construction, regular ferry services, and prawn trawlers going back and forth, it was very hectic. It is worth noting the prawn trawlers were killing it, doing multiple runs and getting what looked like a great amount of prawns and minimal bycatch in their nets. If you're buying Moreton Bay prawns at the moment, I'd say there's a good chance they're coming from upstream of the Story Bridge. 
Personally, although it may make the quantity of bites go away, I think a lot of large boats stirring up the river also stirs up the bite for predators. It was quiet at first though, and after about an hour and a half of fishing and dodging boats, an absolutely massive barge came through. It was powered by a couple of tugboats (Pt. Mary and a couple others, I think), and just about took up the whole river. I am unsure what it was for, but I wound in my lines and casted out shortly after it passed.
Another hour or two ticked by, and having eaten my only food early on I was feeling hungry. Luckily, a fish finally was too, and I saw my rod getting tell tale bites. I let the fish eat for a minute, before putting the reel in gear and checking if I was on. Sure enough, the weight of a decent fish loaded up my line, and I started cranking it in. A few seconds into the fight, the headshakes started. Drag clicked off, and I made my best effort to keep tension.
Then, the fish woke up. The reel screamed into life, with line flying off like a rocket. I continued to fight the fish though, and as it got closer I realized it was pretty much identical to the fight of the big bust off a couple days ago. Anticipation was higher than ever, and with a big crowd watching me now the pressure was on. As the fish got closer to the pylons I held the spool to slow him down, and boy, was I stoked when I saw the silver scales of a 88CM Brissy River Jewfish surface. 

Happy days!
The dilly was lowered down into the river, and after a few gut wrenching moments he was on the jetty. High fives were had all round, and although I tried venting and swimming him for a while he wasn't interested in swimming off so unfortunately I had to keep it. I bled the fish on the jetty and bagged him up, ready to go straight home on the ferry and train. I made sure to clean the jetty down before heading home, where I filleted the fish. It wasn't the best filleting job ever but I got two nice fillets off, so I hope it tastes nice. I was going to put some crab pots in tonight/go prawning but was far too knackered so just chucked all my old fish frames away and packed/cleaned up my gear for the week.
Stats of Trip: KP
Tide: 7:40AM, .6M, Low, 1:15Pm, 1.6M, High
Moon Phase: 22.3%
Bait Caught and Used: Live mullet, silver biddies, whiting
Fish Caught: Jewfish x 1
Air Pressure: 1009
Humidity: 87%
Tackle Used:  I used a Shimano Baitrunner DC on Kmart Rod, Okuma Coronado CDX on Silstar Crystal Powertip rod, Abu Garcia Nexus on Shimano Sedona 6000, each with 30 pound braid, 30/50 pound trace, a size four star sinker and a 6/o circle hook
Overall Success Rate: 100% - target species acquired
Thanks for reading if you've made it this far. I hope you enjoyed the report. I won't be fishing over the next couple of days as I'm getting ready for a trip to Yeppoon, where I'll hopefully be able to get some landbased flatties, trevs, and mackerel. A couple things I've noticed about the jew fishing are (as I realize I've encountered a few in these sessions, but been busted off) that they seem to bite best on lively live baits with a long trace around high tide change. Hopefully this will be the first of many jewies I catch in the river, not the first and last...
Cheers Hamish 🙂 

A few safe options,
Labrador/Biggera Waters foreshore. 
Council Chambers
Cascade Gardens
Tally/Currumbin Creek
All good spots for kids.
More adventurous try any canal bridge/rock wall etc. or Emerald Lakes and Bond Uni.
 
 

A few safe options,
Labrador/Biggera Waters foreshore. 
Council Chambers
Cascade Gardens
Tally/Currumbin Creek
All good spots for kids.
More adventurous try any canal bridge/rock wall etc. or Emerald Lakes and Bond Uni.
 
 

Cheers Leeroy - that helps a lot.