Towknee

I'm heading out tomorrow with @Kat, but will selflessly leave the weekend for the workers.

Hi Hamish,
Watching fishing on YouTube is about all I watch as I wait for the NRL to start up. Have plenty that I watch, two I can add to the list are. 
Sammy Hitszke Fishing videos. As they well made & mostly local to South East QLD. 
Pelagic Pursuit is another who does most of his videos on the reef up north.
I follow Team Mad Mullet also. 

I’ve only used gumtree in the same manner as the old paper trading post. 
I believe Evay bought Gumtree a while back, so I guess that is why it is setting up PayPal. 

I’ve only used gumtree in the same manner as the old paper trading post. 
I believe Evay bought Gumtree a while back, so I guess that is why it is setting up PayPal. 

Hey All, 
Been a while since I have posted about a fishing trip,  Been heaps slack,  not doing much fishing since around late September and with work being very hectic found myself with barely any time to get on the water.  
Left the ramp early around 4am Australia Day morning headed for some ground south of Cape Moreton with intentions of Chasing a Black Marlin & maybe a offshore snapper if they wanted play the game .  Good run across the Northern Bay in the dark although very shallow in a few areas causing some detours around some white water 😞. 
Anchored up around 545am ish in some wonderful conditions ,  1st few baits we had some mac tuna hammering our floating baits  which helped wake us up and get the blood pumping . 
After deploying some burley and the mac tuna thankfully going away - I was up first with a good hook up on what felt like a nice snapper,  only to pull the hooks  - I quickly retied a new hook on and put another bait out and instantly hooked up to what I called a good snapper - this thing went super hard for the structure and had me in the bottom for a few tense moments,
Bit of rod work and up came a nice size Jew.  around the 9kg mark,  which was released to fight another day.   Kept at is for about another 15mins with a few runs and a few bust ups, 
My mate hooked a good fish which ended up being a nice spangle emperor around 6kg mark and despatched quickly to the esky, I was up again this time with a nice snapper around 5kg which went in the ice slurry as well. another 10mins past and I was blown away 2 more times on 40lb O/head gear with not much else I could do , felt like a passenger holding a fishing rod. re-rigged again, wound the drag up on the Talica 16 and sent another bait back in the burley trail but not as far back to the structure as normal and stopped it , let is float there in the current for a bit and the it started screaming off, this fish was no where near the caliber of the of beast from previous hook ups but still good,  bit of a tussle and up popped a nice snapper around 5kg - it went straight to esky also,  Seems I was on I fire with hook up and the deckie not getting a single bite.  I put another bait out and locked the rod in the holder set ready to go again. 
I decided to chuck a bit of sunscreen on as the sun was coming out from behind the clouds and was heating up,  whilst doing this my rod screamed of again. I asked the deckie to grab this one and sort it out ,  this fish fought well and in no time  I slid the next under a nice snapper around 5-6kg . Straight to the esky he went.  
By this stage is was getting to around 8am and we started hearing some radio chatter about Marlin to the North of us around the Caloundra Wide area. So we rigged up out last baits set them back around similar distance and I started cleaning all the boat up and the deckie started getting the trolling rods ready , after about 10mins stuffing around ,  my rod went absolutely nuts.  locked it into gear and I was howling - got to work on pretty quick and went hard trying to turn this around. This thing played stale mate and ran hard along the bottom and literality pulling me to the back corner of the boat - Unsure if this was an even bigger Jew or snapper, once I had him coming up I started playing it safe and let my rod do the work. Deckie was on the net & ready and done a top job getting this bad boy in the boat - PB for me for Spangled Emporer going 8kg on Popey's scales last night.
From there we headed North Trolling for Marlin managing to hook one out off Caloundra around 11.30am. Jumped off pretty quick,  pretty happy to get a bite considering my 1st attempt ever at trolling for marlin.. 
Headed for home around 1pm in nice conditions.  
Few pics below 
Cheers Josh <><
 
 
 
 

Hi all
Comp starting in two days! Exciting! Get the wire traces and hopefully some toothy faces ready to be entered! 🙂 
Cheers Hamish
P.S. It's not looking good for me. No eel, not much mullet. Not many bullies biting at the local park! 😱

No worries at all. 
Good to see it get some use & free up some floor space in the shed. 

Good job Hamish.  Now you have your wheels sorted less driving for me!  

Hi all
On Boxing Day, my family decided that we would go to Esk for a couple nights as a nice little camping trip. It was in the back of our minds for a while, but this decision was very quickly made. We packed our bags, and after loading the yak and the  5 x pushies on the car we set off. A loud drive with my siblings arguing (and me too) was had, but eventually we got to the Esk Caravan Park in the mid arvo. We pitched the nine man tent (it works great @ellicat), and set up our camp. After about an hour and a half our camp was set, so we went for a little ride.
We then had dinner, which consisted of left over Christmas ham and salad. Mum went to her motel room (what kind of person books a motel room on a CAMPING trip!) and Dad and my siblings (and me) went back to camp. We read our books for a bit, but then went off to bed nice and early.
The following morning we were all up nice and early, and after a bit of time we went for a ride on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail. We did this for a bit under an hour, but then complaining from my brother was too relentless so he got his way and we set back to camp  It was a nice big track, and was good to get outdoors for a ride. 
The next significant part of the trip was going to Somerset Dam. We had the yak loaded on the roof, and I knew there would be some ski lice there... It was a nice drive up and around, but when we got there, it was absolutely disgusting how many jetskis and water ski boats there were. Probably about 200, and that's all I could see! They were all doing the same thing, just taking their boats up, and doing whatever in it. You wouldn't want to be out in a yak in that, which is for sure!
Everyone was rather disappointed, so we looked up on Google maps for other water access. There was a river crossing somewhere four minutes away (I do not recall the name) so we drove there. It was the Upper, Upper Brisbane River, I believe up from Wivenhoe but below the Ski Boat Central at Somerset. It wasn't exactly full, but Dad and I trekked right over to the other side to fish in a bit of water. I had a spinnerbait on the overhead reel. It goes great on the new Shimano Cranx Rod I got for Chrissy.  
I did one cast, then another, than another. All up, I covered pretty much the whole body of water (not big by any means) in about 20 casts. Seeing as though everyone else was waiting we had to get back to the car quick. I didn't even know if you could catch fish in there, but now I can say that I have fished in a puddle officially  

Fishing away
Quick Stats:
Weather: Sunny, little breeze
Tackle Used: 15lb and 20lb braid mainline and fluorocarbon leader, a golden spinnerbait, Diawa Mag ci4 reel, Shimano Cranx Baitcast rod.
Fish Caught: 1xSquat all
We got back to camp and all ate dinner at the Red Deer Cafe. It was delicious, and we still had left over Trifle for desert, Yummo!)  The next morning was to be our fishing time. We decided to hit Wivenhoe (only ten mintues away) and got ready for an early departure. Permits were purchased over the phone, kayak and rods were ready, and the alarm was set. We woke up a bit before four thirty, and set off to get to the dam.  My dad had found a possible launching spot, so once we got to that road (Paddy Gully I believe) we drove. Then, we found a sign saying,
"PRIVATE PROPERTY! NO ENTRY!".
That was disappointing, so we headed on to Hays Landing Boat Ramp. We were there a bit after five, and I believe we were in the water at around 5:30AM. The water was so low the boat ramp was blocked off unfortunately, so we had to carry/drag the yak over some long reeds to get down to the water. 

Lovely Sunrise
I had a spinnerbait and my dad had a green, deep diver on. We fished the bank the same side as the ramp at first, or at least in that area. We would cast out, then do different retrieves each time. After about 20 minutes of nothing here, we moved spots to the other side. On paddling over, we noticed that it was full of life with everything surfacing everywhere. We found out some were turtles as we kept seeing their heads poke up, and after some more casts we still got nothing around here.
Now, we paddled out to the middle of the little cove of water. There were lungfish surfacing everywhere, and we kept seeing their backs going out of the water. Then, we saw this weird thing. It had a rectangular head, not a snout... Kind of like a mega eel. He went back down, and we figured it wasn't a turtle, so if anyone may have an idea what it might be it would be appreciated. Lungy?
My dad was reeling in  as I was looking away, than I heard the sound of line screaming. I turned around and asked what was happening, and I got the response, "I'M ON!". This brought excitement to the yak, and it was only about quarter past six at this point. He asked if I wanted to wind it in, but I let him go for it. If he got it up it would be his first fish on a hardbody. First before me! 
The fish kept running away, and it didn't want to stop. After about 3 minutes of back and forth, Dad got him up. We saw the leader, hoping for a big Aussie Bass... Then, all our hopes were crushed. Guess what surfaced? A 60-70CM Forky. . We didn't even bother bringing him into the yak, and I just paddled us to the bank. I gave dad the pliers and he got the lure out of it's gob, then we let him back. He went through the reads after a nasty shove with the paddle, which I believe it deserved. 

Noooo!
We did about another hour of casting, in the same spot and different spots, as well as some trolling. I changed lures to a smaller spinnerbait, but still could not manage anything. We trolled back to the ramp and had no touches to whole way which was disappointing. There was a South-African fellow (we could tell from his accent) back at the ramp who said he catches many catfish here. He was putting his yak in, but I could only assume it would be boiling with the sun coming up. We packed up the gear into the car and said bye-bye to Wivenhoe. 
Quick Stats:
Weather: Sunny, no breeze
Fish Caught: Forky x 1
Tackle Used: 12lb and 15lb braid mainlines, 20lb leaders, deep diving hardbodies and spinnerbaits, Abu Garcia Veritas on Diawa Shinboi 2500, Shimano Cranx  rod, Diawa ci4 Baitcaster reel
Time Fished: About 5:30AM-7:30AM 
Back at camp, we went for another ride on the trail, and then it was time to pack everything away. We were out by eleven, and we had a slight detour to go to the Condensery at Toogoolawah . An interesting story behind this; it was the first place to make Condensed Milk in Australia, Nestle stuff, and was a massive factory with the train going by. It had burned down in '51 I believe, and the remaining building was refurbed and in 2015 was made and opened into a museum. It has some nice art in there, but I noticed it was all by the same people (Christine Chapman and some other fella) and all for sale. We left after some food, and had to go back to the Caravan Park to pick up a left behind dog collar, and then set off home.

Help me!
We got home and unpacked, which was nice. Overall, I think it was a nice little spot for a couple nights. Good facilities, wide range of accommodation, and a couple things to do nearby. Esk Caravan Park. Now, I'm trying to convince Mum and Dad to take us to Tallebudgera Caravan Park, so we can try for some whiting, flatties, breambo, and Jack's under the big bridge. 
I hope you enjoyed the report everyone. Thanks for reading!
Cheers Hamish

After a couple of trips with no Mackerel, finally managed to be in the right place at the right time. Got a couple of reports of people bagging out on Wednesday morning so shot out to Palm Beach reef this morning. Started a little slow but the switch was flicked at 6 with a crazy bite for an hour with boats all round hooking up. We managed 7 Spotties in the boat to 90cm and lost even more. Most came from float lining and a couple from spinning. Nice way to finish a crazy year!

Marty

Hi Hamish,
As always, informative report. Great to see your efforts pay off! Bet he put up a great fight for you. 

I got to try Threadfin for the first time when a mate caught one in the Fitzroy river. Very tasty indeed! 
cheers,
Tow Knee

Hi Hamish,
As always, informative report. Great to see your efforts pay off! Bet he put up a great fight for you. 

I got to try Threadfin for the first time when a mate caught one in the Fitzroy river. Very tasty indeed! 
cheers,
Tow Knee

Hi Hamish,
As always, informative report. Great to see your efforts pay off! Bet he put up a great fight for you. 

I got to try Threadfin for the first time when a mate caught one in the Fitzroy river. Very tasty indeed! 
cheers,
Tow Knee

I have one. 
I really like it especially if you have a busy boat as it completely stops all the tangles with other rods and lines. I had it up at the reef where there were about 15 rods out and it never caused a problem. 
The downside IMHO is that they are very stiff so not as pleasant to use as a normal floppy glass rod but, again IMHO, not getting any of the tangles and the little hooks in the fingers far out ways this. 
I find that small reels with mono on them are best to pair with them. You are only catching bait so line capacity and drag are not a factor. A cheap 3000 type reel is great. 

I have one, bought from the tackle shop in Sandgate.
great rod particularly for the boat as stops all those little hooks getting stuck in the carport! 

ive found when using from the jetty the friction from the rod causes you to use a bigger sinker than normal.
Buy one, you’ll have no regrets! 

I have one, bought from the tackle shop in Sandgate.
great rod particularly for the boat as stops all those little hooks getting stuck in the carport! 

ive found when using from the jetty the friction from the rod causes you to use a bigger sinker than normal.
Buy one, you’ll have no regrets! 

I have one, bought from the tackle shop in Sandgate.
great rod particularly for the boat as stops all those little hooks getting stuck in the carport! 

ive found when using from the jetty the friction from the rod causes you to use a bigger sinker than normal.
Buy one, you’ll have no regrets! 

I have one, bought from the tackle shop in Sandgate.
great rod particularly for the boat as stops all those little hooks getting stuck in the carport! 

ive found when using from the jetty the friction from the rod causes you to use a bigger sinker than normal.
Buy one, you’ll have no regrets! 

I have one, bought from the tackle shop in Sandgate.
great rod particularly for the boat as stops all those little hooks getting stuck in the carport! 

ive found when using from the jetty the friction from the rod causes you to use a bigger sinker than normal.
Buy one, you’ll have no regrets! 

I have one, bought from the tackle shop in Sandgate.
great rod particularly for the boat as stops all those little hooks getting stuck in the carport! 

ive found when using from the jetty the friction from the rod causes you to use a bigger sinker than normal.
Buy one, you’ll have no regrets! 

So my 2020 goals were (thanks for the link Hamish)
 


 
1. Catch a nice feed of tailor with my Son
2. Take my old man on a successful mackerel session in the bay
3. Explore the bay more
4. Catch a long tail tuna
5. My son catches a flathead
so I achieved item 5 which was a memorable day. 
 
This year I upgraded the boat, so can sneak a bit further so I’ll keep items 1-4 and add an extra. Catch a dolphin fish! 

So my 2020 goals were (thanks for the link Hamish)
 


 
1. Catch a nice feed of tailor with my Son
2. Take my old man on a successful mackerel session in the bay
3. Explore the bay more
4. Catch a long tail tuna
5. My son catches a flathead
so I achieved item 5 which was a memorable day. 
 
This year I upgraded the boat, so can sneak a bit further so I’ll keep items 1-4 and add an extra. Catch a dolphin fish! 

So my 2020 goals were (thanks for the link Hamish)
 


 
1. Catch a nice feed of tailor with my Son
2. Take my old man on a successful mackerel session in the bay
3. Explore the bay more
4. Catch a long tail tuna
5. My son catches a flathead
so I achieved item 5 which was a memorable day. 
 
This year I upgraded the boat, so can sneak a bit further so I’ll keep items 1-4 and add an extra. Catch a dolphin fish! 

So my 2020 goals were (thanks for the link Hamish)
 


 
1. Catch a nice feed of tailor with my Son
2. Take my old man on a successful mackerel session in the bay
3. Explore the bay more
4. Catch a long tail tuna
5. My son catches a flathead
so I achieved item 5 which was a memorable day. 
 
This year I upgraded the boat, so can sneak a bit further so I’ll keep items 1-4 and add an extra. Catch a dolphin fish! 

So my 2020 goals were (thanks for the link Hamish)
 


 
1. Catch a nice feed of tailor with my Son
2. Take my old man on a successful mackerel session in the bay
3. Explore the bay more
4. Catch a long tail tuna
5. My son catches a flathead
so I achieved item 5 which was a memorable day. 
 
This year I upgraded the boat, so can sneak a bit further so I’ll keep items 1-4 and add an extra. Catch a dolphin fish!