Towknee

I’ve used it a few times for the boat only. I think it’s worth the money. 
Saves a chunk of time. 

If you like the car I’d be spending the couple of grand and get a few more years out of it. my old man is a motor mechanic and just retired, he said they do big kms with little issues. Thanks 

I’ve been thinking it’s time to get a vehicle that tows the boat a bit better. I use our Subaru Forrester which towed my old tinny really well (would of been around 700kg). 
but the new boat is around 1200kg and I wouldn’t do long tow trips with it. 
Currently not that keen to buy a new or near new car & have been thinking of a falcon or ford territory. 

If you like the car I’d be spending the couple of grand and get a few more years out of it. my old man is a motor mechanic and just retired, he said they do big kms with little issues. Thanks 

I’ve been thinking it’s time to get a vehicle that tows the boat a bit better. I use our Subaru Forrester which towed my old tinny really well (would of been around 700kg). 
but the new boat is around 1200kg and I wouldn’t do long tow trips with it. 
Currently not that keen to buy a new or near new car & have been thinking of a falcon or ford territory. 

I recently bought two new G.Loomis rods and was keen to try them out so when today's forecast for Moreton Bay was for around 0.2 metre seas until after midday, Damon and I decided to head to our recently found spot over at Moreton to try them out. The river was calm as we headed out around dawn and things looked very promising. The calm seas continued until we got past the main shipping channel beacons but deteriorated very quickly after that. We were soon punching into a very nasty swell with cross chop and the wind was considerably stronger than the less than ten knots forecast. We decided to persevere but by the time we got to our spot the seas were probably at least a half metre of chop on top of a metre and a half swell, and very confused.
We anchored and sent some baits down with some fairly heavy lead as the run was nearly as bad as the last time we were there. The swell and chop was pretty bad and I missed a couple of decent bites but then managed to hook something that obviously had some size to it because I wasn’t gaining much line for a couple of minutes, and then it would fight for a few seconds and then just be a heavy weight in between fights. 
I started to suspect a cod at this stage, but when we finally got our first glimpse of it in the white-capping swells behind the boat my heart sank because I thought it looked like a huge sea toad. But Damon said he was sure it was a cod, and he proved to be correct when I got it to the back of the boat. It was a very nice cod. That nice, in fact, that we had considerable difficulty getting into a landing net that was way too small for it! Lol. But eventually Damon somehow manoeuvred it into the net with the tail sticking out, and brought it aboard. My very first fish on my new spinning rod, and what a great start to its fishing life!
I caught one keeper grassie after that, but we’d only been there about half an hour when I started feeling decidedly queasy. I was just about to mention this to Damon when he turned to me and exclaimed that he was feeling rather ill. The swell, chop and generally very confused sea was just too much and we quickly up anchored and started to head for home. We only made it a couple of hundred metres however before we decided it was going to be a very uncomfortable slog back to the ramp. I suggested we instead head down Moreton close in, in search of some better seas. By the time we reached the Sandhills it was considerably calmer and we headed towards Mud. By the time we were approaching Mud the seas had almost totally abated and it was much more like the predicted 0.2 metre seas than the maelstrom we had encountered at the top end of the bay. We were both feeling much better by this stage and decided to try a couple of spots on the northern side of Mud. But as usual, at least for me, Mud was reluctant to give up any of its mythical fish to us. As it was still before lunch time we decided to head to another spot we had caught a few squire at in the past. Surprisingly, this was when the day’s fishing really started. As soon as we dropped our baits down we started getting nice bites and a few decent runs. We bought a couple of grassies on board, then Damon caught a Moses Perch. It became a bit of a blur after that as we hooked fish, lost fish, boated fish, got bitten off, broken off and generally had a ball! The squire gradually got bigger. Damon boated a 38cm, followed soon after by a 43cm. Now, to us, that’s a decent squire! We high-fived each other and felt like we’d finally got the monkey off our back. Not to be out done, I soon had a good run and after a solid fight I boated a 50cm one. We kept getting big runs, often hooking up but either getting broken off on the bottom or bitten off. Whatever they were, they were biting through around 60 lb double leader just above the hook. 
Eventually I hooked something that was monstrous and peeled 30lb line on very heavy drag like it didn’t even know it was hooked. I fought this thing for at least fifteen minutes without ever sighting it, or even really getting it close to the boat. At this stage I remembered the giant turtle we had seen surfacing in the area a few times in the past hour or so, and it finally clicked that it was probably him I had hooked. He ended up breaking  me off on the bottom, and I can’t say I was totally sorry, as he had just about worn me out. The G.Loomis spinning rod had certainly got a decent workout on its first day of duty. I love it! It has a sensitive tip and heaps of grunt, with a range of 15 to 50lb! 
We decided to call it a day and headed off to the ramp, knowing we had a fair bit of work ahead, cleaning the boat and gear, and scaling and filleting fish. All in all, probably our best day in the bay so far.
 
 
 

I don’t use it as much as I used to because I am getting lazy and don’t chase live bait as often as I used to, and I have other gear that I prefer to use. I would use it bait fishing for threadies or jew. Also snapper sometimes. The threadies and jew often have a slow first run before they really take the bait, so the baitrunner function is good for not giving them too much pressure in that early run. Snapper on the other hand often just smash the bait and run and having the baitrunner engaged gives a really, really satisfying noise.

I have watched a few now on different topics. Just need weather & work to line up to actually try and put it into practice! 

I have watched a few now on different topics. Just need weather & work to line up to actually try and put it into practice! 

Nice. nearly 2 hours. I think I will watch that one with a beer... or 2 🙂
 

Hi, I’ve watched a couple of things on YouTube. This one might be helpful for looking for setting up a spread of 5 skirts. 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J_o7pubGl_k
 
 
 
 

Hi, I’ve watched a couple of things on YouTube. This one might be helpful for looking for setting up a spread of 5 skirts. 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J_o7pubGl_k
 
 
 
 

Had to get up at 2am to leave at 3am for a Bongaree ramp launch at 4.30am.
Plan was to hit a mark off Bribie and then troll and slug the northern end beacons inside Moreton. We managed to get our lines in about 5 just as the sun came up. @benno573 was first on with a little but legal Moses Perch and a 33 grassie. I managed to just break the donut with a penny sized squire that I didn't know I had on. Haha
We then trolled across to the beacons but couldn't raise a smile. The conditions were a little sloppy, so we decided to head back closer to Bribie where we have had success before. We were running two Laser Pros (One 2.5m/120mm and one 6m/160mm) and a slug right back. No joy here either, so Benno contacted his mate who had collected a few earlier in the week. He had got them a bit further north, so the question was put whether we go back across or just search around where we were.
We decided to head back across, this time with a trolling board and spoon as well as the two Laser Pros. No luck on the way there and a close pass to the beacon produced nothing. We were still hopeful but some doubt had crept in. We did a circle a bit wider that produced a hit and capture. Finally one in the esky. Then we continued doing large circles for eight more and one dropped beside the boat. All fish bar the last one taken on the trolling board rig. Then it was time to head back around 10.30am. Satisfied with the results, it was a good day.
Today I ticked over 200 hours in the boat since I got her nearly 18 months ago. So glad I got her.
Pics to come.

shorncliffe pier - park parade, shorncliffe
shorncliffe boat ramp - Sinbad st, Shorncliffe
baxters jetty - Allpass pde, Shorncliffe
Brighton Park (near car park) - 588 Hornibrook Highway
Brighton QLD 4017

the fishing platform halfway along the new hornibrook bridge (between Clontarf & Brighton) plus the two ends of the old bridge. 
 
 

shorncliffe pier - park parade, shorncliffe
shorncliffe boat ramp - Sinbad st, Shorncliffe
baxters jetty - Allpass pde, Shorncliffe
Brighton Park (near car park) - 588 Hornibrook Highway
Brighton QLD 4017

the fishing platform halfway along the new hornibrook bridge (between Clontarf & Brighton) plus the two ends of the old bridge. 
 
 

shorncliffe pier - park parade, shorncliffe
shorncliffe boat ramp - Sinbad st, Shorncliffe
baxters jetty - Allpass pde, Shorncliffe
Brighton Park (near car park) - 588 Hornibrook Highway
Brighton QLD 4017

the fishing platform halfway along the new hornibrook bridge (between Clontarf & Brighton) plus the two ends of the old bridge. 
 
 

Always tough this time of year! 

Thanks for taking the time and effort that you put into your post @SuperHans, but Rugby League is, and always has been, the greatest game on earth. Sure, soccer is skilful but so is solving the rubix cube. Doesn’t make it a great spectator sport though!  I like union, but it is only great at the very top level. AFL is a good game and good to watch live but nothing gets the pulse racing like a good game of league at most levels.  Each to their own I guess. 

Always tough this time of year! 

Just realised how boring Sunday afternoons can be without the footy on. Might have to risk some weekend ramp rage until the cricket starts.

I wouldn't write off Manly V Storm either.

with this weeks games have a good check of team lists, and later in the week team changes as a few of the more serious  finals bound teams will take advantage of round 25 to rest (a couple/few) key players or support players with niggling injuries
 

I had a quick look at a couple of these strategies and can’t say that I would disagree with what they are trying to achieve, which is maintaining fish stocks at sustainable levels so that fishing is rewarding in the short and long term. Of course the devil will be in the detail which will become apparent when the strategies spawn actions.  The 2 that I looked at (mudcrabs and the inshore fishery) would have the biggest impact on commercial operators because they account for the majority of the catch for most species.
Just like epidemiologists during a pandemic, I am willing to trust the marine science and comply with whatever is enacted. Not that we have a lot of choice in that anyway. We can’t complain that the fishing has dropped off and then complain when someone wants to do something about it. 

@KenDigg There were a few fish on Shorncliffe Pier yesterday. We got a feed of sand whiting, plus half a dozen bream, a blue swimmer crab and a trevally. All in the shallows on live worms and live yabbies. 

Go the Broncos! They held onto it in the end which was good to watch. Poor Reece Walsh though - missing the field goal and the extra 2 points for the tries. 

I had two great days on the water, Friday and Saturday. 
 
Friday
put the boat in at 5:15am and headed to one of the Beacons to get some live bait. The plan was to head up to Bulwer for the hope of a few tailor and a couple of Mackerel!
I ended up spending to much time chasing bait for some reason. 
Then headed to Bulwer and threw the baits out. Caught a school mackerel on a pilchard, other than that it was quiet. I should of been there 45min earlier I reckon. 
I then caught a few small squid for bait and spent a couple of hours looking for some spots. I’ve never been to mud island before so had a sound around and caught a few baby snapper. 
 
Was great conditions and would of liked another mackerel, but found a few interesting spots on the sounder. 
 
Saturday
Took my two boys and Dad out for the day, was more of a boating day than a fishing day. 
the boys had fun catching livies to start the day. They then lost patience once they scooped out the first lot of livies to set the lines. So we then mixed up fishing with site seeing, dune climbing, nature watching. 
We saw two dugongs which the boys enjoyed. 
 
 Two days in a row on the water is something I rarely get to do. 

Thanks for the heads up on what was biting!
 
 

I lost the top position! Congratulations to all who picked a perfect round!