AUS-BNE-FISHO

Hi all,
I went out with @ellicat (Brian) for a session around Macleay and Peel Island last Friday. We launched at 6:30AM at Victoria Point and we were fishing before 7:00AM at one of Brian's spots at Macleay. It wasn't long before Brian had caught a legal snap, but unfortunately after this we got sharked several times (and landed a couple more undersize fish). We stayed here for a while longer but eventually decided to head to a spot at Peel Island. 
We said hi to @Another Wazza quickly before starting a drift with some plastics and vibes. The weather was pretty good and it was around tide change, but I only managed two grinners on a soft vibe. We repeated the same and different drifts a couple more times but it was to no avail. Additionally, the wind picked up slightly as well as the tide so we decided to go back to Macleay to try there again. 
The anchor was deployed and I chucked over a fresh strip of grinner. It wasn't long before I was on, but it was pretty obvious I was on a ray after a few fast runs. I actually got this one up to the boat, but seeing as though it was gut hooked we cut the line and got rid of it. I hooked another one shortly after but the bite was pretty quiet for the most part.
To finish up the day, we decided to do a couple of drifts around Macleay. This produced a few bites and one undersize snap for Brian, so a bit after 2 we headed back to the ramp and called it a day. Brian let me have the snapper and it tasted good.  Thanks again for taking me out on the boat Brian, it was lots of fun. 
Thanks for reading, 
Cheers Hamish

Hi all
This report will be about the last few sessions fishing in the Brisbane River, most of which has been quite slow. With all the rain I have found the fishing to be pretty bad in the middle reaches of the river lately. 
Two Sundays ago, I met a mate I hadn't seen in ages down at a local jetty to get him a bullshark. I arrived nice and early, but I struggled to catch any bait or get a bite. However, about 20 minutes before he arrived I deployed a stinky chunk of eel in hope a shark may be cruising around. Sure enough, two minutes after he arrived the rod was screaming. I set the hook, and it was a better sized shark than usual, so I passed him the rod. A few runs later we had a nice 1M bull shark on the jetty, the biggest I have caught at this spot. 
We continued fishing for a few more hours but I struggled to catch any bait and we only got some large catfish. Oh well, at least we got that shark. 
Stats of Trip:
Tide: 6:30AM, .2M, Low, 12:45PM, 2.6M, High
Moon Phase: 10%
Bait Caught/Used: Bony bream, eel
Fish Caught: Shark x 1, several catties. 
Tackle Used: 15-30 pound braid, varying ball/star sinkers, 4/o and 6/o circle hooks, 80 pound mono trace, varying spinning rods and reels. 
Air Pressure: 1006
Humidity: 66%
Overall Success Rate: 70% - got the shark
The next day, I was fishing with @Thorbjorn Hale at a spot we hadn't been to for a while. Shortly after arriving and not being able to catch any good bait I cooked us up some bacon and egg rolls, which were nice until it started raining and the bread became soggy. I had caught a couple of pike eels and a 1.3M shovel by the time Thorb had arrived though. 
Eventually, I started getting a few herring in the net, and we each were getting plenty of bites. Between all the showers it was pretty cold though, and we landed several catfish, pike eels, as well as stingrays and shovelnose. By about 4:30PM, I headed off, a bit disappointed with the day. 
Stats of Trip:
Tide: 6:30AM, .4M, Low, 1PM, 2.8M, High, 7:50PM, .5M, Low. - tide was absolutely ripping. 
Moon Phase: 19%
Bait caught/Used: Live herring mainly
Fish Caught: Stingray, shovelnose, catfish, pike eel. 
Tackle Used: Shimano Sedona 6000 on Abu Garcia Nexus, Shimano Baitrunner on Kmart Rod, Penn Spinfisher Liveliner on Ugly Stik. 50 pound leader, 4/o and 6/o circle hooks, 6 ounce sinkers. 
Air Pressure: 1005
Humidity: 86%
Overall Success Rate: 40%
The day after that I had some chores to do so stayed home, but then on Wednesday I was fishing with Thorbjorn again at his local spot. I arrived a bit before seven and deployed a chunk of pike eel while I tried to catch some livies. Soon enough, the shark rod was screaming, and Thorbs rocked up just as I was mid way through the fight. Unfortunately the shark was no monster but a solid 1.1M model all the same - a new PB bully for me. Thorbs helped me land it and we released it. 
Later in the day I caught a nice size school of herring in my cast net, enough to keep us fishing for the day. This however didn't bring anything great, and I think we just caught several vermin fish. Soon enough, we were out of bait and I got home, ready to go for a fish the next day. 
Stats:
Tide: 7:20AM, .5M, Low, 1:40Pm, 2.6M, High
Moon Phase: 30%
Air Pressure: 1003
Humidity: 88%
Tackle Used: Shimano Sedona 6000 on a Abu Garcia Nexus, Penn Spinfisher Liveliner on Ugly Stik, Penn Spinfisher 8500 on Savage Gear Salt, 30 and 50 pound braid, 50 pound and 10 pound trace/leader, wire trace, size 4 star sinker or 6 ounce sinker. 
Bait Caught: Herring
Overall Success Rate: 60% - new PB bully
The next day I was back at the same spot with a mate from school. We arrived and shortly after setting up were onto plenty of herring, which we could use for both live and dead bait. It was the last of the run out tide first, so although optimal for sharking I said to my mate the bites would probably be slow for a while on the livie rods. Sure enough, we didn't get any bites until the tide switched, but once it started running in, we caught a nice mix of catfish, stingrays, and eels, and although not good in general, it was my mates first time fishing, so plenty of entertainment. 
As we were about to head off, the big shark rod screamed. I set the drag and line kept peeling off. Eventually, after 60 or so meters were taken, the shark stopped, and this is when I realized the line was caught in something underwater, making it difficult to fight the fish. I was just about to hand the rod to my mate to have a go when the shark shot off again and then busted the line off after taking a fair few more meters. I would estimate it to be in excess of 1.5M, maybe 2M+. Hopefully I can catch it next time!
Stats of Trip:
Tide: 9:00AM, .8M, Low
Moon Phase: 52%
Bait Caught: Herring
Fish Caught: Stingray, catfish, eel
Tackle Used: Shimano Sedona 6000 on a Abu Garcia Nexus, Penn Spinfisher Liveliner on Ugly Stik, Penn Spinfisher 8500 on Savage Gear Salt, 30 and 50 pound braid, 50 pound and 10 pound trace/leader, wire trace, size 4 star sinker or 6 ounce sinker. 
Air Pressure: 1000
Humidity: 90%
Overall Success Rate: 60% - a few fish for my mate
On Friday, I was fishing on the bay, and then on Saturday, I think I had a rest. On Sunday, I tried a local spot that a mate had caught a thready at two days prior, so I also invited a mate from a previous session. This proved to be a waste of our day though, as I could only catch one bony bream, and we didn't end up catching a single fish. That was alright though, it was still a bit of a fun day. 
Stats:
Tide: 6:45AM, 2.5M, High
Moon Phase: 80%
Air Pressure: 1003
Humidity: 86%
Fish Caught: -
Overall Success Rate: 30% - better than staying at home
Anyway, I slept for 15 hours that night, so didn't get around to fishing, and then I was back at school, but I did go out this morning in the river for a flick. My Dad and I launched the yak after the last ferry shot by, but to our disappointment Spot X was still a bit busy so we hit a fishy looking very terminal for no luck. It was still mid run out though, and the tide was pumping being a full moon, so it was tricky to fish here. We shot up to a different terminal, but the tide was ripping twice as hard here, making fishing near impossible. We had a look at one more terminal on the way back but with minimum lights and no surface activity we gave it a miss.
Fortunately, Spot X had cleared out by now, and first cast into the light pool my Zerek Pyra lure got smacked. A couple of casts later I hooked a nice tailor which fought well. We got a quick pic then released this one, but as the tide was still pumping we went to the ferry terminal where we started. We were now hearing some tailor splashes and I heard one distinct boof (like a bass one but louder), so we had a few casts here. I picked up another tailor here, but the lights around the terminal turned off for some reason so we went back to the other spot. 
This brought no more fish, and although it would've been good to stay until tide change at four my Dad wanted to get home, so we were off the water by 3. Anyway, I guess I should name it Spot T for tailor, hopefully next time when we try a new area we will catch a thready!
Stats:
Tide: 10:18PM, 1.7M, High, 4:13AM, .3M, Low 
Moon Phase: Full Moon
Air Pressure: 1004
Humidity: 89%
Gear Used: Spinning and Baitcast setups, 15/20lb braid, 30 pound leader, soft vibes, Zerek Pyra, Megabass Oneten. 
Fish Caught: Tailor x 2
Overall Success Rate: 50% - some tailor
Photos: Brisbane River Session #283-#288 - Lensdump
Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. 
Cheers Hamish

Hi all, 
I headed up to Yeppoon a couple weeks ago to visit some family and go fishing. I flew up and arrived on Sunday arvo, so wasted no time and went for a quick session at the harbour. The first two casts of my net came up empty but on my third cast I got a few herring, so kept them live and moved spots. I dropped a couple livies down behind the boat and floated a small cube down as well. 
First cast I was on a small mackerel, which I released (undersize). Then, I think I found the fishing very quiet, and was struggling to connect to anything. A small grunter gave me some more hope and after a few bait changes my big rod eventually screamed off. I set the hook and a fun fight around some pylons started, where I eventually landed a solid 50-55cm cod. I probably should have kept this but decided to let it go to catch next time. 
The next day I got the bus to the Causeway to fish the run through tide. It was already busy when I got there but the first cast of my net I got a nice sized silver biddy. I floated this out into the run through unweighted, and although things were looking quiet plenty of trevally had already been caught so I was hopeful I would get one. 
Sure enough, my bait got smashed and a fun fight with a 51cm GT started. I landed it successfully and gave it away to someone else fishing. After that, I didn't get any more bites and headed off when the tide stopped running through.
At low tide that day, I went out to Double Heads spinning, but only picked up a few grinners despite the calm conditions. Then, I went to the harbour again in the arvo, but the only fish getting around were a couple of flat salmon. 
When I got home that night I rerigged my gear in preparation for fishing the next day. When I arrived at the Causeway a nice jack had already been caught, and I watched someone pull one in just as I casted out my first live biddy of the day. Things were a bit quiet for me for the first two casts, but with my bait still kicking I redeployed it and hooked up to a nice fish. After a few runs, I landed another nice 60cm GT, which I was pretty happy with. I gave it away to another fella who hadn't caught any fish that day, fished for a bit longer, and then headed home when it stopped running through. I put in 60 casts at Double Heads that arvo and I think I gave the harbour a miss, as I only caught more grinners and a wolf herring at Double Heads. 
The next morning I walked five k's to the Causeway and arrived at 4:45AM, and to my surprise the mozzies were very bad. Luckily, another fisho who arrived shortly after gave me some bug spray. He caught a small jack on plastics, and then when the run through started I couldn't catch much bait. I think I ended up getting off the donut with a small cod to end the session but it was definitely a quiet day. I went to Double Heads for a third time and only got more grinners, so I decided to give it a miss for the rest of the trip. I did go to Ross Creek for a quick flick as well but no luck. 
The next day I was back at the Causeway in the morning, hoping for a jack or trevally. Things were slow to start with (one small cod) but I did eventually hook up to another solid trev, which I pulled hooks on. Bugger. I kept fishing until the run through finished, very disappointed about the lost fish as it felt pretty big. That arvo, I had a flick down at Statue Bay at low tide with some shallow diving hardbodies and surface on sunset, but this brought no joy. I did find a big dead blue salmon in the rock wall which was unusual. 
I got the bus to the Causeway for my final session on Friday, hopeful today would be the day I caught a jack or barra. Unfortunately, I struggled to catch any bait but was eventually given some livies so sent them out. To my surprise, as the run through increased, two nice size barra (one maybe 60cm and one maybe 1m) were caught by some people fishing the edge of the run through, so I will definitely give this a try next time. Someone also caught a 60cm or so model on lures. I finished up when the run through stopped with a big fat donut, so hopefully next time I catch a good fish. I flew home that night, feeling pretty sad I didn't catch one of those barra! 🤣
Photos:
Yeppoon Trip 7/01-12/01 - Lensdump
Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the report.
Cheers Hamish

Hi all,
I went out with @ellicat (Brian) for a session around Macleay and Peel Island last Friday. We launched at 6:30AM at Victoria Point and we were fishing before 7:00AM at one of Brian's spots at Macleay. It wasn't long before Brian had caught a legal snap, but unfortunately after this we got sharked several times (and landed a couple more undersize fish). We stayed here for a while longer but eventually decided to head to a spot at Peel Island. 
We said hi to @Another Wazza quickly before starting a drift with some plastics and vibes. The weather was pretty good and it was around tide change, but I only managed two grinners on a soft vibe. We repeated the same and different drifts a couple more times but it was to no avail. Additionally, the wind picked up slightly as well as the tide so we decided to go back to Macleay to try there again. 
The anchor was deployed and I chucked over a fresh strip of grinner. It wasn't long before I was on, but it was pretty obvious I was on a ray after a few fast runs. I actually got this one up to the boat, but seeing as though it was gut hooked we cut the line and got rid of it. I hooked another one shortly after but the bite was pretty quiet for the most part.
To finish up the day, we decided to do a couple of drifts around Macleay. This produced a few bites and one undersize snap for Brian, so a bit after 2 we headed back to the ramp and called it a day. Brian let me have the snapper and it tasted good.  Thanks again for taking me out on the boat Brian, it was lots of fun. 
Thanks for reading, 
Cheers Hamish

Hi all,
I went out with @ellicat (Brian) for a session around Macleay and Peel Island last Friday. We launched at 6:30AM at Victoria Point and we were fishing before 7:00AM at one of Brian's spots at Macleay. It wasn't long before Brian had caught a legal snap, but unfortunately after this we got sharked several times (and landed a couple more undersize fish). We stayed here for a while longer but eventually decided to head to a spot at Peel Island. 
We said hi to @Another Wazza quickly before starting a drift with some plastics and vibes. The weather was pretty good and it was around tide change, but I only managed two grinners on a soft vibe. We repeated the same and different drifts a couple more times but it was to no avail. Additionally, the wind picked up slightly as well as the tide so we decided to go back to Macleay to try there again. 
The anchor was deployed and I chucked over a fresh strip of grinner. It wasn't long before I was on, but it was pretty obvious I was on a ray after a few fast runs. I actually got this one up to the boat, but seeing as though it was gut hooked we cut the line and got rid of it. I hooked another one shortly after but the bite was pretty quiet for the most part.
To finish up the day, we decided to do a couple of drifts around Macleay. This produced a few bites and one undersize snap for Brian, so a bit after 2 we headed back to the ramp and called it a day. Brian let me have the snapper and it tasted good.  Thanks again for taking me out on the boat Brian, it was lots of fun. 
Thanks for reading, 
Cheers Hamish

Your 100% right, also as you can vouch for, a lot more people are fishing now, boat ramps are a nightmare these days, common courtesy and etiquette has gone out the window in a lot of easily accessible fishing spots, if I was a bit more capable I would invest in a kayak to fish the creeks to get away from the crowds but maybe next life time, hope I don't come back as a mud crab but.

It is same down here on the Central Coast. Over the years the fishing has dropped off. That is why I move around.
I can remember when I was a young guy, I would go prawning at the Entrance with my Dad & we would bring home  the old sugar bags full of prawns. We would have so many prawns we would give them to the neighbours. Not anymore. At least when I go rock fishing I do catch something. Avoca rocks is the most popular place on the Coast. Sometimes it is like Surfers Paradise on a friday night. I  don't go there much because of the crowds. If you want to get into the big fish in NSW, you have to head north to Crowdy head, Ballina & places like that.
My ten cents worth.
Cheers.

Always value your opinion Tony 
I've always fished target species, tide and location specific Tony, much like you i reckon, my main targets are always yellow fin whiting, school jew and in the last 20 years javelin. I found the wet years always had a silver lining in as much that lots of rain equals lots of prawns equals school jew.
In my opinion size limits particularly on flathead and school jew, catch and release, and no netting  have improved my catches. I didn't fish the passage itself much, I mainly focused on Ningi, Elimbah and Glasshouse creeks. 
I am a real believer that if you spend time to understand your target species, just like you with your jacks, and you fish often you will accumulate knowledge and decrease the number of donuts trips.
An example of this is yellowfin whiting more commonly known as summer whiting, people mostly fish for them in summer, however the best time to catch them is in fact in September, June and July, another is school jew, they hit the holes in the creeks when the prawns start running in April, provided we had good summer rain which encourages the prawns to emerge from the sediment and look for food and commence their life cycle, eventually spawning in the ocean before returning to the creeks to do it all over again.
One species that you rarely caught in the passage and creeks in the nineties was javelin, I started catching them in the creeks from 2005 onwards, I personally believe an increase in water temperatures encouraged them to migrate further south. Some days their is so many of them undersize it can be hard to catch anything else. A barred javelin 40cm+ is great fun on light gear and they are excellent to eat.
Anyway good fishing to everyone
fatboy
 
 

From my recollection of the passage from about '78 through to now it has been in decline in stages.
We all thought there would be a remarkable increase in fish but I did not notice anything increasing over the following few years. 
The 80's had a bit of a sharp decline towards the end of the decade.
The 90's was fairly static with bags reducing a bit.....new techniques opened up more avenues but still could not match the mid 80's capture rates.
About 2005 the fishing pressure really started ramping up again and numbers of fish reduced.....except for jew.....they were increasing in numbers but mostly undersized.
2011, 2013 and 2019 all were very wet years that kept me away from there for long periods.
The past year i gave the passage a big nudge and either I have forgotten things or something has changed and I am not finding the numbers before.
For example I could go mid week for an evening and score 3-8 jacks per session....these days I find I am lucky to get one and if I get two in a session I buy the lotto on the way home.
But for your question.....the ceasation of the netters in the passage did not have a big impact for me.

Quantity but no quality at the eastern arm. After doing our shrimp pots and raising the ropes a few feet in anticipation of the dam rising we went exploring. We found a small school of under 30cm bass around one tree and pulled 10 fish until the barred grunter moved in, We did not find any more fish until well above bass bay where we found more under sized bass with the odd larger one mixed in with them. We ran out of shrimp by 11 am with a total of 49 bass between the 3 of us with the best bass going 41cm.

Bit of a reminisce from an old fella
I've been looking through some old fishing diaries i kept and photos of fish I caught in the passage in the early eighties and nineties, the fish got smaller over the decade and harder to catch, not like I remember as a kid fishing with my Dad in the sixties and seventies when the fish were plentiful and some really big suckers as well, I pretty much gave it away mid nineties as it was hard work catching a feed and my kids starting playing sport.
The State Government banned all netting in the passage in October 1995 I think that's the date.
I still fished and camped sporadically with my Son around Mission Pt though fishing was tough, I reckon it took a good 10 years before some real improvement started to happen, so with the kids grown up I invested in a new boat and started fishing again, tried all my old spots and slowly but surely catches improved.
Had some great sessions in the creeks from 2005 to 2020 when I used to fish 3 times a week on average, gave it away couple of years ago and took up growing vegetables.
The pros still rape and pillage the whiting around red beach in September, anything that resides around Cooks rocks several times a year, and the top end of the passage near Caloundra when the bream come in in June.
Fishing in the passage could be sensational but for the pros, anyway it is what it is.
Love to hear from anyone who fished the passage leading up to the banning of the pro netters.
fatboy

Hi All.
Met up with some old friends.
Whiting & bream territory.
Arrived early. Nice & quite. There were three of us.
First bream 32cm. Puppy will be happy.
After about three hours. I ended up with five whiting & two bream. The other guys caught about the same.
Bait was Fresh worms, nippers & squid. I was hoping for a snapper. didn't happen. I had a new reel with me. Bought it on real special. Shimano stradic fl 5000. Not a shimano fan. But stradic's are ok.
Newport Arms for breakfast. Where else.
Top morning. Great to see the guys again.

A couple more for team South .
Whiting 390mm , 365mm and 360mm.
Mulloway
 

Good to know 😂
Nice work on all those grassies guys, they’ll make a good feed.

It’s all good BCF tested multiple types of Shimano reels even the same model all have the pretty much the same wobble even some other brands he picked up in the display had a bit of wobble it’s got 10 year warranty so if anything comes of it if it fails I’ll get a replacement or repair 
 
thank you all for your help 🙂 
 
Cheers Rick

Grab a pair of pointy nose pliers, and keep them on you when lure fishing.
You need to slightly, emphasis on slightly, bend the little metal ring to the left or right on the nose of the lure. This is the ring that you would attach a split ring to.  
Start with a slight adjustment to the left and swim the lure. 
If it's worse, go back the other way. If it's getting better, make another adjustment the same way. 
You will eventually have it swimming dead straight, however it may take several adjustments to achieve. 
It's not uncommon to have to tune a lure to swim correctly. 

I use a loop knot to a split ring when throwing stick baits, and a uni knot to the solid ring of the hook on jigs, with the split ring off the other side to change jigs easily.
We do a lot of lure changes when casting stick baits, and change jigs a fair bit as well. Using a split ring allows me to change as often as I like without cutting down the leader and having to tie a leader on while out. 

Good to know 😂
Nice work on all those grassies guys, they’ll make a good feed.

Good to know 😂
Nice work on all those grassies guys, they’ll make a good feed.

Yuk !! haha. The breeze on the water kept things bearable.
Grassies are a favourite at our place, too. I like fishing off Bribie, but the same as you - it has to be the right day.

Fun day out as usual, @ellicat  Always good when a back-up plan works out well. 

Good to know 😂
Nice work on all those grassies guys, they’ll make a good feed.

Good to know 😂
Nice work on all those grassies guys, they’ll make a good feed.

Good to know 😂
Nice work on all those grassies guys, they’ll make a good feed.

It sure was warm today Looking through the lens of a welding mask….🙃
Nice report , my old man is keen on grassies… we spent 6 hours looking around for them around Bribie yesterday. Have done well in the past at inner gneerings but there’s only a handful of opportunities to take the tinny out there each year.
nice catch mate… enjoy.