AUS-BNE-FISHO

Excellent read/story. I would love to replicate your yak sessions in the boat one day. Horse grassy had me envious for sure.
I had a great time as usual hanging with you and the family. Pretty happy with my biggest flattie, too.
What about the size of that dugong on the SW of the island the day of the 300 series recovery ?!

Hi all,
 
Was hoping to wait until the photo issue was rectified but some of you may enjoy the story regardless.
 
On 7th Dec with a very fully loaded car and trailer we jumped on the morning MiCat to Moreton Island with 21 nights of relaxation in my favourite place to look forward to.  I let the tyres down as far as I dare with the load on, had the obligatory smiley pie and coffee and soon we were on the beach at Tangalooma.  After a bit of a challenge getting to the top of middle road, we had a beautiful run up the eastern beach towards cape moreton.  Unfortunately, I was pretty much run off the road by a peanut coming down the hill from the lighthouse and the trailer then developed a mind of its own when trying to reverse out and I ended up needing to deploy the recovery boards to get me back on the straight and narrow and have another crack at the hill.  No dramas the second time and we were soon picking out a site at North Point campground.  A few hours of work followed and soon we had a camp set  up that would survive anything but the worst weather in a fairly shady and sheltered corner of the campground.
 
Next morning I was up at early AM and went for a bit of a walk around to check the gutters on the beach and all that, had a cast but wasn't successful.  After breakfast we headed off down the beach with the kids to some beautiful little low tide gutters that were about knee deep and calm.  While playing around, I noticed some birds circling in the surf break and then saw some fishy-shapes chasing bait in the waves.  I grabbed the only rod I had with me (the 2-4kg flick stick with 10lb) and threw a 20g halco twisty on.  Second cast I was away.  After a very good argument on the light gear, I had the first fish tacos of the trip sorted with a 53cm tailor.  About an hour later he was sizzling away in a frypan back at camp.
 
Next few days were a bit tough on the fishing front.  Early morning starts up the rocks spinning were mildly successful, however, I did work out I could put the little fella in his backpack carrier and take him along with me.  And the best part was he absolutely loved it... well.... for the first 90 minutes or so anyway. But was still pretty cool hanging out with him and managing to catch a couple of fish along the way. 
 
Morning 4 was a complete bust on the fishing front, could not get a hit on a slug or a plastic anywhere so I was walking back across kind of a swampy section near camp and my morning took a massive turn - for the good!  There at my feet was my lunch, now if I could just get hold of him with all 10 fingers still in tact...  A few interesting moments and near misses later and eventually I had my prize - a 1.7kg full as buck muddie.  Even the young fella appreciated this - I held it up to show him which was met with a "Wooooowwwwww" from him.  Glad I had strapped him in to the backpack well though.  A crab wrap for lunch was a very unexpected but welcome addition to the menu that's for sure.  After the crab wrap, during the midday nap period, I went for a walk down to the rocks given the swell was picking up a bit and landed 3 mid 40's tailor in the first three casts.  Then a surfer paddled right over where the fish were sitting, sat there was a minute and then paddled off again.  Needless to say, the fish disappeared thereafter.  Maybe the surfer was a vegan or something and that was his idea of a protest.  Still, three tailor was ample for dinner.
 
Next day I had collected some pippies and headed over to a favourite rock fishing spot of mine, however, it was very quiet but I managed to pull three nice dart out, the best one going 43cm.  There's another dinner sorted!
 
After 7 days, the outlaws headed home and were replaced by @ellicat and my mum.  After a new false starts, ECat and I finally found where the flathead were hiding.  I was first on the board with a lovely 63cm model.  While it was only 1 or 2 each time we tried the spot, they were all quality fish in the mid 50's.
 
The weather finally became good enough for me to try a kayak trip which saw me throw the tub in early and head on out.  It took me a while to to find them but I managed 3 snapper 43-49cm, one just legal spangled and a 38cm grassy.  I then hooked something huge that had me scrambling to get on top of it to try and pull it out of the rocky rubbly bottom.  A good battle ensued and a stud 53cm grassy surfaced, much to ECat's distain as he is yet to crack the 50cm mark on a grassy and I have now 4 times in his presence.  Sorry mate - oh wait, no I'm not... 😛   I headed back in and watched ECat land a legal flatty from the beach as I was coming back in.
 
All too soon, ECat had to head home - hope you had a good trip mate.  Glad you got to witness the might BT50 recovering a brand spanking 300 series jsut before getting on the barge - that was a bit of fun. 😉
The day after he left, it was forecast to be 20kn+ northerlies but they never showed up and the ocean completely glassed out around lunch time.  I grabbed the kayak and headed out, not knowing the carnage that was about to unfold.
 
Things started slowly, it took me a good 1/2 hr before I got my first decent hit - and what a hit it was.  Ripped 20lb line off the reel under fairly heavy drag and ended up busting me off on the rubbly bottom about 100m away, my best guess was a GT or a kingy - or so i thought... maybe another culprit was to blame as will soon be revealed. I soon after I found a patch with some nice snapper, and put three 40-48cm models and a bonus grassy into the box.  I tried a different area and first cast hooked the 3:14 express from central that had me chasing after it flat out while it peeled line from the reel.  Surely this couldn't be a shark, I would have been busted off ages ago... what could this be?  After about 10 minutes I got sight of the fish and about 10 minutes after that I had 85cm of cobia doing it's best to escape from under my legs on the kayak.  A very quick brain spike and bleed and a louder than necessary yahoo and then a minute to recover, check leader, plastic etc and we were back into it.  Next cast a 43cm grassy came to play.  Followed shortly after by a cracking 55cm snapper that gave me a real run around and completed my bag out.  I decided that was enough and just one more cast... wholly hell.  Seconds after the lure hitting the water two things happened.  A manta ray surfaced just near where my lure landed and my rod was just about ripped out of my hands.  For a second I thought I had hooked the manta but it zigged and whatever i had zagged.  Knowing cobia love hanging around mantas i quickly worked my way out over sand and settled in for the battle.  This one was far heavier and more stubborn than the first one and was slugging it out down deep, I would make a metre of line and he would take 2 back.  This went on and on.  About 1/2 hour later I finally had the fish yakside - now how the hell do I land this thing?  I ended up tailing it and lifting by the line as well and got it on my lap.  A quick spike and bleed and a rather nose heavy and slimy, bloody kayak headed back to the beach.  The big cobia went 110cm - not huge by cobia standards sure but everything seems bigger on a floating bit of plastic.  It also meant a double bag out for the first time ever on the yak.
 
At this point I will mention that ECat had been kind enough to loan me his 60L freezer which was a very welcome item in the campsite after such a trip - on top of my 80L fridge/freezer.  approx 11kg of fillets were recovered from the days captures - a day of kayak fishing I will not forget in a hurry.
 
Other than that day, a few more nice flatties found their way into the box but the fishing effort was rather half hearted - I was happy to finish on a high.
 
Roast turkey and potato bake made for an awesome Xmas dinner, plenty of time spent with the small people at the beach.  Luckily, we only copped one storm on Xmas eve with a fair bit of wind and 57mm of rain in 1/2 hour, got the edge of a few others but nothing too bad.  Everything stayed standing and dry on the inside at least.
 
All too soon - even after such an extended stay - we were packing up and heading back to the MiCat for the trip home.  Middle road had washouts about 1/2m deep in some spots from the storms the previous two days which was pretty crazy to see.
 
I will attempt to add some photos when the site is fixed if people are interested, I didn't take heaps but there's a few that people might like.
 
Hope you enjoyed the read, I tried not to make it too long.
 
Cheers,
Benno <'><
 
 
 
 
 
 

Good fishing Ray. I’m glad to hear that your batteries/motors are going well. 

Went back to NPD for the first time for a couple of weeks to see if the fishing has improved. The shrimp traps were mainly chocka except a few that have rusted out. Found a few forkies at the second rock wall so we quickly departed that location. Could not find a fish over the next 2 hours until we found a school on 20 feet of water near fad 0.We quickly pulled 13 bass there until the school moved on to parts unknown. Fish were between 32 and 20cm. I got that excited to actually catch some fish I forgot to tag them. I have just replaced my 24 volt 285 a/h agm batteries for my minnkota bow mount with a pair of 135 a/h lithiums. I was a bit dubious as how they would go as I was told not to run my older kota over 8.5 speed to avoid burn out problems with the armature. I am very pleased with the performance as I have picked up 1/2 a KPH and at the end of the day both batterys indicating they still have 80% capacity

@ GregOug you are 100% correct, I will give myself an uppercut, maybe I should have said "this is one of the rare forums where you can have an opinion or ask for advice without some smart arse taking the piss out of you, however, as is the way their are always a few exceptions". Hows that sound you reckon.

Except for me on occasion. And let’s not get started on KM. 🤪

Welcome to the site Peter, recently joined myself, this is one of the rare forums where you can have an opinion or ask for advise without some smart arse taking the piss out of you, good luck with you fishing exploits
Fatboy

Thanks @ellicat I fish the estuaries, bread and butter really, bream, flathead, flounder, tailor, whiting I am interest in getting my first bass, trout and perch but I'll have to do some travelling to get out of the salty water 😞

The metal where you tie to could be bent, causing it to swim out to one side. Check that and try to make it straight, if it is bent.

I use clips all the time. Never have a problem. There is a swivel type clip on ebay in different sizes. Some are stainless steel. Worth a look. I have been using them for years on all Lures.
Cheers

Hi Peter K
Mate you must be attaching the split rings to the lures yourself? Not a trick question, as I haven't bought any lures for years, never used to have split rings on them when I purchased them, anyway back to your issue, assuming I am correct that you are attaching the split rings yourself, if you use a non slip loop knot tied to the split ring you have attached to the lure, you should not affect this type of knot when taking one split ring off one lure and attaching it to another, because of the actual knot, not being tied to the lure eye, 100% agree with @ellicat that you will most likely compromise the knot you are currently using doing what you want to do.
Look up non slip loop knot on  youtube to learn how to tie it, not hard to do, the knot is used by most serious lure fisherman as the knot allows the lure to achieve its full movement potential. Pick one of the youtube videos that only go for a minute or so, lots of self promotionalists on youtube that take 10 minutes to explain something that takes 30 seconds to do.
I will clarify the advice i have given you by saying that using both a split ring and a non slip loop knot is overkill, just tying a non slip loop knot is easier than tying a double uni knot in my opinion.
Fatboy

Thank for the suggestion, never seen them before, I'll have to have a play around and see what will hold up. Thanks for your replies. 
 
Peter

I think your concern is warranted, re affecting the knot.
There are different types of swivels that can be used other than the regular snap swivels.  Hawaiian snap swivels, for example - https://www.anglerswarehouse.com.au/shogun-hawaiian-snap
These will not unclip.
Personally, I find it much quicker to just tie a new loop knot each time. Playing around with split rings is a pain for me.

I've heard/read countless stories of snap swivels opening and the lure coming off, not sure if its true and how common it occurs, I don't want that risk when working $20+ lures. 
 
I could just take all the split rings of my hardbody bibs and have 1 ring tied on and just attach it each time, the main query I have here is, once a knot has been tightened on the ring, would using the pliers and spreading the ring open potentially loosen/stretch/weaken the knot? I'm using double uni. 
Thanks, Peter

Good luck. Surely there's a flattie or two waiting at Hayes Inlet for you.

Im in, can I join south team?

Hi @TheFish
If you are happy enough just catching some fish for a bit of fun to get the hang of it all, go to Deepwater Bend on a neap high tide ( neap tides are tides with a high low tide and a low high tide which means minimal tidal movement) and fish for gar fish. Fun to catch and excellent to eat if you know how to butterfly them. Lots of information on you tube on how to catch them , simple as this.
 

They sure do. Every time they pull you up for a look they check the life jackets thoroughly - both MSQ and Water Police.
I have mine professionally serviced and certified and have had to provide the certificate to them on more than one occasion.

Service protocols are the same as the Burke 150. I find the process easy and relatively cheap. Good habit to get into because you don’t want an avoidable failure at a critical time. 

Good idea Peter, but you’d be much better off using a snap swivel, this basically allows you to tie the line to the snap swivel, open the snap with your fingers, clip your lure onto it, and change the lures far more easy that it would be than changing the split rings each time. 

New PB Threadfin
First Threadfin on a Lure
First Mangrove Jack
1M Brisbane River Jewfish
50cm Brisbane River Bass
1.5M plus Brisbane River shark
 
What about everyone else? 

Good idea Peter, but you’d be much better off using a snap swivel, this basically allows you to tie the line to the snap swivel, open the snap with your fingers, clip your lure onto it, and change the lures far more easy that it would be than changing the split rings each time. 

Good Afternoon all,
I'm Peter, and as the title suggests I'm new to the whole forum thing.  I've been fishing for about 6 years now. For the first 4 years I only used baits, then I ventured into soft plastics for the past 2 years, I'm now starting to try hard bodies. I live by the Georges River in Sydney. I hope to learn a thing or two and get some advice. 
Regards,
Peter K

@Hweebe if there are SMART goals then there must be DUMB goals?
Definitely Underachieve Maximise Buffoonery
Apologies So Sorry

What are SMART goals?
The SMART in SMART goals stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Defining these parameters as they pertain to your goal helps ensure that your objectives are attainable within a certain time frame