Daryl McPhee

My son spent some time fishing over at Amity Point without me. 

He wanted to target pelagics landbased and he certainly produced the goods. He was targeting bonito on small metals next to the boat ramp. He was  doing okay when a ripper of a Spanish mackerel grabbed the small lure. He wasn't fishing with wire and managed to hook it squarely in the mouth. He also didn't have a gaff. There was a big crowd of onlookers watching him land the fish and several boats returning back to the ramp with donuts. It could be a long time before he gets a bigger one landbased. 

There are plenty of land based opportunities and their can be a wonderful variety of tasty fish there along the rocks. I generally fish with a long rod (10'6" or more) as you need to get away from the small fish that hang in close. For us it produces squire, grassies, legal spangled emperor, estuary cod, mulloway, mangrove jacks, purple spotted tuskfish, black spotted tuskfish and lots of other stuff. I generally use a 2/0 or 3/0 hook of a set of 3/0 gangs and vary my sinker based on the run. 

As some of you know I work on Straddie for a few months of the year and get a chance to occasionally wet a line. I like fishing at Amity Point because of the variety of fish that are there, and that you never know what you will get from one trip to another. As well as the usual spangled emperor, squire, Moses Perch and grassies, this time I got some tuskfish and Eva got to catch her first ever black spotted tuskfish. Black spotted tuskfish are probably rarely taken land based so to get a few was very rewarding. They go like submarines. Probably the most unusual landbased catch on this trip was a gold spot pigfish (safely released). 

I only fish spring tides land based for tailor in winter in the bay for no other reason than where I fish does not have enough water over it. I need a night high of at least 2.1 metres to make it worthwhile. In the surf though I prefer neaps as long as the formations are good. 

Whiting I have places that fish on neaps and springs. 

Sharks can detect magnetic fields while bony fish cannot. In theory the magnet should have some deterrent effect on sharks but they will never be 100% effective. No deterrent for any purpose is. But if you are picking up 10% more fish then they are worth it. 

Neodymium magnets are the best and the come in a great variety of shapes and sizes. They are only a few bucks each so they are cost effective.

I finished with one more mulloway before coming back to the mainland. It is good to be able to successfully target them on a regular basis, but it will soon be time to change focus and start to target tailor. 

Just got a couple more mulloway in a shirt session this afternoon. The one in this photo and a smaller 60 cm model that I prioritised safely releasing without a photo. 

I've been lucky enough to be working at Amity Pt on North Stradbroke Island, and while the work bit means that fishing time for me is very limited, I have been able to assist my students and Max to catch some good fish. 

As well as the usual grassies, Moses Perch and squire there have been some trophy fish mixed in. First, one of my American students on his 4th cast in Australia got an 84 cm mulloway on a lightly weighted hardihead. I suspect he won't get a bigger fish in his remaining time in Australia. 

Then Max showed came over and showed everyone how it is done with a trio of Mangrove Jacks - 47, 55 and 57 cm on live yakkas. He did an excellent job landing those fish landbased in very rough ground. 

The squid have been present but not abundant, but there are enough to make it worthwhile. 

Remember you don't need a boat to catch good fish. 

I don't target luderick myself, but if I had to I would go to the rockwalls under the boat passage bridge at Fishermen's Island. 

I think the sighting is credible. I have also been passed on anecdotal information of a possible sighting near the Coomera River a few weeks ago. While animals have their "normal range", you often find that you can get individuals that are "extra-limital" which means outside their normal range. A good example of this is some red throat emperors that turned up in southern NSW in the late 1990s and another is a pink snapper that was caught off Port Douglas a couple of years ago. 

I suspect this crocodile is just that, if indeed it is verified. They can move large distances in offshore waters to travel between estuary mouths. Myora is probably pretty good local habitat for them. Extensive open mangroves, plenty of fishand some nice freshwater input. 

18 hours ago, Kat said:

Got some of the little suckers slime on my fishing singlet and it didn't even wash out in the machine!

As for the whiting, I am no @Daryl McPheeor @Neil Stratford. But all the usual places I have consistently caught whiting at this time of the year, albeit sometimes only undersized, have been almost completely devoid recently. 

We have used Yabbies, Bloodworms and Beachworms.

Mainly I fish the SMBI's and the Creek - are they all hanging out elsewhere?

I am sure @Daryl McPheeor others may be able to give some insight as to why or prove me wrong .

 

I haven't seen any difference in the number of whiting or where they have been this year. The Xmas/New Year period can be quiet due to the amount of activity on the water. We did chase a feed land based around dusk at Runaway Bay just after Xmas and got a couple of nice fish for not much time invested. 

18 hours ago, ellicat said:

I didn't know where Jabiru Island was so looked it up. There's some nice looking whiting grounds all around. Surprised they have been so hard to get ! Have you tried drifting around to find schools ? Might pickup a flattie or two doing that.

I got a pony fish last week and afterwards couldn't grip a yabbie to feed onto the hook. Slimy things.

Ponyfish are a mucous gland with fins. 

The tides were right to visit Shorncliffe Pier to extract some seafood for Christmas lunch. Yabbies and worms produced a feed of yellowfin whiting with a couple of bream and tarwhine mixed in, while the crab dillies provided some tasty blue swimmer crabs. 

As always, fishing up in the shallows in less than a metre of water is the way to go when chasing whiting. 

A left field catch from there last week was a 32 cm swallowtail dart that must have wandered out of the surf zone. The first one I have got there in over 30 years.