Alex2505

Hi Legends!  
Last Friday afternoon Brett and I made a trip to the Gold Coast to fish Coombabah Creek.  The plan was to get there in time to pump yabbies, have a fish for some fat whiting, sleep on the boat the night (hoping the thunderstorm didn't eventuate!) and pick the kids up from the Coast in the morning and take them for a fish in the boat.
My fisho mate from Macleay had challenged me to a week-long whiting comp as he was staying in the Creek or the Coomera for the whole week.  Part of the reason for our trip.  We the previous Sunday from the bank and Tuesday afternoon/evening from the boat and it was almost dead – barely anything biting.  I think we might have caught one legal whiting combined both sessions.  With the view that the bite had to change sometime, we were hopeful it was going to be Friday night.  I phoned my mate on the way there, he asked if I was going past the bait shop.  He was supposed to be in the Coomera but had stayed because one of his mate's mates had bagged out on whiting that morning.  He asked me to pick him up some live blood worms – the story was that the blood worms were working and the yabbies weren’t.  I wasn't planning on spending money on bait but got worms for him and some for us.  We also pumped yabbies on arrival. 
We headed up to one of the more productive and well-known spots in the creek.  It wasn’t long before I had a fish on and landed a 33cm Spotted Grunter.  Released to the esky.  Brett got a legal Bream which I made him keep (sister likes Bream).  Over the next few hours Brett used yabbies and I used worms (while being accused of cheating on my beloved yabbies!).  It is hard to recall, but I think I got about 7 or 8 decent sized whiting, while Brett may have got 1.  It went quiet and we were both tired, so we headed down the creek to a spot where we got some nice fat whiting a couple of weeks ago.  This spot is rarely fished by other boats from my observations, it is out from the yabbie banks too far to cast from the land where I have fished numerous times but away from the channel.  We went to sleep pretty quickly. 
About 4am in the morning I was woken by another boat.  I sat up to see what was happening and they were going slowly down the channel looking for crab pots by the mangroves.  I strongly suspect that they were share farmers. I tried to get back to sleep for a while but eventually gave up about 5.15 am and put my line in the water – with one of the last worms– it should have been low tide well and truly, but it was still running out.  Brett started fishing shortly after me.  I hooked a decent whiting after about 15 minutes and was hopeful for more, but the bite was quite slow.  On this trip, for one of the first times, I was using the method that some of you legends had imparted to me – the rod in the holder facing straight down to the water or leaning on the back of the boat – with light drag – then when you see the rod bend – lift up gently etcetera.  That night I had to break the necks of almost all the whiting I had caught to retrieve my hook. 
Anyway – probably about 6am my line was being played with for quite a while, the rod tip bent a little, there was a short run and then nothing.  Eventually I thought I better check my bait and felt a little resistance, a few flaps and then gently lifted the rod out of the holder, I tightened the drag slightly and started winding in.  No resistance - thought I had missed the fish until the drag started peeling off and I could feel the weight, the fish did a few good runs with the drag even tighter – I called that it couldn’t be a whiting, too strong and heavy.  Brett said, while laughing, it is an elbow slapper. 
As I got the fish close to the boat I was both amazed and ecstatic – it was the biggest whiting I have ever laid eyes on.  I was scared I was going to lose it as I pulled it into the boat (didn’t even cross my mind to use the net as I was so excited).  I managed to get it safely into the boat and I still can’t believe how big it was  - measured 43cm on the brag mat (not 44 as in the photo).  Weighed 688 grams!
I am absolutely stoked – I could barely bring myself to fillet it and definitely didn’t break its neck at the time to retrieve my hook!
I went on to catch whiting all day but only a few at a time – 19 legal whiting in total – I think 15 were mine, 2 to Brett and 2 to Brett’s oldest.
Brett also switched to worms but could hardly land a fish all day.  I got quite a lot of very dirty looks.
I can only conclude the method works (Brett was generally holding his rod - fishing rod!).
A big thanks to everyone on AFO who has helped me achieve this – particularly @Daryl McPhee and @Neil Stratford for his PM last year on how to catch whiting.  If I have forgotten to mention anyone in particular please forgive me.
Can’t wait to try this again very very soon.
PICS:
 

I got out after work for a couple hours flicking the home made lures out. 
Ended up confirming they are the biz with a 4lb 1.25oz Brown. 
There's something really satisfying about catching good fish with gear you made yourself. 

Met up with @Another Wazza on Thursday at Port of Brisbane ramp with a plan to head to the Four Beacons to chase some school mackerel, then move up the west coast of Moreton investigating more beacons.  We scooted down the calm river about 7am. Once we were out of the river the water got lumpy and the wind was up above forecast. We motored for about 5 minutes before deciding it was a bit too hectic and that we would tuck in around Mud for a bit to wait for the wind to drop. After changing course I decided Mud wasn't a comfortable option either so we moved back to the sanctuary of the rock wall. A school of tailor were busting up but they were gone as quick as they came.
We then decided to have a look for some threadies near the pipeline but couldn't locate any on the sounder. We checked another spot before heading up to Clara Rock. We were flicking plastics around whilst spot locked with the new gadget. Wazza hooked up to a fish that gave a very good account of itself. A few guesses as to what it was were made, then up popped a nicely conditioned jew. It went 77 on the measure and I got some happy snaps before releasing it to be caught again at Harry's later on when it's a metre long.


After that we poked our nose out the front again and it had calmed down a bit so we made our way over to the beacons. We ran drifts with a pillie under a float and one on the bottom. No interest whatsoever for the next several hours. Conditions were a bit bumpy and ordinary and when motoring to start another drift my mackerel setup jumped in the water never to be seen again. First rod loss from the rod holders ever. Not happy, Jan (mainly because I had to rig up another rod haha).
That was it, before we knew it it was 4.30 and we made our way back in conditions that improved the further west we got.
 
    *                                                     *                                                          *
 
Friday I'd organised a session with @Old Scaley starting at gentleman's hours. Hope was high that the forecast was on song this time. Today we were going to chase the school mackerel starting at the Rainbow and then moving up to the beacons later. We were on the water at 9 and headed over to find a few boats around but nothing bad. We were easily able to get a drift in. We did several drifts without success, then spot locked for awhile. Still no joy, so we decided to move a bit closer to the small pack. As we did a boat trolling in front of us landed one before continuing his troll so I spot locked about where the mack would have hooked up. No joy, so after about 15 minutes we tied on a paravane to one rod and a laser pro in QANTAS on the other rod.

We began the troll and not 20 metres into it the paravane rig hooked up. First schoolie was landed going 61 or so (the biggest for the day). We continued trolling around and picked up 13 in total, keeping 6 and returning 7 that were undersize.

Eventually the clock struck 3 and it was time to head home. On the way home we encountered a heavy fog that made seeing pretty difficult so we took it easy until we were through it, then the skies opened a bit and we had a bit of rain on our glasses for the trip home. Glad we have GPS's these days to follow the track back as it is difficult to get your bearings when you can't see any land.
Here's the final catch that we shared.

 
Thanks for coming out Wazza and Steve. It certainly beat sitting at home looking at weather charts and waiting for next Tuesday 😉
 
Steve bringing one in.
 
 
 
 

Hi all,
Decided to take the family over to Moreton for a bit of R&R.
 
Unfortunately, after booking everything and arranging the annual leave and all that... an East Coast Low popped up on the weather charts that looked determined to try and ruin our good time.  With this in the back of my mind, we jumped on the Micat and headed over.
 
After an easy run up the eastern beach and a challenging run up the hill behind cape cliff, we soon arrived at north point campground.  I was rather stoked to see my favourite and also the most sheltered spot in the whole campground was available.  To be fair, most sites were available, there was only 1 other camp set up.
 
After a speedy but thorough set up involving far more ropes, tarps and big sand pegs than usual, we headed off for a walk up the beach to north point for a look around.  I had a few flicks with a slug to see if I could find something for dinner, unfortunately no luck.
 
I was up early the next morning and up to the rocks where I found a very flat ocean with minimal wave action - not ideal conditions.  Had quite a few casts and managed to land a tailor at about 45cm and a gold spot trevally roughly the same size - not quite enough for the required 3 feeds of fish for the trip but certainly a good start.
 
Given the cracking weather, we decided to head over to what we call "secret beach".  It's not really a secret but it's not easy to get to and with a 2.5 yr old on your shoulders it makes it even more challenging.  It's a cracking little spot, quite sheltered, heaps of awesome rock pools and great rock fishing opportunities as well.  We were greeted by a pod of dolphins and a couple of whales all of 150m off the rocks which made the wee one rather excited.  I headed out to my favourite rock to try and grab a few more fillets for the fridge before the wind and swell meant I couldn't fish there for the remainder of the week.  I had the fish frames from the trevally and tailor to hack some baits off with plastics as a back up.  With minimal wave action, it was a bit like fishing in an aquarium, you could see large bream cruising around the rocks but they were too clever to take a bait.  After half an hour of no action, I finally got an enquiry and a spirited argument ensued with what turned out to be a 43cm white trevally.  he was despatched, and a new bait deployed.  within 2 minutes I was on again and the result was another white trevally, just slightly smaller.  Plenty of fish for 3 meals now, quick feed of oysters from the rocks and back to explore rock pools with the wee one.  We headed back towards the car and stopped on the headland to watch two whales travel past about 100m off the rocks.
 
tuesday morning the neighbours packed up leaving the campground all to us which was nice.  the wind was up a bit and we just played around on the beach in front of camp.  after lunch the wind really kicked up so we were a bit limited with where we could go but still managed to have a bit of fun on the beach.  I had a bit of a half-hearted flick in some gutters for one long tom and not a lot else.
 
wednesday the wind was up to about 30kn with some showers about so we went for a drive and took in the 5 hills lookout, and then went down to a nice sheltered corner of the beach and built some sandcastles and whatnot.  there was a heap of bait in around some coffee rocks but i couldn't get a touch so i didn't persist for very long.
 
Thursday was starting to get pretty ordinary, the swell was about 3m and 30kn+ SE with showers.  nothing else for it, had a very long, slow breakfast, added even more reinforcements to the structures, jumped in the car and headed over to bulwer for some hot chips and ice cream. We hung out on the western beach which was a bit more sheltered until a shower chased us back inside the car.  we checked the wind and saw it was gusting up to 48kn already and only set to get worse.  we had a break in the showers briefly on the way home so we stopped on the beach for a bit of a run around before the tide started pushing in and we had to head off.  we made it back to camp and i re-tensioned all ropes, hit the pegs a few more times with a bigger hammer and poured an extra strong drink to keep me warm.  a rather noisy and restless nights sleep was had by the big people in the tent, thankfully the wee one was tired out and slept through all the wind and showers.
 
Friday morning was still ef windy but not too bad on the rain front... until about 9:30.  We hopped back in the car and went for a drive down the eastern beach.  despite it being low tide, the huge swell was pushing the waves almost up to the dunes in places, leaving not a lot of space in places.  I drove past what I thought was a log - until it stuck its head up for a look.  I hit the anchors and backed up and we watched the australian fur seal go for a walk down the beach and back into the surf.  never seen one other than in WA/SA so that was pretty cool to see.  We went for a long, slow drive around and ended up back at camp where we shut ourselves into the tent and stayed there for the afternoon while the weather raged outside.  we had lightning and thunder, the whole works.  We got a brief reprieve in rain and managed to shower and cook dinner before it set in again.  another restless night followed.
 
saturday morning we woke to a still howling wind and intermittent showers, however, there was certainly signs things were improving.  by about 9am, there was even big patches of funny looking blue stuff above us!  We wasted no time getting down to the beach, just on foot as the swell was still pushing in and HARD.  We sat up on top of north point and watched the spectacle of the swell and wind for a good hour.  We then had some fun on a makeshift slippery dip down one of the sand cliffs carved out by the swell.  after lunch and a bit of a nap, the weather was really starting to come good so we headed down the beach for a bit of soccer and climbed to the top of yellowpatch to watch the sun set.
 
Sunday morning was still a bit windy but bright and sunny so we headed up to the beach around tailor bight where there is generally a complete lack of people and some nice gutters for flatties.  unfortunately no-one had told the flatties that day and after a bite off from a long tom i gave up.  with the tide nearing dead low, we decided to drive up to the rocks around north point for a bit of a play there.  The swell was still around 2.5-3m, however, on the low tide there was one safe rock i could stand on.  i only had my light 2-4kg rod matched up with 8lb line so i threw a 20g slug out into the wash.  the tailor were there, hungry and not small!  i shortly had three fish landed which was a real challenge on the light gear with the big swell.  unfortunately when fighting the fourth, it was all too much for my reel that snapped.  i tried hard to land the fish which was a big tailor, unfortunately one jump right at the rocks threw the hook.  I jumped in the car and went back to camp quickly and grabbed by more serious rock spinning outfit and raced back up to the rock before the tide came in and chased me off.  i was able to throw a 40g slug on this outfit and get a bit more distance.  what followed was one of the most insane tailor sessions I have had.  literally a fish a cast, all big fish over 50cm long.  i even managed to land a large dart and a queenfish in amongst it all.  i released most of the fish, but kept a few for a family who i had promised a couple to if they were still biting.  after that, we went back to camp, had some lunch, did some filleting and bubs went for a sleep.  i went for a walk again, no chance of getting anywhere near the rocks on the higher tide, i had a flick off the beach to no avail, i couldn't quite get the lure out to the back edge of the gutter.  that afternoon we went down to the beach to feed the pelicans some tailor frames which was a big hit with the wee one.  she then got bored with it and started off climbing up yellowpatch again, this shortly turned into a piggy back and a lot of puffing on my behalf (not as much as @ellicat walking from the couch to the fridge though).
 
monday was an absolute cracker, we loaded up the toys and headed over to tangalooma for a kayak and SUP around the wrecks.  i had shot down the beach early and landed a tailor which was destined to be cut up to use as fish food.  I actually landed 9 in 12 casts but released the rest.  we had a great morning cruising around the wrecks looking at the fish, crabs, birds etc, followed by hot chippies at bulwer and the obligatory ice cream as well.  we headed back to camp, i went for one final flick while bub napped, i landed one first cast and released it.  a guy then came over and asked if he could have one for dinner, next cast that request was sorted, an older couple asked the same and they got one each in the following two casts.  i could have stayed there all afternoon but time and tide was catching up so i had to head back to camp.
 
that's pretty much it - packed up and headed off on the 11am micat on tuesday morning.  we did pass a dead whale on the beach on the way which was pretty sad to see, not sure what the issue was but kind of glad i had the windows up
 
cheers for reading - this might even rival some of @AUS-BNE-FISHO reports for length! 
 
benno <'><

 

Brass nut weather here this morning.👎
Got down to 6C in the kitchen, went and let the chooks out
and went back to bed.😴 Tomorrow looks
better, forecast low of Townsville 14 C so that'll make it
about 11 / 12 C here.
That's got be better than 6.
How you feeling it Robbie. Hate to be camping out.😅

Yesterday I had to spend the day on the GC as one of the kids had a Birthday Party to attend.  The plan was to fill in time in the morning going Beach Worming - try salting some for later use.  But I couldn't stand the thought of not going for a fish so packed the rods etc in the car.  We knew we might be a bit late for the tide for worms and only managed two before giving up and, to my disgust paying for live bait at the local tackle Shop.
Brett dropped me at Shearwater park while he took the kids to the Birthday party.
I managed to catch a small winter Whiting and decided it might make a good live bait so emptied the little belt bucket and popped it in some water.  I spent a little time trying in vain to catch some more whiting/Bream etc with the worms but no joy.  Brett arrived back with the eldest who wanted to go somewhere with a playground so we headed to Coombabah Creek where I caught another small winter Whiting.  I changed hooks and put one on as live bait, sat back had a smoke and drink and was about to move the bait saying I was bored and there was no action - Brett said you should move the bait 😘.  I started winding in slowly so I could cast it back out toward the sand/mud bank again and then the drag started going.  At first I thought it was a snag, then a stingray, then after a minute or two fight was pleased to bring up the Flattie.  Was careful to keep the rod tip down because I had a feeling it want hooked well.  Drag was very light.  As I dragged it the couple of metres through the mud it spat the hook.  My foot secured it for tea.
I immediately cast the remaining live to the same spot and waited a few minutes the bait was swimming hard and then, although the drag didn't move I had a feeling the bait might have something larger wrapped around it - so I started a careful retrieve and felt some weight and then the drag started again.  I landed the second Flattie and job done.  Fresh Flattie for tea.
Filleted in the dark in a hurry cause was dark and late for kids tea.  Worst filleting job ever - so we got a small portion of some unknown fish out of the freezer to supplement.
All in all a great day - got exercise, sea air, muddy feet and fresh fish.

These guys got caught out up at Bribie a couple of years ago

These guys got caught out up at Bribie a couple of years ago

It’s been a while since I’ve done a report, mostly due to lack of fishing on my part, and lining everything up has been a challenge lately, anyway, back towards the end of April I snuck out to West Peel for a fish, I sent out a plastic and put  it in the holder whilst organising another setup, the plastic got mauled during the drift, It was a 10lb setup with a firm drag and not once did I get that thing under control, having survived the first run I thought I was safe and got a couple of winds on it, then off it went again, shaking it’s head vigorously and ditching the hook in the process, spewing!, I now know how Brian felt when I took him there last year.
The action slowed down a bit after that, I think I landed a couple of 30cm models, one grinner,  and a big sea toad before I hooked a half decent one, he gave me a good run on light gear, coming in at 57cm

A quick pic and he was on his way, after that I headed home and made an appointment with a therapist to help deal with losing a stonker, 
The next outing was at the beginning of May, same spot, but this time more fish, I caught 5 legal squire ranging between 36-40, & 1x46, I didn’t bother with too many pics that time, I did however keep the 46 for a snack, and here’s a pic of him after sitting in the esky for a while 

I should mention too, the grinners were out of control!, I probably caught 12 all up, the day before I went out, my neighbour hit me up for some frames to put in her veggie patch to fertilise the soil,I don’t know if grinners are good for that, but I saw them as the perfect candidates, I took the fillets off them and froze them up for a mate to use when he goes fishing, and gave her the squire and grinner frames for her garden, sorted.
That brings me to today, having checked the tides, and with it being a full moon last night I wasn’t expecting great things so thought I would try something different this time, I went to the foreshore yesterday afternoon & collected some crabs to use for bait on Tuskies around the shallows of Peel, I gathered 9 good looking specimens in no time thinking that would be plenty.
Given the tide I decided to launch at 6am, it felt a bit naughty getting to the ramp that late but Snapper weren’t the target today.
On my way over to Peel I thought I better have one little drift as I’m heading straight over it, I sent out a plastic, put If in the holder, and went about selecting another rig, I’ve looked back at the one in the holder only to see it now has a bend in it, oh dear, I best take care of that, a little battle and up pops this guy, a nice 47cm model

A quick pic and he was on his way, not much further along that drift and the rod bent again. A little 35

At risk of getting distracted, I decided to continue with the original plan and head to Peel, upon arrival I thought I better just throw a plastic quickly to see what’s getting about, well, that was me for the next 2 hours, catching little squire ranging in size from 25 to 37 one after the other, using a 1-4kg rod ( that Brian calls the “noodle”) with 6lb braid, it was good fun, a Z Man streaks in opening night colour rigged on a 1/6th jighead was doing all the damage, the plastic rarely hit the bottom, after that many fish the little plastic looked very tired, by the end of that session he had 2 tales but the fish still loved him.

After getting well and truly sidetracked there, I made my way to the spot I wanted to try with the little crabs. It looked promising, a nice edge, a bit of current, I’m set, well, I wasn’t quite ready for just how quick my little crabs were getting demolished, I went through all 9 of them in less then half an hour without hooking up, it’s clear I may have to rethink my approach.
With my crab supply depleted, I began casting a plastic, and on one of the retrieves as it got close to the boat, I thought I had spotted my target, a green fish followed it up and turned around a metre or so from the top, now my eyes aren’t the best and I can’t  be 100% sure it was the target, but I’ll definitely be going back there and trying again.
It was late morning by now so I decided to try one more spot at Peel before heading back in, not much happened there except a grinner. I began making my way back to the ramp via a quick drift at West Peel, same 1-4kg rig, with a new plastic, fair bit of current now, took a long time to get it down, but when it did, it got eaten by this guy

He suffered a blood nose during the fight but he released well, the “noodle” got a right proper work out on these guys today, and considering they weren’t all that big, I probably had just as much fun, if not more, catching them, as I do targeting  the bigger ones. 👍

These guys got caught out up at Bribie a couple of years ago

These guys got caught out up at Bribie a couple of years ago

So I was having a sleep in today. Luckily not a long one as when I awoke there were two messages and a missed call from 'Darren Allnighter AFO' on my phone. I rang back and Darren asked if I could be at the ramp in 45 minutes. Yep.
Got there eventually after catching every red light and the Stop sign at the roadworks. Darren had already launched, so picked me up from the pontoon. We motored out and tried to catch some livies with not much luck at first. Eventually we were onto a patch of pike. I managed to hook 4 but lost three - one slipped out of my hands and the other two dropped off the hook before I swung them aboard. Perhaps my hands were a little shaky with the anticipation.
We had gathered enough bait to start the session. Darren had declared that he was the decky for the day and his rods were mine to grab. So I deployed one and sat it in the holder and Darren deployed the other one. My bait wasn't in the water for a minute when that blistering run I've been waiting for happened. The reel screamed off and I held the rod waiting for it to slow. The line was getting low when finally the run paused and I began getting some line back. Eventually the net was slipped under my first bay brute ! 77cm on the brag mat. Much joyous expression followed with handshakes and I think even a man hug. I think @Allnighter got some footage on his GoPro too. Many photos were snapped, but I didn't share any with mates as there was no service where we were.
Redployed the lines and managed two more in the mid 50's, one of which Darren kept for a feed and the other we let go as I kept my first one. I've had the boat for just on 2 years and have clocked 270 hours searching for this sucker without success. I've been out with @Another Wazza a few times and he has taught me the method with soft plastics and shared his ways too.- hooking and losing one snapper the first time and then hooking and losing a jew another time. @Junkyhas organised a session with me and has been generous with tips also, but we haven't made it out yet (come on next Monday). @Cobiaaddicthas also wisened me up with tips/methods also, but I just haven't been good enough. @Old Scaley and @benno573 have shared quite a few hours coaching me too, amongst those 270 hours. Finally, now with one hour on Darren's rig and it's a done deal. I am so stoked and thankful to all those that have egged me on. Cheers fellas.
I think I have learnt heaps and so a new quest begins - to catch one aboard Ellicatch to prove it wasn't a fluke !
Thanks again @Allnighter, you certainly gave me the happy ending I was hoping for !  Now I need the massage.
We had plenty of hits throughout the rest of the day, but no hookups until last cast. Darren said he'd like to get a 90+ as he hasn't got one yet. About a minute later his drag screamed off. It kept going, with him saying this is big and heavy. It slowed just short of spooling him and then it just sort of sat there. It started to come in but somewhere along the way it spat the hook and was declared the one that got away. We packed up and scooted home in excellent conditions, not that I would have noticed if we were pounding as I was floating on air.

 

 

 

 

Better late than never. We're getting plenty down here too, however the wind is so strong the rain isn't making it to the ground mostly.

At last we're getting some wet season.
Been overcast for the last 4 days and today we
are getting some lovely rain. Got about 20mm last couple days and
today it hasn't stopped.
Will measure in the morning, be around 3 to 4 inches.😆😍

Hi AFO's ,
 
 
Time has come to sell the beloved Polycraft 4.5.
 
Please find the link below.
 
 
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/bongaree/motorboats-powerboats/polycraft-drifter-centre-console-2018-60hp-evinrude-etec/1294867784

its a 150HP. goes pretty good so far
 

its a 150HP. goes pretty good so far
 

its a 150HP. goes pretty good so far
 

Yep she has been replaced with a bigger Polycraft 5.3.
 
bit more comfort and opens up more options outside the bay.

Yep she has been replaced with a bigger Polycraft 5.3.
 
bit more comfort and opens up more options outside the bay.

Yep she has been replaced with a bigger Polycraft 5.3.
 
bit more comfort and opens up more options outside the bay.

Yep she has been replaced with a bigger Polycraft 5.3.
 
bit more comfort and opens up more options outside the bay.

Hi AFO's ,
 
 
Time has come to sell the beloved Polycraft 4.5.
 
Please find the link below.
 
 
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/bongaree/motorboats-powerboats/polycraft-drifter-centre-console-2018-60hp-evinrude-etec/1294867784

Hi AFO's ,
 
 
Time has come to sell the beloved Polycraft 4.5.
 
Please find the link below.
 
 
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/bongaree/motorboats-powerboats/polycraft-drifter-centre-console-2018-60hp-evinrude-etec/1294867784

I used exclusively a bait caster for chasing jacks and trevally what i used to fish gold coast canals at night. Bait casters definitely take practise, but pretty rewarding once you get the hang of it and being able to land a lure on a dime.
For me the ability to thumb the spool allows to to finesse exactly where the lure lands. Or if you have been over eager you can quickly thumb the spool to stop an over throw.
In saying there my setup for canal fishing was always one spin and one baitcaster.
You will want a decent rod to skull drag a jack or trev though.