GregN70

It was good to get a way and rexal. But I would not go there again however. It was our 4th time there, and to date not fish or redclaw to show for it. It would be nice to find a place where I could actually catch something.

Snaps definatly, as loop knots reqire you to keep cutting off bits of expensive flurocarbon leader every time you change lure. But buy good clips like the Decoy Egg Snaps.

Just spent the weekend there at Boyndale. Took 8 traps, we used rockmellon, potatop, and some dry dog food as bait. Both day & night. Only caught guppies and a small catfish. Tried for barra to, but only got 2 catfish on our lures.

Do Redclaw live in Awoonga? I've been led to believe they do but yet to see any.

No, it fell off boatside.

Did an overnight trip last Saturday in a mates boat with two others, traveled out of Yeppoon to Moresby Banks and Goodwin Shoals, 255km round trip. Picked up a tank of good live bait on the way past the islands, fished some of the easier to find marks just on dark with nothing really but a couple sharks and a big Sea-toad, then sounded about off to the North East for new ground, came up with a few new spots, a couple of interesting pinnacles in 47m rising to 40m, a good ledge that ran N-S for about 800m with a 2m variation, and a depression that is probable a wonky hole. But sadly the fish were not playing the game, managed 2 Stripys, a Hussar, and a just legal cod. And about 12 sharks, one Sting Ray and an octopus. Headed back into Yeppoon just before lunch. Perhaps on a different tide it might go better out there.

1770 is quite different to Yeppoon in many regards. This is what I've learnt having fished both places. Done pretty good at 1770 on Mackerel & Reefies. Depth for starters. To reach the 20m line out of 1770 you only need to go 1.2km E, where out of Roslyn Bay you need to go 18km E to hit that contour. The 30m contour is just 12km NE out of 1770 where Yeppoon you need to run 45km E. Then to get to the first shoals its 57km E from 1770 & around 100km ENE for Yeppoon. Also water quality at 1770 is typically better, cleaner and bluer. Yeppoon's close proximity to the extremely large and very turbid Fitzroy River means that quite often the offshore waters up to 60+km east can be adversely affected by river flow events. These river flows carry silt which for centuaries have made most of Kepple Bay shallow and with little reef areas, only rocky islands that are well known and heavily fished. The other thing I've noted is that at 1770 the current runs North->South, where off Yeppon, ive seen it now several times run South->North. It seems the East Australia Current swings in the bottom of the swains and eddies making the current east of Yeppoon run reverse direction. It may not do much but its just weird and when its like that & the bites just vanish completely. The other thing is bait is hit & miss around Yeepoon, mostly miss. No bait = no palegics. On my last trip to 1770 I watched from the hill, a massive school of bait being hammered by birds & fish just out from the headland

Nice work. Looks like ill have to head down that way. Not much going on around Yeppoon at the moment.

I see that the Fitzroy River and its lower delta gets a few Barra in it from time to time. Having never caught a Barra i thought I'd start giving it a serious go. But questing is when? I know they go quiet in the cooler months and they get more active & aggressive in the summer, but as most of summer is in the closed season, I was thinking of having a serious try for one starting next month (Sept) and going through to the start of the closed season (Nov), then recommencing when it opens again in 2020 of course. Just wondering if September/Oct is still to cold or just wait till next year?

Its a shame BCF is killing the goods small shops. Lets face it BCF has crap gear @ high prices. I never go to a BCF.

I liked moreton bay alot, plenty of good snapper that love softplastics.

It's Yeppoon, so all areas within 100km of the ramp are heavily fished.

I have a Humminbird Helix 9 Gen 2 with side & GPS.

Im staggered too, it looks fishy, but shallow, and just no bait, no birds, no activity at all. Thanks for the gps points, i have plugged all those in to the GPS already, many of them are way off and had to both locate the real reef areas and aslo hunt about and find my own lumps & bumps as well as rubble patches and a couple wonky holes around the traps.

I have a boat, a 440 Renegade with a 60 Yamaha. As for bait, when I'm around the islands and offshore i'm using good quality pilchards & squid or mullet for bottom fishing. Trolling larger baits like yellowtail pike & garfish rigged to swim naturally. Sometimes I get live baits such as scad & slimey mackerel etc and fish then under balloons, troll them live, or fish them on the bottom where i can find good reef or fish schools on the sounder. Here I use 30lb - 40lb braid, 50-60lb fluorocarbon leader In the creeks I mainly use live mullet or herring fished on 20lb braid or mono with 30-50lb fluro leader. I also spend a fair amount of time using soft plastics and other lure techniques.

I'm looking for ways to learn or suss out new areas. Not that new actually. See I've been living in Yeppoon for a bit over 24 months and despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to catch anything here as yet. Ive been to the tackle stores seeking advice, that hasn't helped a great deal, only emptied my wallet on several occasions. I've looked at charters but time off and finances hasn't really allowed. Next step is maybe a fishing club, but had a few bad experiences with fishing clubs back in the old days. Any other ideas?