Alex2505

Hi all,
Thought I would chuck up a report about my last few unsuccessful fishing trips in the Brissy River. The first session was a couple of Mondays ago, at a local jetty. I arrived at about 5 and got a bit of bait together, but the bite was slow to begin with. Fishing the low tide change, I was hopeful of a threadie, but unfortunately all I could manage was one pup bullie. It wasn't long until my mate came down, but the bite didn't seem to change. That was until he took a phone call, and a rather large fish picked up my live bony bream, swimming against the current before I set the hook. This increase in drag pressure didn't seem to phase what I assume was a rather large shark though, and it screamed off without stopped until the spool of my 5500 baitrunner reel was empty of all line. Bugger. No more bites were had after this. 
Stats:
Tide: 8:20AM, .6M, Low. 
Moon Phase: 63%
Bait Caught/Used
Fish Caught: Shark
Tackle Used: Okuma Coronado CDX 5500 on Silstar Crystal Powertip Rod, Shimano Baitrunner on Kmart rod, Shimano Stradic on Shimano Raider, Penn Live Liner on Ugly Stik. 30 and 15 pound braids, 50 pound/80 pound traces, size 6 ball or size 3 snapper sinkers. 6/o circle hooks and barrel swivels.
Air Pressure: 1008
Humidity: 80%
Overall Success Rate: 40% - hooked up to a big one at least
The next day I went fishing with @Thorbjorn Hale - the spot we went to initially had no bait so we went back to his usual spot, where there was still hardly any bait. I did manage two large mullet in a couple of casts which saved the session, so after we got them a couple of baits were lobbed out. Things started off slowly, with myself only catching one catty for the whole day, but Thorbjorn did hook up to two very large sharks, both of which jumped out (around 2 meters) but managed to get off before he could land them. We left at around 1ish, with no more fish coming in for the day. 
Stats:
Tide: 8:50AM, .9M, Low
Moon Phase: 54%
Bait Used/Caught: Mullet
Fish Caught: Catfish
Tackle Used: I used three 6000 baitrunners with 8 foot fibreglass rods, 30 pound braid, 50 pound trace, size 4 star sinkers, barrel swivels, 6/o circle hooks. 
Air Pressure: 1010
Humidity: 64%
Overall Success Rate: 40%
On Wednesday, I was back at that spot, with a heavy shark rod and a couple of live bait rods. First up, I sent out some mullet fillet, which brought an undersize grunter onto the jetty. Then, I caught a decent sized live mullet which I sent out on my shark rod, which seemed to remain untouched for quite a while. Thorbjorn arrived soon as well, and sent out some shark baits too. 
Eventually my mullet got some action, and upon undoing a tangle and checking my line it turned out I had a 52cm or so tailor on. This was cut into half and sent out as a bait, and it wasn't long before the pieces started getting munched up by pup bull sharks. Thorbjorn eventually landed one, a decent shark around the 80cm mark. Later in the session, he also sent out a herring, and after about two minutes of fishing he pulled in a very solid 95cm thready. Nice!
Stats:
Tide: 10:00AM, 1M, Low
Moon Phase: 44%
Bait Caught/Used: Mullet, tailor, herring
Fish Caught: I got grunter, tailor, Thorbjorn got shark, threadfin
Air Pressure: 1010
Humidity: 61%
Tackle Used: I used a Penn Spinfisher 8500 and 15-24KG Savage Gear Salt rod, Penn Liveliner on Uglystik, and Shimano Sedona on Abu Garcia Nexus. 50 pound trace or wire trace, size 4 star sinkers, 6/o circle hooks, barrel swivels. 
Overall Success Rate: 70% - a few bites. 
On Thursday, I was at the same spot again, trying for a big shark. Bait collecting was successful for once, with myself managing 6 big mullet in one cast, which was enough to fish for the whole day. Thorbjorn and I sent some pieces out on our shark rods, and strips out on our lighter rods. There isn't really much to say about the days fishing, apart from the fact I caught one pike eel and the bite was very slow. I headed off a bit after midday again to get to work, and got my gear ready to go fishing the next day. 
Stats:
Tide: 11:20AM, 1M, Low
Moon Phase: 35%
Bait Caught/Used: Mullet
Fish Caught: Pike eel
Air Pressure: 1011
Humidity: 69%
Tackle Used: I used a Penn Spinfisher 8500 and 15-24KG Savage Gear Salt rod, Penn Liveliner on Uglystik, and Shimano Sedona on Abu Garcia Nexus. 50 pound trace or wire trace, size 4 star sinkers, 6/o circle hooks, barrel swivels. 
Overall Success Rate: 20%
That Friday and Saturday, I was away camping at Mt Barney, which was good, but I didn't catch any fish in the small creek nearby our campsite. 
On Sunday, my Dad and I launched into a spot in the river we hadn't kayaked before. There was heaps of bait skipping around when we got there, but the first half an hour was pretty unsuccessful with no touches on our lures. A while after that, we decided to go and catch some livebait - about half a dozen prime size poddy mullet made their way into our cast net bucket, and we continued fishing lures now with an unweighted livie swimming out the back. This to was unsuccessful, and at about 9:00AM we headed off defeated with a big donut. 
Stats:
Tide: 9:50AM, 2.1M, High. 
Moon Phase: 10%
Air Pressure: 1010
Humidity: 71%
Tackle Used: Shimano Stradic and Raider, Shimano Curado and Cranx rod. 15 and 20 pound mainlines, 30 pound leaders. 
Bait/Lure Used: Zerek pyra, Atomic slim twitcher, soft vibes, live mullet
Fish Caught: - 
Overall Success Rate: 20%
On Monday, I was back fishing with Thorbjorn at his spot. I arrived a bit before seven to some rather dirty water, which was a bit of a surprise. This did mean I managed to catch a couple of bony bream in the cast net, and seeing as though I already had some spare this meant we had a decent amount of bait. Another fisho caught a stingray and catfish early up, but I only got off the donut with an eel and a toadfish later in the day. Around tide change I also caught two pup bull sharks, but unluckily didn't manage any bigger models. I headed off late in the arvo and got my stuff ready for fishing the next day.
Stats:
Tide: 8:45AM, 2.5M, High, 3:10PM, .7M, Low. 
Moon Phase: 5%
Bait Caught/Used: Live mullet, herring, prawns, bony bream
Fish Caught: Sharks, toadfish, eel
Air Pressure: 1010
Humidity: 59%
Tackle Used: I used a Penn Spinfisher 8500 and 15-24KG Savage Gear Salt rod, Penn Liveliner on Uglystik, and Shimano Sedona on Abu Garcia Nexus. 50 pound trace or wire trace, size 4 star sinkers, 6/o circle hooks, barrel swivels. 
Overall Success Rate: 30% - a couple of bites
On Tuesday I just went for a morning session at high tide at one of my local spots, targeting threadies and sharks. I got a bit of bait relatively quickly, although the bonies were a bit smaller than what I would've liked using. Despite this, I lobbed a mixture of baits out, and waited for a bite (which seemed non-existent). Eventually, I hooked up to something - a fat catty. At around 10AM I headed home feeling a bit defeated with the complete lack of fish. 😞 
Stats:
Tide: 10:00AM, 2.3M, High
Moon Phase: 1%
Bait Caught/Used: Live bony bream and poddy mullet
Fish Caught: Catfish
Air Pressure: 1011
Humidity: 59%
Overall Success Rate: 10%
The next day, I was lucky enough to be able to go out in Thorbjorn's boat. We launched at Jindalee, and gathered some livies for the first bit of the fishing session. It wasn't long before we had a few bony bream and mullet, and we were anchored at the first spot. Here, Thorbjorn caught a shark before it went a bit quiet around high tide change, so we went up and tried two different spots. These were unsuccessful, so we went down to the Jindalee Bridge, where Thorbjorn caught another shark. 
A while later we were back at the starting spot. Here, I caught two sharks and we also had a few more missed bites. Overall, it was a great day fishing, thanks again for taking me out on the boat @Thorbjorn Hale. 
Stats:
Tide: 11:00AM, 2.4M, High. 
Moon Phase: New Moon
Bait Caught/Used: Live mullet and bony bream
Fish Caught: Sharks x 4, Catfish x 2
Air Pressure: 1010
Humidity: 67%
Overall Success Rate: 60% - fun boat day
On Thursday, I was fishing with a mate from school at a spot I hadn't been to in a while. Upon arriving, it took us about half an hour to get a few livies, but after that we were fishing. It was only five minutes before the first bait got something alright on it. My mate took the rod, but to my disappointment (he was still pretty excited), a rather large pike eel surfaced. It got tangled in my dilly quite badly, so I decided to keep it for shark bait. After that, the fishing only got worse, and we landed several small catties and another eel before calling it quits in the arvo. 
Stats:
Tide: 11:00AM, 2.4M, High
Moon Phase: 2%
Bait Caught/Used: Live mullet, bony bream, anchovies, ponyfish
Fish Caught: Pike eels and catties
Air Pressure: 1007
Humidity: 85%
Overall Success Rate: 50% - no donut
On Friday I was back at one of my local spots, seeing if I could get a more desirable fish (answer, no I couldn't). I got a nice size school of poddies at the top of the jetty walkway, and decided that would be my bait for the day. It wasn't long before I was also on the first shark of the day, and then another one which jumped out, and then a third one. The bite went a bit quiet as the rising tide really started to rip in, so I called it quits after that and rode my bike home at about 11:00AM. 
Stats:
Tide: 5:30AM, .2M, Low. 
Moon Phase: 6.3%
Bait Caught/Used: Live mullet
Air Pressure: 1003
Humidity: 72%
Fish Caught: Sharks
Overall Success Rate: 30% - no donut
Not being able to catch anything in the salt, my Dad and I decided to go bass fishing on Saturday morning. We got up nice and early and arrived at the spot a bit after first light, greeted with a very muddy track. We slid through spider webs and on the mud but eventually made it down to the first spot, where I got snagged but overcasting twice (not awake) but retrieved my lure, before my Dad and I moved on to a different spot. Here, my Dad got a decent bass first cast, and I got two in the next few minutes, but then the surface bite died down a bit (bass were around 30-40cm). We continued with surface for a while longer, before I switched to a Duo Shad and proceeded to catch 4 bass up to about 40cm, including one of which I caught on the way back of swimming out to get my lure from a snag. 
Biggest thanks goes to my Dad for swimming into over head high water to retrieve my Cicada after I did a dodgy cast. 
Stats:
Tide: Low
Moon Phase: 13%
Lures Used: Cicadas and Duo Shad
Air Pressure: 1002
Humidity: 82%
Overall Success Rate: 60% - got a few bass
The last session of this report was yesterday, at a local jetty again. I got there a bit after 5:30AM, and although bait was slow I still managed to get a few livies together. I hooked up onto the first shark of the day, but it snipped through my 30 pound leader, and then my mate got two, one of which bit him off as it got close to the jetty. Later in the session, as the tide changed, a got a 55cm or so catty on a 20cm mullet, which was surprising, and then called it quits at about 11. Overall, it was another pretty average session.
Stats:
Tide: 6:15AM, .2M, Low
Moon Phase: 22%
Bait Caught/Used: Live bony bream and mullet
Fish Caught: Sharks, catfish
Air Pressure: Moderate-high
Humidity: Moderate
Overall Success Rate: 20%
Thanks for reading, sorry for the long and unsuccessful report, hopefully I'll catch something this week. Gave it a break today for the first time this holidays but will go and try and catch an eel this arvo. 
Cheers Hamish. 

Finally got back on the water in my boat after waiting a month for a service - didnt want to run too far over the first service interval.
With weather reports looking reasonable we decided to launch at Spinnaker and head out into the northern bay.  A bit of a later start as I had a golf function on and was pushed for time to prep boat….damn retirement is too busy at times.
Any on the water at 6.15am and the usual bit of bay chop but winds were relatively light.  Decided to pop into North Moreton Artificial to have a look as it didnt exist when Dad and I used to fish up this end of the bay.
I just love modern electronics….the combo of decent maps which mark the clumps of the artifical and the sounder being able to clearly pick up everything meant little wasted time.  Went over the south eastern clump and it was holding lots of bait with some nice bigger arches around schooling.  So assumed mackies or kingies.
Went to the north eastern section and it was similar so decided we would see what was around.  I already had a paddle tail plastic rigged up so when I saw fish flicking under the boat I quickly dropped it in and got my first hit, second cast converted to a nice rat yellow tail king fish.
Decided to floatline a pilly down and go back to casting plastics, and the pilly got belted and second king in the kill bag.
The plastic was then torn by another kingy so I rerigged a pilly.  Every drift was converting to fish as we drifted over the structure.
Bit started to drop as we headed into @ 9.30am so got a bit more weight on and converted to a nice grassie close to the structure.   Then another nice kingy.  There was definitely fish holding lower but too hard to get past the kings one the drift. 
All up we brought home 5 and released the rest.  
So last night was beautiful fresh king fish sashimi followed by King Island Rib Eye grilled on coals over at a mates place…washed down with Revel Brewing beers and west aussie reds…..what a glorious day.

My deckie and I hit the Port this morning launching at 5.30am.
Dropped 8 pots out , 2 different types, 1 type got all of the action. The four entry round pots are not as good as the other type it seems...with 4 trips now the 4 entry pots have faired miserably.
So essentially it was a plastics only day....live baits did not get a single sniff.
Tally for the day was 2 x mid 50's snapper, 2 by late 40's grunter and 2 x jumbo sand crabs....only 1 undersized crab was caught...yes the crabbing isn't going well there yet.
Aside from the fish that ended up as dinner guests, there was about 8 or so squire from 25cm to about 45cm and a lot of legal bream...2 nudging the kilo size, and three moses perch.
Was near a glass out from 5.30am to about 10.15 am then the ENE breeze started.
Plastics of choise today was 3" powerbait minows in watermelon pearl and 90mm firebaits in a drab brown colour. Both plastics catching similar amounts of fish.

The chooks can be locked up. Touch wood, haven't seen the turkey since it went into one of the neighbors yards yesterday. Maybe someone else or their dog has dealt with it.

Well finally home and recovered from the drive.  I havent driven north of Rocky for 19 years and after this trip I am glad.  Without getting into politics I can see why the people up north want a separate state.  The highway is nothing short of embarrassing - 10hrs to travel 700km (Tvle to Mt Larcomm) with a constant series of roadworks that do nothing bar slow travel more than the potholes and broken bitumen.    
It was a great learning experience for the new boat.  Definitely need a forward boarding ladder for ramps without a pontoon.  At my age all my mates are too old to try and get over the side - heck I am 6’5” and I doubt I could do it without cutting the crap out of myself on some part of the boat.
Learnt a lot about what works with trolling motors as well (thanks Rayke I will give you a yell  soon).  Never understood why you would have a foot pedal but can see it would be much easier when casting and moving along a bank particularly where there is a lot of current.  Also the need to be able to interface chart plotter to electric negates this when you can just have motor run along the track for you.
 
Next trip - Monduran Dam in December is the plan.  Mate is all fired up after watching youtube videos.  Been years since I was there so be nice to revisit and also a good place to hone skills with the electronics on the boat.

Well writing this report on the last day of the comp says it all.
It all started last year when good mate said we should do the Cooktown Barra comp as he has an airbnb there so we have a free roof over our head.
I left Brisbane and drove up to Clairview (recommend BarraCrab van park).  Someone had caught a nice barra at the creek mouth on a livey but I had just done 9hrs driving and was more interested in a beer and chill out.
Next day was Townsville for a catch up with some good friends.  Although the weather was good we chose the next day as reported best day to head out to the reef.  Suited me to chill out after 2 days sitting on my arse in the 4WD.
Tuesday we hit the water early with a gentle breeze in our face.  Some entertainment as we witnessed the pleasures of our failed youth justice policies with 2 young aboriginal kids barely able to see over the dash of a dual cab 4WD doing circle work in the Coast Guard car park.   
Heading out inside Magnetic Island I plotted for a pinnacle towards Palm Is that I had picked off Navionics maps.  Sounded over it and it was marking fish just off the 10m top as it dropped quite quickly down to 20m.
First drop a nice trout that just went size.  Then a just under small mouth nannygai.  Then another trout and then just couldnt get past the spanish flag and hussar.   We werent out for a feed so everything was going back anyway.
Tried some slow fall jigging and 3rd drop a small trevor was on.  Next drop, massive hit and someone with big teeth swam off with my Palms Slow Blatt…..bugga.
Mate was getting a few back on bait so went back to the other rod.  Strong hit converted to a nice cod which was released.
Saw the most spectacular action when something was chasing a tuna of around 5 kg which did about 7 leaps past us over about 50 or so metres.  Amazing how fast they are and how they fly so well through the air.   Unknown whether it escaped but whatever was chasing it was clearly bigger enough to eat a 5kg tuna.
The bite went off just as the tide changed and with the wind picking up we headed back in.  
WEDNESDAY - drive day to Cooktown.
THURSDAY (Cooktown) - probably best chance for the reef at Cooktown but the wind was definitely not playing well.  We headed out but it was already at 15 and strengthening.  Only made it to one of the close in reefs as the tide was dropping.  Hooked a few undersized trout and the usual mix of hussar and other little reef critters.
Used low tide to map a track down the river although with barra on spawning the only chance of fish would be around the mouth of the river.
Sovereign hotel for dinner, mates wife won a voucher for free pizzas in the raffle….at least one win for the day.
FRIDAY (Cooktown) weather reports not pretty but we got out and trolled the headlands down past the Annand River mouth.  Found a nice spot with some mangroves and thanks to Ray dropped the Minn Kota and started flicking a 4.5” Scotsborough paddle tale plastic on a 7/0 TT 3/8th oz jig head.
Great strike from under a mangrove and a nice silver barra got up on its tale and threw the lure.  
Then mate tossed his lure into the trees and we were in pulling it out.  Anyone living there was no longer around.
Worked a few more similar spots but with the mangroves and rocks and a falling tide it was back towards deeper water as I had already given the prop a smack.
We worked our way back along the headlands casting hard body and plastics into every likely spot without success.
Wind was already heading towards 20kph as we got back to the mouth of the Endeavour.
The warning signs were there - nothing marking on the sounder at any point.
A spot of lunch and we headed upstream to try and get something on the board.  Again nothing showing on the sounder - could not even find any bait holding anywhere.
Did a troll through the mouth where I landed a legal school mackeral which was released.
Day 1 of comp - one barra not landed.
By the look of the sad faces at the boat ramp no one was having any luck.
Free pizza for dinner then beers at the RSL and picked up a $50 bistro voucher in the raffle.  Another free dinner sorted.  And at least a win of some sort.
SATURDAY - hit the water early and the wind was already at 25kph did a run out the mouth and along north shore but nothing showing.  Got in along the rocks but again nothing.
Unfortunately my boat is not probably the best for tight estuary and we had a look at the Annan Boat ramp but my mate wasnt so keen on swimming out to climb up the stern (just joking) as its just too high to push out and get over the bow.    Lesson learnt I will have to get the optional bow ladder from Formosa for ramps with no pontoon.
Hit the Endeavour and flogged every likely looking spot we could. The river is like a funnel and it was tough work with the wind making it hard just to get a lure in close to where you wanted.  With shoulders aching and wind burn it was in for a late lunch. 
Pretty sad when you couldnt even get a bream to follow a lure out of a snag. 
Again absolutely nothing showing on the sounder.  
After lunch we opted to stay in with wind well into the 20knot range making the river and unpleasant place and our spirits sagging.
 
Sunday. - well here I am typing.  Easily over 30 knots and the river a mess of white caps - all you see is boats packed up.  I think everyone is in the same boat.  I imagine the winner will be out of people who have gone up to Lakefield to fish the Normanby.
Although its 8.30am we will head down to Archer Point and see if we can get something off a sheltered spot off the rocks, but the boat is cleaned and not going anywhere.
Although the fishing has been tough and less than rewarding it was great to be back up north flicking lures.
 

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

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/353523
This is what I found by searching - Outboard Melbourne Scam

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

Well I have done a full walk around of the boat.  
Quick summary:
Formosa 525 SRT,side console.  Suzuki 140hp.
Dunbier dual axle gal trailer on 14” gal wheels.  I have done a lot of offroad travel and prefer steel over alloy as you can fix it just about anywhere and this boat will be getting some travel under its belt.
Electronics:
Garmin 12” and 9” in console.  16” on bow for the livescope.  LVS34 on a pole.
I hope the walk around gives a decent look at the boat.  I havent fitted some of the gear as I just got it back from having the Seadek done and fitting up the electric this afternoon.
 
Big shout out to Rayke who kindly has loaned me the Minn Kota for a trip up north next week.
Garmin continually are pushing back delivery on my Kraken trolling motor (the downside of wanting the latest on market).
I have overall had a really good experience in buying this boat.
Overall the Formosa is pretty decent build quality - yes it could be better but its a solid truck and rides really well.
I have had a good experience so far with everyone I have dealt with which I think is a nice thing in the marine trades.
NCBC down at Uranga - Dayne Taylor is the manager and has a similar boat and uses his boat how I planned for this one.  Really good advice on what was a good investment and what wasnt.  Sorted out everything even though I was coming from interstate.  Way too easy to deal with.   
Electronics were predominantly from Shotgun Marine at Port Macquarie.  No stuffing around just good advice and very good pricing.
Transducer Poles Australia - another quality tradie who is a fisho.  Just talked through the boat and what I was doing and got an extendable pole with a QD plate so I can remove it and stow it easily for travel.
Rays Canvas and Marine - found this guy through a Youtube video by Stones Corner Marine.  What a trademan.  He is a fisherman and knows exactly how it has to be to work.  
Boat Flooring Australia. Gave Lucas a call and the short time frame and he got it all done in 2 days for me.  
PS I have no idea on Youtube but it maybe that the video isnt available until tomorrow and no idea how to change it.
 

Still cannot post pics but highly recommend Ray’s Canvas and Marine at Caboolture - he did the custom bimini for me and it is just superb.  Delivered exactly how I envisaged it - no guy straps, tall enough I can stand under (6’5”),  doesnt block the casting deck, clear space to the rear so you can face backwards and fish out the back as well

Hi all,
Over the past few weeks I've been doing a bit of fishing in the river, unfortunately none has been too successful though. The first session was a couple weekends ago. 
I got to the spot early in the morning at a relatively low tide and started cast netting. Bait was scarce but I had plenty of deadbait, so after getting a few herring I started fishing. It remained quiet for the next couple of hours though, but I did manage to catch about thirty bait sized prawns and a couple more herring (caught some catfish and toadfish on lines). As the tide was getting closer to the high, one of my rods eventually went off. It didn't take long to realize I was on a big stingray though, and after about 15 minutes a 20KG specimen was next to the jetty, which I cut off to annoy someone else. I continued fishing all throughout the day, but didn't catch anything noteworthy, apart from a bream, and more catfish/pike eels/stingray. 
Stats:
Tide: 4:50AM, .5M, Low, 10:40AM, 2.1M, High, 4:50PM, .5M, Low. 
Moon Phase: New Moon, 1%
Bait Caught and Used: Live prawns, herring, deadbaits. 
Fish Caught: Lots of trash fish, one bream. 
Tackle Used: Abu Garcia Nexus on Shimano Sedona 6000, Okuma Coronado CDX with Silstar Crystal Powertip, Kmart Rod and Shimano Baitrunner OC 8000. 30 pound braid, 50 pound trace, 6/o circle hooks, size 4 star sinkers. 
Air Pressure: 1019
Humidity: 72%
Overall Success Rate: 30%, pretty crap fishing
I was up at Yeppoon for a week after that, but when I got back I went fishing on Monday at a spot a while away from my home. Upon arriving, I was disappointed to catch no bait whatsoever, so it was lucky I decided to bring some backup dead prawns along. While I was cast netting, one of my rods did go off, and I landed a fat catty, and upon getting back to netting a second rod went off. This time it was clearly a better fish, and I was pleased to see a legal size squire on the end of my line. I decided to keep this, and shortly after, having only caught one scat in the cast net, I relocated spots as I was out of bait. 
At the next spot, bait was also very minimal, but I did manage to catch a pike eel. No one else caught any bait or fish for the whole day. 
Stats:
Tide: 6:00AM, 1.7M, High, 12:00PM, .6M, Low, 6:40PM, 2.5M, High. 
Moon Phase: 78% moon.
Bait Caught and Used: Dead prawns, scat strip. 
Fish Caught: Snapper, catfish, pike eel. 
Tackle Used: Abu Garcia Nexus on Shimano Sedona 6000, Okuma Coronado CDX with Silstar Crystal Powertip, Kmart Rod and Shimano Baitrunner OC 8000. 30 pound braid, 50 pound trace, 6/o circle hooks, size 4 star sinkers. 
Air Pressure: 1018
Humidity: 64%
Overall Success Rate: 20% - pretty crap session
After that, upon hearing a decent report, I decided to try a spot that was a bit more local to me. After getting a lift there, I was there early, but unluckily for me there was not a lot of livebait around making fishing to start with a bit of a struggle. Apart from a small catty, it wasn't looking good. 
Eventually, another fisho rocked up and showed me a better spot to catch livies. He then proceeded to catch a couple of small soapy jewfish, which were good to see, on mullet and bony bream. My rod remained untouched, but I persisted throughout the day praying something would happen. Eventually around lunchtime I had to call it quits as my grandparents were arriving, so I got the bus home. Apparently someone lost a large thready a while after I left and a couple more soapies were caught. 
Stats:
Tide: 7:30AM, 1.7M, High, 1:30PM, .3M, Low. 
Moon Phase: 87.5%
Bait Caught and Used: Live mullet, bony bream, dead prawns. 
Fish Caught: Catfish, others caught jewfish and nearly threadfin. 
Tackle Used: Kmart Rod and Shimano Baitrunner OC 8000. 30 pound braid, 50 pound trace, 6/o circle hooks, size 4 star sinkers. 
Air Pressure: 1016
Humidity: 74%
Overall Success Rate: 30% - crap day for me but good to see some solid fish caught. 
The next day, I was back at it at that same spot hopeful I'd be able to land a fish. I can't remember all of the details that well, but I know I had a couple more rods and was better equipped to go cast netting. This was one element of the day which was successful, as I managed a couple schools of mullet and bony bream early on. 
Unfortunately for me, the day proved to be quiet yet again, with no substantial catches for me. Oh well, that's fishing. 
Stats:
Tide: 8:30AM, 1.8M, High, 2:40PM, .2M, Low. 
Moon Phase: 95%
Bait Caught and Used: Live mullet and bonies. 
Fish Caught: Nothing good. 
Tackle Used: Shimano Stradic and Raider rod, Shimano Symetre and Sentire Rod, Kmart Rod and Shimano Baitrunner 8000OC, 15, 20, and 30 pound braid mainlines, 50 pound trace, size 3 snapper sinkers. 
Air Pressure: 1015
Humidity: 64%
Overall Success Rate: 20%, bad fishing. 
I gave the fishing a miss that Thursday, but on Friday I was back at it at a slightly different spot with my mate. We both got there around 6, and were straight into cast netting. A mix of prawns, mullet, bony bream, and herring were landed, and I also had a bit of deadbait, but the fish didn't seem to be playing the game. This trend continued throughout the rising tide, with only a couple catfish being landed, and a few more small fish biting. 
Upon the rising tide, a rather large live herring I had sent out had a bit of a bite, but eventually the fish dropped it. I was thinking either pike eel or jewie, based on the way the fish played with the bait before running and dropping it. It seemed like nothing was going to change, and a bit before two I headed home for the day, leaving my mate with the livies (he only got catfish). 
Stats:
Tide: 4:30AM, .1M, Low, 10:15AM, 2.1M, High, 4:30PM, .1M, Low. 
Moon Phase: 100%, Full Moon. 
Bait Caught and Used: Live mullet, herring, bony bream, prawns. 
Fish Caught: Catfish
Tackle Used: Shimano Stradic and Raider rod, Shimano Symetre and Sentire Rod, Kmart Rod and Shimano Baitrunner 8000OC, 15, 20, and 30 pound braid mainlines, 50 pound trace, size 3 snapper sinkers. 
Air Pressure: 1008
Humidity: 92%
Overall Success Rate: 15%, quiet day. 
After that, I was back at the spot where the jewies had been landed the previous days. A few other fishos came to join me as well, but I was there first and had managed to catch a few nice livebaits. Things were looking promising, but after everyone had soaked a few livies for a while and nothing had happened hopes went down. 
After a time, I hooked up to something with a lot of weight. We were hoping it would wake up and prove to be a decent fish, but unfortunately a big rotten pike eel surfaced. This was probably one of the biggest eels I've ever seen, and after that was dealt with we got back to fishing.
To sum up a long day, I caught a few catties, perch, and a lot more bait, but no prize fish showed themselves. Around 5 I called it quits, disappointed with the days fishing. 
Stats:
Tide: 5:00AM, .1M, Low, 11:00AM, 2.2M, High, 5:15Pm, .1M, Low
Moon Phase: Full Moon
Bait Caught and Used: Live mullet and bony bream
Fish Caught: Catfish, perch, eels. 
Tackle Used: Shimano Stradic and Raider rod, Shimano Symetre and Sentire Rod, Kmart Rod and Shimano Baitrunner 8000OC, 15, 20, and 30 pound braid mainlines, 50 pound trace, size 3 snapper sinkers. 
Air Pressure: 1008
Humidity: 92%
Overall Success Rate: 10%, crap day. 
Seeing as though nothing was going my way in the salt, I decided to try for some bass up the river. It was a tight schedule, as my Dad had to be home to take my sister somewhere early in the morning, but a 4AM start saw us at the spot by around half past five. Upon getting into the car, I was greeted by a big old huntsman, which gave me a pretty good fright. Once we arrived at the spot without further issue I was pretty relieved... 
As we walked down to the river, I was hopeful of a first cast bass, and although this was not the case, it was only a couple of casts before I had a missed hit, same with my Dad. After three missed hits we repositioned slightly, where my Dad caught the first bass of the morning, a nice little model. 
We continued to wind our way along the bank, and after my Dad caught another fish, I wasn't feeling too hopeful... But then, boof! I was on, and although it was only little it was still fun. After I dehooked it, my Dad caught the best fish of the morning, a solid 35CM model. We continued fishing until about 7:30AM, but then called it quits as we really needed to get home. We ended up catching 7 bass from 10 bust ups, using surface for everything. 
Stats:
Tide: 8:00AM, Low tide, 0.1M
Moon Phase: Full Moon
Lures Used: Jackall and Duo International Cicadas, I tried an RMG Scorpion 35 for the last part of the session. 
Fish Caught: 7 * bass
Tackle Used: Shimano Stradic 3000 with Shimano Raider, Abu Garcia Veritas 2-4KG with 2500 Diawa Tierra. 15 and 8 pound braid, ten pound fluoro leader. 
Air Pressure: 1017
Humidity: 71%
Overall Success Rate: 90% - not much size but good to do the plan for once. 
The next day was the last day of school holidays, and @Thorbjorn Hale and I decided to go for an arvo session at a new spot for both of us (Where Thorbjorn saw someone catch a big thready). We got there around midday, and it wasn't long before we got onto a couple of prawns and herring for livebait. This was pretty promising, because not many other spots in the river have had a lot of bait recently. 
A while later one of my rods was getting some interest. I started winding in, and the fish was swimming towards us. After the initial run, we decided it was a ray, and ten minutes later we were proved right, when a 20KG or so model surfaced. After breaking one dilly, we managed to get it up and release it, happy that we had gotten our first catch. 
We continued to catch more livebait and fish, but the bite was a bit quiet. The next couple of hours flew by, until we started catching a couple of fish again. I believe Thorbs caught a catfish and eel, and I caught a couple catties. As the sun started to go down, I caught some puttynose perch in the cast net. These were sent out, and Thorbs landed a big stingray on one, which we released. It is also worth noting while I was cast netting about 4 hours after we lost it, I pulled in Thorbs dilly that had broken off from the rope when we were trying to get the first big stingray in. I left at about 5:30PM, and I think Thorbjorn gave it a few more hours that night, but only managed some rays/catties. Anyways, it was still a fun session at what seems like a great spot, just a shame there weren't many fish around!
Stats:
Tide: 11:50AM, 2.5M, High, 6:15Pm, .5M, Low. 
Moon Phase: 93%
Bait Caught and Used: Live herring, puttynose perch, mullet, prawns, chicken breast. 
Fish Caught: Catfish, eels, stingrays. 
Tackle Used: Abu Garcia Nexus on Shimano Sedona 6000, Okuma Coronado CDX with Silstar Crystal Powertip, Kmart Rod and Shimano Baitrunner OC 8000. 30 pound braid, 50 pound trace, 6/o circle hooks, size 4 star sinkers. 
Air Pressure: 1017
Humidity: 68%
Overall Success Rate: 60% - productive arvo sussing out a new spot. 
Anyways, the most recent session was this morning, on the kayak. My Dad and I decided we would have a crack catching a thready/jew on a lure, so at about 12:45AM we launched into the river near a bridge. It wasn't long before we were drifting by some structure, me flicking a Zerek Pyra lure and my dad jigging a vibe. This spot proved to be no good, so a slight change saw us flicking in some light pools.
Everything looked fishy, and after flicking my surface lure around the jetty, I saw some bait jumping on the surface. This was the first time this happened for the night, so I casted my lure right in, and a small tailor came and smashed it, dropping off at the side of the kayak. Cool, we thought, but there was no more surface action at this spot so we moved on to the next set of wharfs. This also proved unsuccessful, and after pulling up on a jetty to stretch the legs, we shot off to another ferry terminal.
There wasn't much illumination at this one, so twenty minutes later we were at a third terminal, that looked much fishier. We casted here for about 30 minutes, but with no luck we made our way back to the first terminal we fished, casting our lure up onto a shallow mudbank with lots of mullet activity. A few final casts saw us with no fish, so we left, off the water by about 3:15AM and back in bed by four, feeling a bit disappointed with our dud session. 
Stats:
Tide: 12:00AM, .7M, Low, 5:30AM, 1.3M, High. 
Moon Phase: 47%. 
Lures Used: Zerek Pyra and soft vibe. 
Fish Caught: One small tailor. 
Tackle Used: Shimano Stradic 3000 on Raider and Shimano Symetre 4000 on Sentire Rod, 15 and 20 pound braid mainlines with 30 pound leader. 
Air Pressure: 1018
Humidity: 66%
Overall Success Rate: 50%- good to try something new. 
Thanks for reading this report. Hope you enjoyed. School is starting to get busy now but I'm hoping my luck will change soon after all those bad sessions. Sorry no photos. 
Cheers Hamish

Headed to Jumpinpin with @Old Scaley today.
7am and we were fishing. Target: Whiting.
The forecast was wrong and it was blowing a solid 15 knots, so after landing a little bream and a decent whiting at Kalinga Bank, we headed over to the Northern side of Crusoe, to take advantage of the shelter. I took a pic when the count was 7 and sent it to @Bretto77 to make his day at work a little better. 🤔
We managed to put a feed together with 12 keepers. Plenty of undersize ones and Steve got onto a patch of small Tarwhine for a bit. We ran out of worms, so trolled some hardbodies for half an hour on the way back to the ramp.
Off the water just after 1pm. Good to be back out there and the electric was all good after installing the new battery under warranty.
 
Pic of 7 whiting via video -
 

Hi all,
This report will be about my recent trip up to Yeppoon. After driving up, I was pretty exhausted, so slept in on the first Monday morning. It was pretty windy that day though, but with tides ideal to fish off Double Heads my dad and I went for a quick arvo fish there. Unfortunately, with some relatively dirty water, and conditions making it a little difficult to fish, we didn't manage any catches. 
The next morning, we were back at Double Heads to try our luck again. Lures of choice were 20, 25, and 30 gram red Flashas, but after heaps of casts we were completely unsuccessful in catching anything. Conditions were pretty bad once again, so after about 1.5hrs of fishing off the rocks we decided to relocate to Ross Creek, because the tide was still pretty low. Here, I caught a small flatty on plastics, but the bite was still pretty quiet all around. That arvo, I was at a bit of a loss as to where to go fishing, but my uncle was going over to our boat in the harbor so I had a quick cast there. Being the middle of the day, I struggled to catch bait, but it was still disappointing that I had a big fat donut to finish the day off. 
The next day was Wednesday, and luckily for us the weather was good. Unfortunately, after a couple weeks of bad weather prior to me arriving, the water was very dirty, meaning most larger fish and baitfish were nowhere to be found. My Dad and I still gave it a good crack though, but I think the only catch was a grinner by my Dad. I fished for about 3 hours that day off the rocks, and was feeling pretty disappointed by the end of it. I can't recall whether or not I went fishing that arvo, but if I did it was probably at the harbor where I caught nothing. 
On Thursday, we were back at Double Heads, and this time I gave it a longer crack. My Dad headed off a bit early after catching nothing, but I managed to land a wolf herring and a couple grinners for the few hours I was out baking on the rocks. Later that day, after a rest at home, my mate asked me if I wanted to go for a fish at the Causeway Lake, so we tried there for a couple of hours. Despite our best efforts and a pretty long walk though, we didn't manage any fish flicking our lures, but it was still a nice way to spend a couple of hours fishing. That arvo, I went fishing off my uncles boat in the harbour again, and being closer to low tide it was easier to net a few herring. With these, I managed to catch one fish off the back of the boat - a solid 45CM cod, which I kept for dinner. 
The next day, I'm pretty sure my Dad and I went for a quick flick off Double Heads, the last time for the trip. Like every other session, it was a dud though, but we did find out someone had caught a couple good spanos and other mackerel off there a few weeks prior (when the water was cleaner). We left feeling disappointed - hopefully next time the rocks are fishing a bit better. 
Later that day, myself and @Coconutdog went for a fish off of Farnborough beach. It was pretty quiet though, and neither of us caught anything using some dead prawns on light line. Hopefully some more fish next time!
For my final session of the trip, I caught myself a few livies at the harbor, and went down for a fish off of my uncles boat again. Things were looking a bit better this arvo though, because shortly after getting there I caught a bream that would have been a solid 35CM, probably closer to 40CM though, on an unweighted bony bream. After that, while I was winding in an unweighted live bony to check it, it got smashed on the way up, and, having my drag set too tight, my ten pound leader snapped immediately. Bugger! Hoping for another opportunity, I sent another bony down, and sure enough, it got walloped by something that screamed off under the boat. The fight was only short lived though, because it broke me off after the first run. I am assuming it might have been a jack or fingermark, but we'll never know now 😞.  
I called it quits after that bustoff, and we drove home on Friday. So far I haven't caught anything good in the river either this holidays so hopefully a big fish soon. 
Thanks for reading, and sorry no photos, not that there is much to show off anyways.
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.
 

Arrived around Sunrise. God's Country. Use to live here.
Quite to start.
Then a big hit. Thought it was a shark. 40CM Groper. They fight hard. Released.
Ended up with 3 nice Snapper. 45 to 50 CM.
Off to the Newoprt Arms for breakfast. They have the best Hamburgers.
Top morning.
Cheers.
 

Hi all
Another quick report from me this week - I went out for a fish after school on Friday at a local spot. The trains were delayed on the way home so I didn't ride there until 4:30PM, but I didn't waste any time catching a few baitfish. I eventually got a couple poddy mullet, one of which went out on my line. 
It wasn't until sunset I got a bit of action, not on the fishing rod, but with the prawns. Being low tide and sunset, they were pretty thick for a short window, with about 3 every cast. I ended up just giving them away to another guy I see there periodically, he was pretty happy with them. It is worth nothing by about quarter past six the patch had disappeared. 
I got off the donut on my last cast with a catfish on a mullet and prawn combo. I left at about 6:30PM. No threadfin or jewies to be seen, so hopefully next Friday I'll have a bit more luck. Also it is worth noting over the past week I have been going out to a few local spots cast netting at night time, as well as sussing out a couple of new bait spots, none of which were particularly successful. 
Stats of Trip: KF
Tide: 11:30AM, 1.8M, High, 5:35PM, .3M, Low (it was closer to 6:30PM). 
Moon Phase: 2.8%, New Moon, lots of run. 
Bait Caught and Used: Live prawns, anchovy, mullet.
Tackle Used: Shimano Baitrunner 8000DC on Kmart Rod, 30 pound braid, 50 pound leader, size 3 snapper sinker, 6/o circle hook, barrel swivel. 
Fish Caught: Catfish
Air Pressure: 1002
Humidity: 54%
Overall Success Rate: 20%, beats staying at home
Cheers Hamish

Hamish was right , didn’t really matter-
Ended up going , lolly pop , sandwich , lolly pop , sandwich.
Neil

I forgot that when I was last out fishing the boat didnt come onto the trailer quite right. I paid the price for it yesterday, I couldnt get the boat off the trailer. So while trying to shove it off, my hand slipped and I took a hunkout of my left thumb base,nek minit the light bulb in my head come on and I backed the trailer further into the water and floated the boat off.
Anyway on the fishing front, it was bedlam again,the bass were like indians, they kept circling the boat each time I pulled up.Managed over 50 again trolling and shrimp, before I could hear the lunch time bell all the way from my place. (yes I know need a new camera )
Dino

Hi guys, I haven't posted a session report in a while so i thought I would do my latest session and a few highlights from these past months of fishing. The fishing these past few months started off well, with lots of jewies about and a bunch of good size snapper. These 2 past months have been very slow for getting bait during the day and I think i've only caught one herring on a sabiki since. 
I rocked up to the local around 8:30pm for a small session. There were 3 blokes fishing, all with frowns on their faces i'm guessing they were not enjoying their fishing trip. They told me there was no bait around and they had begun packing their equipment up. I gave the net about 10 throws before I gave up and waited for the tide to run again- about 15 minutes. By that time the blokes had gone home and I had the jetty to myself, I gave the net a throw and the prawns had completely turned on and I was getting about 2 or 3 per cast. I casted these out on all 3 rods and cracked open a solo. About 20 minutes and a bait change later, a family who I have met previously came to the jetty to see if i had caught any fish or prawns. They were mesmerised by the prawns and were talking to me about if i had caught any fish when I heard the bell on the tip of my rod start ringing, i ran over the to the rod and it started screaming. I picked it up and clicked the bait runner into gear, the fish must have turned around because I thought it might be a small jewfish or a snapper. Th e fish charged the jetty and it was only when I saw it surface that I realised it was massive. As soon as I caught a glimpse of it it took off, peeling probably 30 metres of line from my reel. It started heading for the jetty which I had to quickly put a stop to. After 3 or 4 more smaller runs and a terrifying run in with a pylon and a crab pot rope I pulled it into the safety of the dilly which I promptly lifted up onto the jetty. It was a massive thready, it looked like a new PB

. I quickly snapped a few photos, gave it a measure and a tag and then ran with it my arms down to the rocks at the bottom of the jetty. I was wading waist deep in the river trying to revive it but it had swallowed the hook, lost a few scales and had pretty severe barotrauma so it wasn't looking good for her. I swam her for 10 minutes but after a failed release attempt and an unsuccessful venting job using a tagger I knew it was going to come home for dinner. 
It was sad not being able to release it but I knew that they tasted great so I wasn't too sad. I stayed fishing for about an hour longer and managed to pickup a new PB bream of 37cm and a really fat catty.

I was supposed to be home by 1130  but I ended up getting home at 1140 and my parents were not too happy with me going out to the servo to get ice haha. Overall it was a really enjoyable nights fishing and it made some very tasty sashimi the next day. 
All the fish were caught on live prawns, the tide was the bottom of the incoming, the moon phase was 60% waning gibbous, the water was reasonably clear

I will leave some highlights of the past few months of fishing at the bottom

 

It's been some time since I have posted a report. Someone else initially claimed reporting rights and I subserviently agreed. 
A number of factors have contributed to the lack of report from my beloved @Kat. 
I find myself with no choice (and her permission), but to blurt before the memories become a little obscure amidst the stress of the daily grind, commitment to children and the unabating will to always love her forwards.
We ended up (by sheer unusual circumstance) with a Sunday that we were free to fish on our terms. So we did.
The tides were such that Kat's once beloved yabbies could be gathered at a convenient time. 
A suggestion of purchasing blood worms (as the very friendly and proficient provider was open from 0430hrs) was also thrown into the mix. Both options were employed.
Worms were purchased and the boat was launched. Yabbies we're pumped by myself and (begrudgingly) @Kat. Time to fish.
The fish were not exactly at the X's we had painted on the water surface last time we were there, but we got a few. 
Kat is laying claim to numbers, I maintain that quality trump's quantity 😜.
Kat did not use a single yabby until the worms were gone and we were heading home. It would appear that she has changed religions...
Here's a few pics.

This is the one I ended up with. Hopefully take it out on Hume this weekend.

 
 

Hi all
This morning I snuck out for a quick flick with my cast net in hopes of catching a few Brissy River Banana Prawns. I slept in a bit more than I should have and ended up arriving at the spot just before sunrise, after a quick ride. I wasted no time and was pleased to catch four prawns on my first cast of the morning. I continued catching a couple each cast until the sun started shining on the river, which was when the prawns slowly started to trickly away into deeper water. I also had a rod out with a live prawn, which for the most part, was getting no love. 
I continued casting around the jetty in hopes of some more prawns, and eventually I found a few in a deeper pocket of water I don't normally cast at. I ended up increasing the tally into an amount that made it not quite satisfying but worthwhile enough for the two or so hours I put in. I left a bit after eight, after catching five prawns in one throw. There were plenty of casts I got nothing at all, and in hindsight I should have gotten up at 4:30AM instead of turning off my clock and going back to bed 🤦‍♂️. Next time I come prawning here I will definitely bring some berley and get there at a more suitable hour. 
Stats of Trip:
Tide: I prawned the last of the run out to the slack. Would've been better if I got there earlier. 1:30AM, 2.3M, High, 8:10AM, .2M, Low. 
Moon Phase: 74%. No moonrise or moonset while I was prawning. 
Bait Caught and Used: Live prawns, mullet. 
Fish Caught: Zilch, a bit more than a kilo of prawns though. 
Humidity: 67-77%
Air Pressure: Around 1033 at my house when I left, dropping to 1027. 
Notes: Prawns are definitely best at this spot before sunrise. Next time wake up earlier. 
Overall Success Rate: 50% - no fish and will probably be my last fishing session for a few weeks because of school. 

Thanks for reading,
Cheers Hamish

The Wife and I put the boat in at Ray Bay at 4pm  on Sunday afternoon .Just a breath of wind  with a slight shimmy on the surface of the bay.
Surprisingly there wasn’t too many boats at the ramp.The snapper closure must  have kept a lot of people at home. 
We had all the pots pre baited, and half of them fully assembled  before hitting the water so it only took about 40 minutes and we’d set all  8 pots and were back at the ramp .
Whilst giving the boat and trailer a wash , we heard about a pod of humpbacks out near Harries - pity I would have taken time out to go whale watching.
Anyways ,Went back this morning , launched at Raby Bay again , this time the bay was like a sheet of glass - glorious day !
Pulled the pots in quick time and went home with 20 nice full sandies. 
So for the next few days we’ll be feasting out on the back patio on a few ginger beers and sand crab sandwiches …… someone’s got to do it !!!