mick2me

Forgot I had a bit of video when we were heading out (Kat loves the speed) -

20201017_080327_02.mp4

thanks guys.  Took her for a run up to the top of Bribie today.  unfortunately no fishing yet.

Picked up my new boat yesterday.  Seems like an eternity since I sold my last one (about 5weeks).   Its a Clark 457 Rebel. Bought through Karee Marine.  The guys there did an awesome job and were very helpful through the whole process.  Took her out in moreton bay yesterday and in the passage today to do some of the run in hours.  So far im really happy with it.  Bush'n'Beach have just done a write up on the boat  http://www.bnbfishing.com.au/boating/clark-boats-releases-new-side-console/

Hi Brian
When I was on my charter the guide was saying that squid were common over sea grass, coffee rock patches, and seaweed. I think Winter is peak time to target them. 
I always thought doing it at night with lights was a common method, as well as getting them at daytime. Good luck in getting some. Calamari would be a treat!
Cheers Hamish
P.S. Attached are some Sammy Hitzke videos/links/other vids to websites that may be helpful - 
https://bnbfishing.com.au/stalking-tiger-squid-moreton-bay/
https://ozfish.org.au/2020/04/the-tiger-squid-are-back-in-town/ (Notice in this one somone familiar @Drop Bear)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Local-Business/Squid-Fishing-Guide-Moreton-Bay-508107675941369/
(Just type in, "Squidding - Moreton Bay" and you will get much more 🙂).

Clean water is key, if going land based winter is the best on the mainland. Broken rock  and broken weed beds will hold. Rainbow and rouse hold good numbers. If your ever bottom bashing straddie inshore usual spots like middle reef, big halfway etc be sure to drop a squid jig with a four or five ball sinker above or below the jig then wind up five metres of the bottom and place your rod in the rod holder. Solid squid when targeted like this but not too many people do it.

Long casts, long drifts, shallow water weed beds, coffee rock and reef in clean water. They are visual feeders so might chill out deeper when it's too dirty or something, as success doesn't seem as good. Hence winter being the best time to target in the shallows along with being at their peak in numbers of the ideal meal size. Once you find one there's usually a patch of them around so mark the GPS and give the area a good go. Definitely no secret spots, so the more ground you cover the better your chances. 
They only live for 10 months or so and this time of year they tend to be larger but not as numerous as the past few months. Definitely worth a go though on any of the bay islands. Keep an eye out for the little squidly eggs and as they hatch over the next few months. Very cute 

and got to try out one of his new prawn placcies too. Look the goods and were smashed by the bream.
 

Fished around mud for not a lot but then we happened to be right on the spot where some tuba started busting up the bait that had been hanging around the boat. Unfortunately we only had 1 swipe for the 30odd minutes that we had a chance to cast up them. They kept popping up and down but were within casting range for a few of them. Nothing on 14gm chrome or 60gm chrome.
So we ducked up into some mangroves for a few flicks to see if we could find flatties but nothing of size. Just a few bream were brought up while skipping casts under the shadows. That was enough to make the session worth it. Love that kind of fishing where you skip cast too far in and panic that it's too deep so quickly crank the plastic out and you can see the bream chase it on its way out. There's gotta be jacks there in summer so will have to go back and give it a good crack when it heats up 🙂
And how good is the classic 3" armour shad in skin blue 😄@Zim man

Trip 2 was Friday morning. Hit the water at 4:15 and back at the ramp at 9 so I could get to work. Got to head out with an old work colleague who just started boating so have been showing him around the bay a bit.
Sunrise was pretty beautiful.

but nothing to write home about with those yabbies. Caught a few bream and tarwhine but no whiting. But man - it's a cracking spot for a lazy afternoon fishing session. Had to call it early because the sun was dipping and the breeze was picking up. Didn't want to be completely soaked on the run home so took our time slowly putted back. I think I'm gonna try and take my kids there next. They'll probably fish better than my mates did 😄
 

Have done a couple of trips recently and only finding time now to share the quick stories and a few pics.
Trip 1
It was my best mates little's brothers birthday and he's on the cusp of being a dad so we used that as an excuse to get out for a sneaky fish. A launch at 1pm at Manly harbour in 10 knot winds was pretty uneventful, but getting around the rock wall, my memories were reconfirmed - 10knots in my tinny sucks 😄 A careful run across to Lota Creek to fish the falling tide and then pump some yabbies when the banks were exposed was our plan.
I really do enjoy teaching and showing people better fishing techniques and skills and then seeing it turn into catches. Lota creek can be hit and miss but man it can have a wild mix of fish in there.
 
 
 

Tide dropped off so sent the boys on a yabbie pumping mission.
Man - those flats that you can only get to by boat are stacked with huge yabbies. Also was interesting to see the creek is going to be cutting itself off soon. It's starting to form a shortcut over the mudflats and cutting off the sharp bend.

Earlier this year I had the annual service on my Honda 60 motor and gearbox done by Mobile Marine Medics. They also fitted a new water pump impeller and a new steering cable.
Did a good job of all these and at what I thought was a very fair price.
Will be getting them to do the next service when it's due.
 

Fiiiine 🙄

Evening all, 
I had a couple of hours free before work this arvo so I tried my luck at catching dinner land based. I got a tailor early on but it seemed that there wasn't many of those around. I also got a small trev about 35cm which I decided to let go. I was immediately rewarded by the fishing gods next cast when my samaki slash 55 gets pack attacked by some solid GTs across the surface. This kept me interested for the next hour or so trying to find them again. Dozens and dozens of casts went by. I usually only fish this landbased spot for 15 mins before moving on as it seems to be a case of fish either being there or not. However having seen the chunky geets cruising around definitely kept me interested for longer this time.
Eventually my lure got smacked (60g chrome this time) and immediately knew it was one of the proper ones I'd seen before. I tightened up as much as was safe on my 30lb set up but was still going to require a bit of luck and skill to angle the fish away from the rocky bommies that jut out everywhere.
Well, I got lucky and with a bit of rock hopping I steered the fish onto a ledge. Pretty stoked on the light gear to get the job done! Man they are an incredibly powerful fish. 
70cm and a few delicious meals to come. Thanks Mr Trevally! Very grateful. Good feeling after so many donut sessions recently 
yes I have pants on 

I have to disagree with you there. Braid knots are horrendous compared to anything you can get in mono.

Then people are first starting out I recommend them to use FC or mono but once they can catch fish tie decent knots and master the basics I recommend going straight to braid ... why
It’s more sensitive making it perfect for lure and it improves bait fishing 
braid used to cost a lot for a decent spool but today you can get daiwa j braid X4 for $25 that will last longer then any mono line 
it doesn’t wind knot and tangle as much as FC or mono 
it’s thin so you can cast further and you can also fit more line on you’re spool to 
It’s fairly easy these day’s to learn knots to connect to leaders FG knot and triple finish Alberto are easy to tie and both are extremely thin and strong 
it’s bright so you can see what you’re lines doing but the fish can’t see you’re bright braid because of the leader 
I could probably list other things to but there the main reasons braid with a leader  is just so much better to use then straight through mono or FC 

Braid Pros: Has a thinner diameter for its breaking strain allowing for longer casts.
Has very little stretch allowing for greater sensitivity for bites and to turn fish quicker, also more effective for working lures. 
Has no 'memory' off the spool therefore travelling through guides with less resistance= longer casts. 
Easy to see your line.
Braid cons: very poor abbrasion resistance and highly visible to fish.
Must use flouro or mono leader when using braid.
Must take more care in preserving braided lines (avoid rubbing on hooks or sliding against objects in the car etc.)
Mono pros: high stretch and more forgiving can be of benefit to some styles of fishing. 
Often no need to use an additional leader.
Very good abrasion resistance and longevity.
Mono cons: Spool memory.
Inferior choice for long distance casting.
More stretch means reduced feel and lure workability.
Flourocarbon is mostly used as a leader due to it being much more expensive than mono. It has less stretch and less visibility in the water and also better abrasion resistance. It is sometimes used by bream fishos on the whole spool in 3lb or 4lb breaking strains but mostly just used as a leader across the board.
These days braided line is the best choice for most applications with some exceptions. In my opinion the pros definitely outweigh the cons and it's an obvious choice for my uses 

Legends 
I planned a solo yak trip for this morning and had a wello time.
i awoke at 3am for the 40min drive to my favourite spot Wellington Point. The plan was to be on the water by 430am and ready to drop just before sunrise. 
I arrived at the ramp in the pitch of darkness with only a couple trailers in the car park. The wind was a little fresh and the water a bit lumpy but nonetheless I ventured out. 5mins into my paddle I took on a wave and was drenched! Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea 💡 anywho I trudged on as it wasn’t that bad and I filled my zero harm guidelines. Life best on white light on head lamp on and flashing red light on. 
 
I arrived at the drop off and made it to the 6-7m mark and dropped my baits. One floating the other a dropper.  Straight away the dropper was getting hit....and I missed it! Quickly baited my fresh squid from mr bait and again got hit this time...I’m on! Pulled in my first ever grassy just shy of 30.
dropped again and wamo! On again this time a pinky just under 30. I thought here we go this is the day I’m going to land my first legal snapper! 
 
oh how wrong I was. I spent the next 5 hours Soaking baits with little success just a tiny pinky a few bites and of course the obligatory grinner! 
 
oh well great morning spent on the water the wind died down and so too did the waves by sunrise so a safe and enjoyable trip. 
 
mr snapper if your out their mark my words.....I will catch you when I least expect it.
Leo 
 
 

 
 

A late change in commitments left me with a Saturday afternoon and evening as free as it can get at the moment. A late night text on Friday to to Ellicat and some quick plans saw us slipping the good ship Ellicatch into the waters of the ‘pin about 3pm.
 
the moon phase was wrong, the tides weren’t great, it was blowing about 15kn but what the hell, as scomo says - you have to step up and have a go, to get a go.
 
After a short trip from the ramp (high tide short cuts are the bomb), we dropped anchors on the first spot. First bait and @ellicat was on the board with a solid 33cm model. Great start. Unfortunately, we certainly had peaked early at this spot - something Ellicat suggested he has suffered from for some time. A quick move about 400m and we soon added a couple more nice whiting to the box.
 
this theme continued throughout the afternoon - a few fish, a move, a few fish, a move. Only real change was it got dark and we turned the football on. It was never frenetic but fairly consistent action. We ended up with 8 whiting, 7 of them 30+, best going 36cm. Not great quantity but quality for sure.
 
Great news is the wee one is a big fan of fish - whiting seems to be a particular favorite. Ellicat kindly donated his share of the catch to me so we have bubba lunches for days!
 
thanks for the trip out at very short notice mate, appreciate it.
 

 
p.s only 7 pictured, one filleted early and ended up here (note fish mostly gone, veges not so much. Definitely my child. 😂)
 

 
 

Hi all
Today I set out for a fishing trip with Brian, Kat, and Steve (ellicat, Kat, and Old Scaley). We met at the Port of Brisbane boat ramp at approximately 5:45AM (I got there right on the dot and everyone else was there a bit before me), and I boarded Steve's 4.35M tinny, and Kat hopped in Brian's boat. After loading up the gear, we were getting ready to set off. Robbie (Drop Bear) came down early as well just to have a chat, so it was good to meet him as well. Hopefully next time it will be fishing @Drop Bear 🙂. There was a big dead ray at the ramp right on the top which is a bit of a shame. Obviously someone couldn't even be bothered to throw it back if they were just going to kill it! 

A lovely sunrise shot (thanks Kat)
After we said goodbye to Robbie (and my dad Dave) we set off to go to Mud Island. I believe we were on the East side... We got to the mark and found a good drop off which Kat and Brian anchored up on and Steve and I spot locked on (With the electric!). I dropped my line down with a bit of prawn and got pickered straight away, and not longer after Brian was on a little pinky. Steve and I kept getting pickered by the small ones, and we pulled one or two up eventually (I lie, Steve did, I was still on the donut at that point, Lol). It seemed we were sitting on a school of little buggers. Soon after this, Kat hooked up on what seemed like a better fish. It was putting up an OK fight which we could see from the other boat, and it was a fair size squire. It was measured, and low and behold the first keeper of the day was landed! Woohoo. Good job Kat! She had caught a couple before, a small grassy empereor and pickers too. 

A solid squire landed by Kat
Shortly after that one was landed, Steve decided to rig up with a plastic. He had the rod with a half-pilly out the back, on the bottom. Just as he was about to cast, the rod buckles! After a screaming run in the rod holder, he picked it up and set the hooks. The fight had began! He started pumping and winding, then the fish would run off, then more winding, then more runs. Eventually it calmed down and the fish decided to surface. Once we got it up, we saw a big snapper. Probably 60cm+. Then heartbreak struck. It shook the hook out about 2M from the boat, and from the net which I was holding. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!"... Heartbreak. There goes the biggun! It sure would've been a good way to start the day 🙂 
We had been getting snipped off by something that had teeth as well. Brian had been snipped off once, Steve twice, and myself once as well. We thought they could very well be big sea toads... That was until Steve landed a stripey, chucked a fillet out, and nearly caught a mackerel on it! Like the other fish, it had gotten off close to the boat. We were thinking the boat had a bad case of the 'Dropsies", where it made us drop all of the good fish boat side. We were still at the first spot, but by this time we were changing to fish for mackerel seeing as though the snapper had seemingly gone off the bite. Brian and Kat had them floated out, and Steve had one under a float (a pilly, that is). 
Kat was on next, and it was most likely a mackerel, as it had the tell tale screaming runs as a sign. Her finger actually got cut it took off that fast! Youch! It was running all around the boat, back and forth, but eventually it busted her off on something. 😞 After a hit on our line (mine actually - it was just one big hit and it took everything) Brian hooked up. It didn't seem to big from where I was at first, but then it took a BIG, FAST run. After hearing it go, Steve and I were eagerly spectating. It started going around the boat, and we were hoping it would be landed. After some more big runs, Kat finally slipping the net under it. "It's massive!", Is what we heard next!.. And it sure was at 73cm! 

A nice big, early season mackerel!

Jaw shot (P.S. Brian, didn't I recall you saying Ellicatch was going to be a smoke free boat?) 😉 
After that big mackerel (and a round of applause/cheering), Steve and I kept fishing in the general area. I had a good run on the mackerel line, and Steve had another hit as well, but the bite had seemingly gone pretty quiet in that spot. I tried with a weighted bait (like what we were getting pickered on) but we decided to move spots to a different area. Steve motored along and eventually we were at the next spot. We had hopes for a good cod or good tuskfish, and in fact the second I dropped I got a good hit. Soon enough though, Steve got a rat squire, and luckily i got off the donut! It was past nine now, so I was pretty glad. Even though it was a tony one, I decided to get a quick piccy anyways. 


Another couple rat squire... Very pretty fish with the blue dots though 🙂 
After a few more picker attacks and a couple missed hits, we decided that wasting baits on the tiny squire was not working at all, so it might be better to move into the Port area. Steve was kind enough to let me drive for a bit, so I took the wheel (well, the throttle), and went very slowly over the chop, trying to keep a straight line. I'm not sure if I did a very good job though, because I didn't go to fast or far...

Me with a popper driving the tinny 🙂 
After I gave the control back to Steve, we motored off to the POB. We started off about 50 metres away from a big cargo ship, and decided to go for a drift. We were in about 16-17M of water, and we were hoping for a possible salmon. I had two size four ball sinkers on to get me to the bottom, and Steve had about a size four sinker. For the first half hour or so (I'd say) we were drifting with the wind against the tide. I had a prawn out on the bottom. Brian and Kat were soon to arrive as well, and they anchored up first up. Due to our very slow drift, I was not covering that much ground. After doing a little more drifting, I felt a hit, and then I was on. It felt like a pretty good fish, and while it wasn't taking any big runs, it had lots of weight. At one point mid fight, it took a tincy bit of line. I was pulling him up now, but just as he was about to surface he went straight back down. I got him up and then we saw it. A massive flatty! You beauty! Shortly after this Steve landed it for me. Here is a pic of the fish - 


My new PB flathead at 62cm. Thanks for getting me onto it Steve (I think I annoyed you today because I thanked you so much after it 😉)
After we chucked that one into the esky, we kept fishing. We finished up fishing here shortly after - Steve's soft vibe was getting no love at all and my prawn bait seemed to be untouched the whole time for the next drift. We crossed sides and went over towards Clara's Rocks, and we were starting off a drift near there and around the Boat Passage. I still kept my heavier rod out as we were now fishing for snapper. We did one drift past the passage and apart from a bunch of small picker attacks on both mine and Steve's line until about 12:30PM. Brian and Kat were on the other side of the river, over near the sunken wall (I think).  They weren't getting any unfortunately, so they went back out to anchor up while Steve and I fished the wall. Apart from getting a couple picks, I was not successful. Steve got a small 23cm breambo though, which did fight decently. 
We were hoping for a cod or at least another keeper here, but we couldn't gather anything. Soon it was time to get back to the ramp, so we motored back. I held the boat while Steve went to get the car and then the boat was ready to get towed away, the gear was out, and we were nearly off. I made sure we got a nice group photo first though, so we could post it up 😉 🙂 

🙂 
After that, we said our goodbyes and I set home with Steve (I was getting picked up from his house). My flathead came home to mine in the esky, and some of it is now sitting in my tummy (the other part in the freezer). It sure tasted good. Big thanks to Brian and Kat for coming along with us. It was good to meet up again 🙂 And big thanks to Steve as well for the great day out on the water.... Like I said as we were leaving though, it was a darn shame about that snapper! 
I hope you all enjoyed the report, and sorry it took a bit longer than usual to write 😕 And my bad if I've forgotten anything from today everyone! Stay safe everyone! (P.S. Here's the stats). 
Statistics of trip -
Tide: Low, 3:50AM, .4M, 9:45AM, 2.1M, High, 4:00PM, .5M, Low (That is Brisbane Bar times)
Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous and lots of run! 
Fish caught: Heaps of rat squire for everyone, I think Brian got two mackerel (one just under and the 73cm), I got the flathead, Steve lost the big snapper because it got the hook out of it's mouth in some fishy miracle, and I think that is it 🙂 
Bait caught: Stripey x 1, surprisingly no grinners (sorry I've probably jinxed it for next time everyone)
Bait used: Squid, prawns, the humble pilly, stripey fillets
Tackle used: 16lb leaders, size 4/o circle, suicide hooks for me (a 5/o's for me and Steve as well), size 2-4 ball sinkers, swivels.. I don't know any of the other gear others were using but I had a Diawa Shinobi 2500 and A Penn 650 - 12lb and 30lb braid - Rogue Firepoint boat rod and Venomat rod. 
Air Pressure: 1025
Humidity: 56%
Temperature: 250C
Water Temp: (According to the sounder at the first spot) It was 20.430C
Location: Around Mud Island and Port of Brisbane
Overall Success Rate: 75% - Would've been higher if we got the snap!
Cheers Hamish 🙂 

Woohoo! 

Someone got unlucky with this catfish 

Livin the dream 😎

I meant to put 90-110m hardbodies lures lmao 😂 .this flathead was caught in my local area recently on 12lb leader and a lot others around this size have been caught on 12lb leader I just think 20lb leader is to heavy and I do believe flathead aren’t leader shy but I think some will be able to tell the difference between 20lb and 14lb leader and shy away from the lure on bright sunny days in mostly clear water . And yeah I’d probably use heavier leader but there really isn’t much structure for fish to destroy my line and no cod to run to nearest bit of structure and also no jacks the only by catch I can think of is GT Jewies  and the odd tailor or hairtail

I have a 2500 shallow spool Nero legalis with 150 yards of 8lb braid spooled on it I was thinking Of matching this with my aird x 2-4kg rod and using it to target big flathead around that 80cm + range I would be using a FG knot to connect the 8lb braid to a 14lb FC leader . I caught a legal sized jack near Structure on the same outfit just with a different reel . 2000 aird lt with 100m of 10lb braid with a FG to 20lb FC and it handled it fine only 2lbs heavier .the jack picture below . So yeah what does everyone think about this setup will it be enough

Sounds good to me. 
Nice Jack by the way. 
I did a rotation, crop and colour grade for you.