AUS-BNE-FISHO

Can be like that sometimes.

Nice work Thorbjorn, seems theres been a few prawns showing up recently.

Great guide!

Thanks Brian, next time.

That's an awesome haul, nice job. Cheers Hamish

Great job @crazywalrus. Looks like great fun. I'm guessing there's not many crocs in the freshwater up there?

Thanks guys.

Hi all Once again, the last couple of days I've been out in the river trying for something decent. It hasn't been the best fishing though, but I have seen a decent variety of fish caught. The first session was last Saturday, and was at a spot I hadn't been to in a while. After arriving at about 7:50AM in the morning, I met with Michael and we got straight to cast netting. It wasn't long before we had a few herring, and we got to fishing. Andrew arrived shortly after, but the tide was roaring out making fishing slightly difficult. An bit more than an hour had passed when Michael's rod got a decent hit and he was on. A fight full of headshakes saw a 34CM squire pulled up, the first I had seen in ages. Hopefully there are a few more of these getting around as it cools down. After about another 45 minutes or so, I saw my rod getting some bites. It wasn't long before I realized I was on, so I set my drag and began pulling in the fish. It wasn't big, and I presumed it was a toad. Annoyingly, a rather fat one surfaced, so after I got the hook out I threw it back into the river and chucked another bait out. The bite was pretty patchy, but eventually after another hour or so Michael was on again. The fish was hardly fighting and gave a couple headshakes as it surfaced, so we were all pleased to see a baby thready of about 30CM. It was one of the smallest we'd ever seen, so it was released quick and thrown back into the water. After that, the bite went a bit quiet again, but it wasn't long before Andrew was hooked up to a fish. About half way through the fight, it jumped out of the water a couple times, and it was clear Andrew had a tailor on the end of the line. We eventually had it on the jetty, and it came in at 45CM. After fishing for about another hour and catching no more, we cooked up the fish and some lunch before I headed off for the arvo. Stats of Trip: Tide: 5:50AM, 2.5M, High, 12:50PM, .7M, Low Moon Phase: 31%, decreasing Air Pressure: 1005 Humidity: 72% Gear Used: I used a Shimano Baitrunner 8000 DC on a Kmart Rod, a Abu Garcia Ambassadeur on an Ugly Stik, 30 and 20 pound braid mainlines, 30 pound leader, size 4 star sinkers, barrel swivels, size 4/0 and 6/0 circle hooks. Bait Caught and Used: Herring, garfish Fish Caught: I got a toady, others caught 1 x squire, 1 x thready, 1 x tailor Overall Success Rate: 25% - a quiet day for me but a decent variety of fish caught The next day (yesterday), I was busy in the morning, but decided to go out for one last session to finish my holidays. I went to a spot nearby my home, and arrived by about 2:45PM. I didn't waste any time and got straight to cast netting as I had no deadbait to use. It took a little while, but I eventually had a couple small silver biddies and prime size mullet, which were casted out onto my line. The tide was rising, and I was hopeful of a thready. It wasn't long before I was on the first fish of the day - a catfish. After getting rid of this I ended up getting snagged on one of my lines, so I rerigged this as well and casted out another bait. The tide was getting a bit higher now and I got a few more baitfish including some mullet and gar, which were casted out in no time after being caught. The tide was starting to get a bit higher, and although I had some good livies out the bites just weren't really there. I tried repositioning one of my rods to the top walkway of the jetty with a live mullet, but this brought no fish either. As it started to get later in the day it was looking like I was going to catch no fish. Fortunately, as the tide really started pumping, a few good sized banana prawns started drifting through off the front of the jetty (on any other tide other than low, it is a really low tide at this spot). I capitalized on this opportunity, and as well as about 12 river perch (from 10-30cm), a fair few bream, a small grunter, I got about 15 good prawns and lots of herring in a short time period. There were also some anchovies getting about, so hopefully with the good bait at this jetty I'll be able to get out for an after school fish here sometime. As the prawns slowed I started focusing on the fishing, and caught another catty. As it began to get dark, I lost another rig as a catfish pulled me into a snag, and I sent out an anchovy/prawn combo and the same mullet that had been out for the whole session. As my Dad arrived I caught another catty on the anchovy/prawn bait and let the mullet go after I got it off my hook. I left at about 6:30PM, disappointed with the lack of bites. At least I have some deadbait for next time now. Stats of Trip: Tide: 2:10pm, .4m, Low, 8:00PM, 2.0M, High Moon Phase: Quite small, decreasing Humidity: 74% Air Pressure: 1004 Gear Used: I used a Shimano Symetre 4000 on a Shimano Sentire Rod, A Abu Garcia Ambassadeur on an Ugly Stik, a Shimano Baitrunner 8000DC on a Kmart Rod. 15-30 pound braid mainline, 30 pound leader, 4/o and 6/o circle hooks. Size 6 ball sinkers and 3 barrel sinkers. Bait Caught and Used: Live herring, mullet, prawns, anchovies, silver biddy Fish Caught: Catfish x 3 Overall Success Rate: 25% - got some bait Thanks for reading, Cheers Hamish

Good to hear that you'll be back fishing soon Josh, hope the new boat is great!

Thanks guys, next time I'll keep the mullet for bait.

Awesome job @kmcrosby78, that is a great session! Would’ve been lots of fun. Cheers Hamish

I try to get the most reasonably priced combo that will still do the job but also be pleasant to use, personally the most expensive combo I have is worth about $400. People spend thousands on their hobbies so there’s no reason you can’t spend that much on fishing gear!

Good work Brian, that’s a quality session.

Hi all This report will be about my last two sessions in the Brisbane River, on yesterday and today. The first session was at my local park, and was just a quick midday session to see if anything was getting around. The second session was at a new spot in the lower reaches of the river, targeting threadies and jew. Neither were particularly successful, but anyways: I arrived at the park at about quarter past 12, and having no dead bait got straight to cast netting. The tide was low and rising, and after what felt like an eternity of casts (about 30 minutes of netting), I got three small scat. Sensing that it might be a slow day on the bait, I chucked one of these out on each rod. I got back to netting though, and after about another half hour, a few bait checks, and plenty of casts I caught a rather large bony bream. Because it was a bit big for a livie, I chopped it up and used it as two different baits. After that, I gave the net a throw for a bit longer, but eventually my arms got tired and I just sat down and watched the baits. After several checks and repositionings, the bony bream remained untouched, and at about 2:15PM I decided to call it a day and get home to prep for the next days fishing. Stats of Trip: Tide: 11:00AM, .7M, Low, 4:45PM, 1.5M, High Moon Phase: Third quarter, decreasing, not heaps of run. Bait Used: Live scat, half bony bream Bait Caught: Bony bream, scat Fish Caught: - Tackle Used: Shimano Symetre 4000 on Shimano Sentire 5-9KG, Shimano Stradic 3000 on Shimano Raider 4-7KG, Shimano Baitrunner DC 8000 on Kmart Rod. Braid and mono mainlines used with 15 and 30 pound mono leaders. 6 and 3 ball sinkers, 4/o and 6/o suicide and circle hooks. Air Pressure: 998 - really low so could explain lack of fish activity Humidity: 39% Overall Success Rate: 15% - pretty dismal session Today, I woke up early but decided I felt like a bit of a sleep in so settled for the 7:10AM ferry from Riverside. I made it easily, and was at my chosen spot for livies sometime a bit past eight. Luckily, even though the tide was already a bit low, I managed to get a mix of silver biddies, herring, and ponyfish, and one large mullet which I released. I then walked the ten or so minutes to my main fishing spot, which I had all to myself. The two combos I was using were my Shimano Aero baitrunner on a Penn surf rod, and a Shimano Baitrunner DC on a Kmart rod. I had one with a running star sinker rig and the other with a paternoster rig. Back to the session - I deployed my baits and by 9AM I was fishing and waiting for something big to come by. Apart from a heap of large sea mullet busting up, there was no fishy action to be seen, and I was starting to think it might just be a quiet day. There isn't much to do at this spot as the bank is too rocky to risk cast netting, but there is a shade sail that makes it quite bearable to sit and wait for a bite. This is exactly what I did, and it wasn't long before one of the reels was screaming off into the depths of the river. I waited until the run slowed and set the hook, but shortly into the fight I figured I was onto a ray. My suspicions were confirmed, unfortunately, and a big ray of at least 1M width emerged from the blue water. Luckily, it was on the paternoster rig, and it managed to bite me off just at the hook. It was a better outcome than lifting the fish onto the rocks and trying to get the hook back from it's guts. I deployed another bait, and despite my best efforts, including downsizing the sinkers to a six ball and even smaller as the tide slowed, I could not muster up a bite from a decent fish. By about 11, a father and son rocked up for a quick fish, and the son promptly brought in a tiny tailor on his first cast. I continued to soak my livies though, and a little before midday my surf rod went screaming off again. I could tell it was another ray from early on in the fight, but that didn't stop me having a fun five or so minute fight, eventually ending when I locked the drag up and clambered down onto the rocks to set the stingray free. After that, I had lost all my baits and seeing as though I have something on this arvo/tonight I left. Stats of Trip: Tide: 4:25AM, 2.5M, High, 11:30AM, .8M, Low. Moon Phase: 39.5%, decreasing, not much run Bait Caught and Used: Herring, biddies, ponyfish Fish Caught: 2 x stingray Tackle Used: Shimano Aero 6000 Baitrunner on Penn Surf Rod, 30 pound braid mainline and leader, Shimano Baitrunner DC 8000 on Kmart Rod, 30 pound mono straight through. Size 4 star sinkers, size 6 ball sinkers, size 2 teardrop sinkers, 4/o and 6/o circle hooks. Notes: Clearly it is the mullet run at the moment as there were mullet busting up from Teneriffe all the way downstream constantly for the time I was fishing. There was a massive school of at least 50 too, some of which would've been 50cm long, swimming around nearby while I was fishing. Air Pressure: 1003 Humidity: 57% Overall Success Rate: 20% - tried a new spot at least. 5D3CBBF5-6FD7-41A5-8A6A-97FA304E2F65.MOV Short video of mullet. Thanks for reading, Cheers Hamish

It definitely would’ve. Benno made a prediction on the success rate and it was pretty accurate. Obviously, I couldn’t have him getting it exactly right though .

Good work Dino.

Are there crocs in the Boyne River too?

Thanks Brett. Thanks Brian. Sure is Neil. My Uncle always used to say the same thing about Westerlies. No worries Charlie, it was a fun arvo for sure.

Thanks Brett. Thanks Damo, cod is definitely delicious. Thanks Neil. Cheers Angry, it’s a shame the lures weren’t a bit more successful. Kat, it was on the second last day and seeing as though we already had the crab I didn’t think we’d be able to finish it before we went back home (we didn’t have any way to get it back home keeping it frozen). Cod are definitely tasty and if I had gotten a smaller one it probably would’ve come home for dinner. Cheers Rebel. Thanks Steve. It was the biggest crab I’ve caught. Cheers Charlie. Thanks Wazza.

Great job.

Looks like a silver biddy.

Thanks Angry. We caught lots, just not quite the right size.

Hi all Two Tuesday's ago, my family (except @Cavvy) headed up to Yeppoon for a holiday. After managing to get my rods through the airport, we arrived at Rocky and were at my grandmas by mid arvo. I rigged up two rods, one light one and one heavy one, in preparation for a session fishing the run through tide at Causeway Lake the next morning. First Day Fishing - Wednesday Morning Session: I got the earliest bus I could to the Causeway Lake and was casting my net by about 6:40AM, where I could only manage a couple of mullet. This didn't matter though, and I deployed my heavy rod with one, casting out into the main current with an unweighted hook. It wasn't long before the bridge was pretty packed, and myself and one of my fishing mates from Brisbane who was also in Rocky/Yeppoon at the time went for a cast net. We could hardly catch anything, and the water in the lake was a dirty tea color which apparently isn't the best for fishing there. We eventually managed a few glassies, ponyfish, and maybe even a couple poddy mullet too - I deployed one of the smaller things we had caught on my light rod, and it wasn't long before I had caught my first fish of the trip, a little Moses Perch. I caught a couple more of these with the bait that we had caught, but no one was getting any big fish on the bridge. After another hour or so, Andrew and I chose to move spots as we had no bait left and there just didn't seem to be any big fish cruising around. We had a quick cast off a boat ramp where I caught a just legal bream (released) and then went to the harbor for a quick cast netting session, where we ended up with a couple herring but no fish. Arvo Session: That arvo, I decided to go for a fish in Ross Creek targeting flatties on the low tide. I arrived about an hour before the low, and proceeded to start flicking my 4 inch grub around the opposite bank. I was mainly focusing my efforts on the narrow channel on the upstream side of the bridge, and I was a bit apprehensive about going up too far in case I got cut off by the tide. For a good while, I did not get a touch, before half way through one of my retrieves I hooked up. Unfortunately, it was no flatty, and a small longtom emerged. I released this and continued fishing, but with no more luck I called it an arvo after about 2 hours fishing. Longtom Second Day Fishing - Thursday Morning Session: Once again, I was on the bus to try my luck at the Causeway, fishing the run through tide. I met with Andrew and we did some cast netting, but had a similar success rate to the previous day. Luckily, I had a bit of deadbait, and used this on my light rod while some better baits soaked on my heavy rod. That morning, I managed the normal myriad of pickers on my light line including perch and cod. After fishing for about an hour and a half though, I hooked a slightly more formidable opponent, which was playing out quite well on 8 pound line. A bit under a minute after the hookup and a few small runs, I had a little GT on the bridge, which I threw back after a photo as it was a bit small to eat. After fishing for a bit longer and getting no more bites, nor seeing any big fish landed except a couple 50CM barracudas, Andrew and I called it quits for the morning. Small Trev Arvo Session: That arvo, I was back at Ross Creek fishing for flatties yet again. Based on some information I'd received the prior arvo, it turns out you could walk up a fair ways without having any risk of getting trapped by the tide, so that's what Andrew and I did. We walked up the creek until it was too muddy to keep going, and after a bad snag where I lost my lure and leader I was onto a 3 inch Holt Swimprawn. I flicked this around the opposite bank for about 20 minutes, and eventually I felt a hit and hooked up in the middle of the creek. After a few headshakes I got the first fish of the day, a small flatty that might've been legal. I didn't bother measuring it though, and flicked him back into the creek. We continued fishing our lures, and after I lost my Holt Prawn to another snag I put on a prerigged Squigdy paddletail. Eventually, after another hour or so of fishing, we ended up at the bridge, where I had a few more casts. On my last cast, I snagged up my lure, but managed to get it back and on the retrieve I hooked up to a longtom. It managed to get off just before I landed it but it was good to have some action on lures that arvo. Flatty Third Day Fishing - Good Friday Morning Session: On Good Friday, I was planning to walk to the Causeway, but luckily I was up late enough that my Mum agreed to drive me. There was another run through and a fair few people there again, so Andrew and I left our gear on the bridge and went to catch livebait. After about 20 minutes of not much, Andrew got a few poddy mullet in his net, and we decided to start fishing. Initially, the bite was pretty slow, and after a baby cod and perch I was out of small deadbaits. A couple of our livies were snipped by barracudas, and on my first cast I had actually watched quite a large one (atleast 90cm) come and eat a small Moses Perch off my line as I pulled it in. We continued fishing though, and I managed to find a old ponyfish on the bridge which I casted out on my light rod. With this, I hooked up to another trevally, which was a bit bigger than yesterday. It gave a decent fight, and once I got it on the bridge I made a trade with the Causeway Legend Les for a couple live mullet. I ended up having a (likely) barracuda eating my livie, and it snipped me off. Bugger. I kept fishing for a bit longer, and watched a couple small barracudas get caught, as well as a decent 50cm or so queenie. When the run through finished though, I called it quits for the morning, heading home ready for another arvo session flicking lures. Another trev Arvo Session: There isn't much to say about my trip that arvo - I met up with Andrew again and we walked up to the same spot as the day before. Unfortunately, I couldn't escape the snags, and donated five different plastics to the creek, all for one hit on a 3.2inch Baitjunkie Minnow which I missed. There was plenty of bait floating around the creek as well as a few others fishing, but I didn't see any fish caught so maybe it was just one of those arvos... Fourth Day Fishing - Easter Saturday Morning Session: Late the prior night, my Dad had arrived in Yeppoon, so after I woke up at about 7:00AM and found him, we decided to go for a fish/cast net session at the Causeway. My Dad went to all his usual spots from the last trip for cast netting, but apart from a few small undesirables we were pretty unsuccessful. Luckily, back at the bridge, someone cleaned up on mullet (on their first cast, but with a drawstring net) and let me have a couple. This morning, there was actually no run through either, and the lake was just draining for the majority of the time I was fishing there. Regardless, I tried casting my mullet onto the ocean side of the lake for no luck, and I couldn't even manage a small fish on my light rod. It is also worth mentioning that it was blowing an absolute gale, the first time for the whole trip. Each day I had been up there, the weather had been very calm, in fact, basically flat each day. This day, however, I could hardly cast against the wind and it would've been gusting around 20-25 knots in the morning. It did calm off again to basically no wind later in the day though. Mid morning, I was fishing on the lake side again with my mullet, slowly hopping it through the rocks. It got belted, and something took off taking drag relatively easily. Annoyingly, it just missed my hook, and one of the locals said it might've been a jack based off the teeth marks. After a decent while longer, I called it quits with my first donut at the Causeway for the trip. Bugger. I didn't go fishing that arvo either - I was still too annoyed about my lost lures! Fifth Day Fishing - Easter Sunday On Easter Sunday, after eating plenty of chocolate in the morning (Happy Easter, by the way), my Uncle offered to take me out to his boat in the harbor. He had some work which he needed to do on it, so while he was doing that I could have a bit of a fish. It was a bit of a spur of the moment session, and I had just chucked some gear into my bag as well as some herring from a quick cast netting session the previous night in the harbour. After rigging up with a 00 ball sinker and small baitholder hook, I dropped down a small herring off the back of the boat. After five minutes for no nibbles, I tried off the side. It only took about ten seconds before I felt an odd surging on my line. Upon waiting for my rod to load up and pulling up the weight on the end of my line, I realized I had a crab on... And not just any crab - a big one! I called my Uncle who had just got to work on a job, and we realized the buckets on the deck weren't going to be big enough to get the crab in. We then remembered that there were some crab pots on the roof of the boat, so my uncle ran up and grabbed one of them. After a couple of close calls, we had the crab secured, tied up, and in a bucket of water ready for lunch the following day. Nice! It came in at a little over 2KG on my grandmas scales, and we boiled it in saltwater and had it in sandwiches (it was nice and full too based on the compression test I did). My biggest ever muddy After that, I was feeling pretty happy with myself, and had a cast off the back of the boat. I found casting next to the pylons instead of under the boat was a bit more effective, and letting the bait sink but keeping it moving was getting the bites. Although it wasn't anything immediate, I was getting a steady stream of undersize bream bites, and it wasn't long before I had caught and released three. Unfortunately for the fourth, it was badly gut hooked, and was cut free. I rerigged and dropped a small but whole herring down, maybe 2.5-3 inches long, threading the hook through the back and exposing it out near the head to make the bait sit straight. I dropped the bait down and after a few seconds the exciting noise of line peeling off my reel going under the boat next to us could be heard. The fish kept running, and eventually I started turning it's head a little from under the opposite boat. It was slow going on my 2-4KG Veritas, but eventually, I had it around the back of the boat, where it darted back off under a bunch of ropes going the other direction. The entire fight I thought I had no chance landing it, but after a few minutes I was starting to lift it from the depths. I saw leader, and was about to see what it was. As I made the final cranks of my handle, a big cod surfaced from the depths, thrashing around and hooked just in the lip. Once again, my uncle grabbed the crab pot and managed to land the fish, and the both of us pulled it up into the boat. It came in at 65CM on the brag mat, and I let it go after the fight, stoked that I landed it. New PB Cod - 65CM Anyways, even though a cod isn't exactly a 'trophy' fish, I was still happy as to land it, especially on 8 pound mainline and 10 pound leader. My tiny baitholder hook didn't bend either which was a bonus, and after one more cast my uncle and I headed home for the day. That arvo my Dad and I cleaned and cooked the crab in preparation for lunch the next day. We planned to go for one last fish the next day, and I was very happy to finally get a good fish in! Final Day Fishing - Monday Morning Session: That morning, there was no run through at the Causeway, so my Dad and I decided to try an area where a guy had told me you can get Jacks at the day before. It was pretty shallow though and we were wading out a fair ways, but after an hour of fishing we ended up going home as it was too hot and it did not seem likely for bites. We were just fishing near the boat ramps near the caravan park, and I was using unweighted mullet whereas my Dad was flicking around a lure on my light rod. Arvo Session: For the final session of my Yeppoon trip my Dad and I decided to go fishing at Ross Creek. We walked up all the way and were flicking our lures at the snags, hopeful of a flatty or fish on the lures. It was really quiet though, and neither of us could manage a bite on the mix of plastics that we threw around. Despite the fact it looked fishy and we were fishing quite late in the arvo, we both ended up donutting. It was still a peaceful and fun way to spend an arvo, and upon getting back home I got my fishing gear ready for the drive home. Summation Overall, it was a great trip with lots of fishing, and even though I didn't catch the most fish I got onto a few decent things which made the fishing worthwhile. The drive home was pretty uneventful, and next time I'm up hopefully I can get onto a jack or barra, or maybe some mackerel off the rocks! (or another big cod). Next time if we drive up, I think we will bring the kayak along too. Thanks a lot for reading this big write up, I hope you enjoyed. Overall Success Rate of the Trip: 75% - caught some fish, had some bad sessions. New PB Cod! Cheers, Hamish

Better luck next time.

Hi all Yesterday arvo/evening, Charlie (@TheCharliefisho) and myself were lucky enough to be invited out for a fish on Brian's (@ellicat) boat in the bay, targeting some Mud Island snapper. After launching a little after 1PM at Manly, we were jigging for pike by half past one in a calm Moreton Bay. I was on the baitjig first, and despite a couple of pretty promising shows on the sounder, all that I could manage on the jig were some small to just undersize Moses Perch and some unknown small reef fish. After jigging for a good half hour, the decision was made to start fishing. Whiting was the bait of choice for the heavy rods, and cuttlefish was what we used to start with on our light bottom fishing rods. The tide was still moving pretty fast, but it wasn't long until I had the first fish of the day on the boat - an undersize Moses Perch. I think Charlie and Brian also caught some undersize squire, and maybe a grassy and tusky or two at this spot as well (all undersize). It is worth noting Brian had a pilly floating out the back, but this remained untouched. Eventually, we decided to try for some pike again, and then reposition for the late arvo/dusk bite. It had gotten a bit windier, but there still wasn't a heap of chop as the tide and wind were blowing the same direction. Charlie had a go on the bait jig now, and once again we found a lot of baitfish and pike on the sounder. Unfortunately, apart from some more unknown reef fish, there were no pike eating the jig. Charlie also hooked up to a fish on the jig which put up a bit of a fight, and we were all surprised to see a legal Painted Sweetlip surface, which was kept for dinner. Painted Sweetlip We tried jigging for bait for a bit longer, and saw a couple of bustups as well, but soon enough decided to go and anchor up at a slightly different spot for the high tide/dusk bite. After losing a bit of tackle to a snag (the group of us started to land a few little fish), I changed my rig to a tiny ball sinker with a 3/o or so hook on my light rod, and a 6/o circle hook with a 00 ball sinker on my heavier rod. As the sun began to creep down, the fish came on the bite, and it wasn't long before we began pulling in an assortment of squire and grassies, and I think even a couple of tuskies at one point too. Unluckily for us (lucky for the fish), all of the fish we landed were undersize, apart from a bream Brian got early on that would've been 30-35CM (released). During this period, there were plenty of bites, meaning it was a bit hard to keep track of exactly what happened when. A few highlights were when Charlie hooked up to something a bit bigger on his light rod which managed to reef him after a couple of runs, and myself hooking something pretty large on my heavy setup, which took a few rather fast runs before my braid snapped (or as others on the boat would attest to my FG knot gave way ). I believe Brian was also busted off at least once by something alright as well. As it got dark, the bites were still very active, and after getting snagged another time on my heavy rod I chose to just fish with my light line. I was floating the bait out the back of the boat and trying to keep my reel in freespool, and although I missed some fish doing this, I did land about three squire and a couple grassies, all of which were a few centimeters undersize to barely undersize. At about 7:00PM, we decided to head back into the ramp. Overall, even though we didn't catch the biggest fish, it was a fun arvo/evening on the water with plenty of bites. Thanks heaps for taking us out Brian, hope you didn't mind having us along! Quick Stats: Tide: High tide was sometime around 6PM. Moon Phase: 68%, there was a fair bit of run Bait Caught and Used: Used whiting, cuttlefish, prawns, pillies. Tackle Used: I used a 3000 Shimano Stradic on a Shimano Raider Snapper 4-7KG, and a 4000 Shimano Symetre on a Ugly Stik Gold 2-4KG 8 foot rod. Both reels had 15 pound braid on them and leaders were 15 pound and 30 pound. I used circle hooks and ball sinkers from 00-3 ball. Brian and Charlie had similar rigs and setups. Other Notes: It got a bit windy mid way through the session but calmed off again back to great conditions later in the arvo and evening. Overall Success Rate: 41% - fun session on the bay, didn't land any monsters but plenty of bites. Thanks for reading, Cheers Hamish