GregN70

I’ve not caught any more fish that I would have with an anchor 

I have a Motorguide on my creek boat. The only gizmos that I use or think is valuable are:
Spot Lock, works really well, unless you are under a bridge and it can't see the satellites, mine lost its connections, got confused & took off on me, crashed hard into a bridge pylon.
Jog Feature to move in steps 1.5m, I love this when you just need to adjust to get the right spot
I tried using the heading feature when trolling for barra, but it's useless. It's meant to keep you going on the same heading, but ended wiggling my way across the flats like a drunk was in control.
THe others i cant find any use for

Not even 1.

I have a Motorguide on my creek boat. The only gizmos that I use or think is valuable are:
Spot Lock, works really well, unless you are under a bridge and it can't see the satellites, mine lost its connections, got confused & took off on me, crashed hard into a bridge pylon.
Jog Feature to move in steps 1.5m, I love this when you just need to adjust to get the right spot
I tried using the heading feature when trolling for barra, but it's useless. It's meant to keep you going on the same heading, but ended wiggling my way across the flats like a drunk was in control.
THe others i cant find any use for

I have a Motorguide on my creek boat. The only gizmos that I use or think is valuable are:
Spot Lock, works really well, unless you are under a bridge and it can't see the satellites, mine lost its connections, got confused & took off on me, crashed hard into a bridge pylon.
Jog Feature to move in steps 1.5m, I love this when you just need to adjust to get the right spot
I tried using the heading feature when trolling for barra, but it's useless. It's meant to keep you going on the same heading, but ended wiggling my way across the flats like a drunk was in control.
THe others i cant find any use for

Thanks Greg ... that is a great idea and I think that will be the way for us to go as well. I will have to start eating icecream! We havnt put the pots in the water since April and we only got 3 over a 3 day period ... better than none! We did catch plenty of fish though so all was not lost. 

I agree up to a point. My fishing this year has been so crap Im beginning to unenjoy it. Like loving to play cricket but getting beaten by ten wickets every week. And being in Brisbane compounds it because it's not like I get away from everything when everyone is getting away from everything at the same time and in the same place. 

I always have a look over the water as i cross the highway bridge and there is always a boat / boats anchored up over the weekend. Surely someone is catching something.....either that or they are all out avoiding being at home??. I know for one of my mates, the major perk of crabbing and fishing as a hobby is getting out of the house.... away from errands and chores LOL.

Looking forward to my road trip next month, we will be staying at Airlie Beach for a week and then off to Port Douglas for another week. Booked a sailing trip to White Haven Beach and then two full day fishing trips from Port Douglas on the MV Norseman, plus a snorkeling trip in between those trips to the McKay Cay. So I will be going through my gear and deciding what to take and what I can fit into the back of the Jeep. With any luck I might catch a few fish to take home.  Hope it doesn't turn into one of those "you should have been here last week" scenarios!😬
Been a long time coming, so really hoping the weather is good and all goes well.😀

No, not unless you go out to the Swains which is a few hundred KM out to sea, to far for my 5.8m. I've not caught a Spanish Mack and have been trying for 3 decades now, tried here a lot but the water quality is usually too poor and to shallow for them, not much if any bait around either. might have to wait till I move back to SEQ to snare one. Much better fishing around Brisbane than Yeppoon.

I really like Schoolie Mackerel, used to catch plenty from anywhere around the Bribie blinker, out to the Bird Cage, 4 Beacons etc. Good fighters, good to eat, what's not to like.
However now that I live and fish out of Yeppoon, these are no longer really an option for me, i've managed to get just one of a few years of trying.
Can't wait to move back to Brisbane/SEQ area for the fantastic fishing there.

I really like Schoolie Mackerel, used to catch plenty from anywhere around the Bribie blinker, out to the Bird Cage, 4 Beacons etc. Good fighters, good to eat, what's not to like.
However now that I live and fish out of Yeppoon, these are no longer really an option for me, i've managed to get just one of a few years of trying.
Can't wait to move back to Brisbane/SEQ area for the fantastic fishing there.

Yep, they're fun to catch. They play up a bit especially on a pillie.

I really like Schoolie Mackerel, used to catch plenty from anywhere around the Bribie blinker, out to the Bird Cage, 4 Beacons etc. Good fighters, good to eat, what's not to like.
However now that I live and fish out of Yeppoon, these are no longer really an option for me, i've managed to get just one of a few years of trying.
Can't wait to move back to Brisbane/SEQ area for the fantastic fishing there.

Jump on YouTube and look up Old Fart Fishing, he's got a lot of vids catching fish in the creeks and river around mackay, should give you a few tips as to spots, plenty of landmarks to go off etc

Well I've been pondering for the past 6 or so months about getting back into boating. The Bay is appealing to me and some of the more recent reports have had me keener and keener.
I first of all thought about re-powering The Force but that fell by the wayside as a bad idea pretty quickly. I set a budget and started looking around but couldn't find anything quite like I wanted (except for @Cobiaaddict 's rig but that well smashed the budget). All the boats I liked were double my budget. I kept a few Gumtree and Ebay tabs open and kept looking at them for the last 3 weeks. I dropped a couple of hints to the Trouble and Strife a few times.
Last Saturday I could stand it no longer. I told Michelle I needed to double the budget to get what I wanted and she was happy with that. I wanted to keep it to myself so I could surprise a couple of mates by turning up to West End for a 'pussy' session with the new rig. I  needed to lean on someone to whittle down my list, so in the end I gave @benno573 a call and we bumped it down to 2 then back to 4 then the top prospect was identified at Mermaid waters. 2 of the others were at Yamanto and Maryborough.
Benno and I went for a look on the weekend and I came to an agreement on price with the bloke.
We settled today and now I'm the proud owner of a Quintrex Escape 470 powered by a 60hp 4 stroke Merc. It has a step thru section to the anchor which will help my dodgy back pulling the thing in when on a loner trip. Alas when I'm with anyone else they will be MY deckie for a change so I won't have to pull anchor.
I owe a few friends from AFO a lot of trips from over the years and look forward to the payback.
I've named her Ellicatch.
Here she is.

 

 

 

 

Jump on YouTube and look up Old Fart Fishing, he's got a lot of vids catching fish in the creeks and river around mackay, should give you a few tips as to spots, plenty of landmarks to go off etc

Jump on YouTube and look up Old Fart Fishing, he's got a lot of vids catching fish in the creeks and river around mackay, should give you a few tips as to spots, plenty of landmarks to go off etc

Just saw this on News.com.au
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/manufacturing/australian-fishing-reel-brand-forced-to-close-after-102-years-amid-drastic-price-hikes/news-story/63caad4108d0191fc1da4a3269ae64c4

Before I moved to Central Queensland, I lived in Adelaide, Nth NSW & Brisbane area. Fishing from a young age, I had exceptional success in those areas, always catching amazing fish, winning fishing club awards, photos in fishing mags, fish in the freezer always etc. Then when I moved to Yeppoon it was like a tap was turned off, I could not catch anything. I started to throw more time and money at it thinking I just need to learn more about this spot, go further, use a better sounder, and go every day off I have etc. But that didn't help either, 2 nice boats in the shed brimming with technology and gear, 100kms offshore hunting for new untouched grounds, upset wife as i was hardly ever home on the weekend. Over a couple of years of doing this with only maybe 2 or 3 legal fish on the board, i started to doubt myself, I started to feel cursed, i started to feel useless and that it was just me that was useless. I ended up just giving up on the fishing and started just drinking and staring at my boats in disgust. I broke a few rods in anger and frustration and yelled a lot, had a cry.
Went to the doctors, got diagnosed with depression, got on some meds and did some cognitive behaviour therapy. Changed my thinking, I got back into fishing about 18 months ago, I do like you say, I go boating, take the wife and daughter now. I still don't really catch anything, but I can handle those negative aspects or Cons much better and try not take it to heart anymore like i did. Eventually one day I might catch some good fish consistently. That mostly involves moving to a better fishing area, which will happen in the next couple of years hopefully. Until then I will go boating and if i catch something great, if not it's also great.

Good work!

We have been out catching a few tailor after school on the weekdays around Runaway Bay. No big fish but legal fish for the most part. It's handy to just duck down to get a feed in the afternoon and be back in time for dinner. We just used the usual old school approach of small pillies on gangs, mono and Alvey's. The approach has worked for me for 30+ years and shows no signs of stopping and no need to overcomplicate things. 
 
 

Oh nice Bob9863, crabbing in Northern NSW was like that too. The biggest crabs ive ever seen, and very abundant. Especially Wooli River. 2kg Bucks, 20cm across the back were the norm, not the exception.

Man when I lived in Darwin I had some brilliant mud crab spots. 
Used to bring in a haul of em and eat 2-3 each for a meal. Big big buggers too, take a finger or toe off if your not careful tying the claws. 

My family love seafood. So we eat a lot of Basa. I probably but 1kg per week. Sometimes hoki as well when on special.
When we lived in Brisbane & NSW, I used to get a stacks of crabs, both sandys and muddies. The family, got used to a good feed of crabs once a month or so.
But up here in this Yeppoon area, there are very few crabs anywhere. Sand crabs are super rare, and mud crabs aren't much better.
We now keep a crab feed to a once a year special when I buy 3 or so from the FishO for easter or Christmas. Really miss the great crabs of Toorbul & Donnybrook, it's just to easy to get a feed there.