AUS-BNE-FISHO

Hi all,
Went to BCF for something to do today while waiting for the new boat to arrive. Sigh. Must say I was shocked when I saw the number and range of lures and artificial bait available these days! How in the heck do you pick one new lure out of literally thousands. And don’t get me started on the choice available in artificial baits. The same manufacturer has bait in pouches, bait in screw top jars, large packets, small packets, floating in liquid, not floating in liquid etc etc. Then there were gulps, zmans, blah blahs, blah ba blah blahs. Anyway you get the idea. Now I already have more lures and even artificial baits than I know what to do with but It got me to thinking, what do you think are your best 3 lures (any type or application) and the 3 artificial baits you would recommend members should definitely have in their tackle boxes? Be interested in your replies.

Well there’s a reason the pros are there... 

Hi Ryan,
An example might be easiest. If you are in a boat sitting on the edge of a green zone and cast into the water on the opposite side of the boat to the green zone you are technically okay. But if you cast into the green zone you are not. Having a fishing apparatus anywhere in the green zone will place you on the wrong side of the law. So no, you can’t cast from the bank into the green zone, and you can’t cast from your boat towards the bank into the green zone. In reality, I have been told that they have radar monitoring all of Moreton Bay and if they see a boat which appears to be in, or very close to, a green zone for any length of time, they send fisheries officers out to investigate. All of the above is my understanding, however I am not a lawyer and don’t pretend to me. 
cheers
Greg

Hello,
Just want to clear something up about fishing near, or i guess on the border of green zones that run along banks.
Using the below examples, the greenzone looks to run along the bank of the bay islands.
- Does this mean, that I cannot stand along the bank and cast out into the water?
- Can I be in my boat, and cast towards the bank?

 

Apologies if it seems like silly questions - I just want to be clear and do the right thing.
Cheers

Nice one mate. Some delicious dinners there. I have never seen a whiting bitten in 2 before. 
A mate of mine is conducting a shark survey for half eaten fish. I don't suppose you have that whiting in the freezer?

nice one mate, some cracking fish in that lot.  shame about the whiting - would have pushed the 40cm mark if you hadn't gotten so hungry before the photo!

i only ever make the cuts in the mouth if the shark seems really tired and i want it back in the water fast, or as a last resort. i do prefer to just remove the hook but sometimes it isnt that easy. Just make a judgement call on each capture. Just be super careful when you are up close with the knife, those little bullies are deadly quick!

couple of things mate
1. dont be afraid to make a small cut in the side of the mouth where the hook is to get the hook out. in my eyes, getting the hook out and shark back in the water fast is the most important thing. So a small cut to release the hook fast is a good option
2. depending on the shark size, use your body weight to control the shark. so you can basically have the shark between your legs with a knee on each fin. you will have complete control over the shark and it wont be able to bend around to bite you. (ill try to find a picture of this)
3. otherwise, just pin it on top of its head and push with all your force to pin it on the ground. (ill post a pics up of this too)
once youve got control of it, then juse pliers, dehookers etc to remove the hook. ive found that pliers are fine, just takes a bit of shaking to get it loose sometimes. the smaller sharks are more dangerous in my opinion, they can bend back on themselves alot faster and easier than bigger sharks.

Watch this video mate. Skip to 11:30 to watch how to get on top of the shark like I explained above
 

Looking at building my fitness back up after losing the top of my lung. Might as well try and catch a fish while I’m at it hey ! Show me what you got, looking for something stable and cheaper the better. 
 
cheers 

What size and type of hooks are you using ?
Standard J hook will come out by using a half broomstick with a notch in the end.

Not a bad idea to have a hessian sack (any fruit shop should have one) to throw over the shark so that you can hold it down with a bit more confidence. Any tackle shop including BCF will have various hook de-gougers but I like elicat’s  idea of the broomstick handle. Nice and solid and long enough to keep your hands well clear of those jaws!

Classic Drop Bear story this one! https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-13/uk-journalist-pranked-into-holding-a-drop-bear-during-bushfires/11863942?pfmredir=sm
 

Look for schools with sounder
 

great report mate. those bull sharks can be very acrobatic sometimes. 

Nice detailed report @AUS-BNE-FISHO. Keep them coming.

Nice one mate, a fun bully caught and a big fish lost to tempt you back next time, the joys of fishing 🙂 

Bit damp at Hinze western arm this morning, Only a couple of photos as I put camera away so it would not get wet and then forgot about when it fined up.We boated 44 bass in the first hour and a half down towards the dam wall and took nearly 3 hours to find another 9 fish. Best bass went 47cm. Rick was the only one to miss out as he failed to catch a barred grunter.
All on shrimp tagged and released.
Cheers Ray

Good stuff 🙂 

Land based fishing on the Gold Coast was good the past weekend. Grunter bream were the stars of the show with plenty of fish around 40cm with the best 42cm. Mixed in with them were whiting to 33cm, legal Moses perch, a few blubberlip bream and of course bream and tarwhine. 
Yabbies and bloodworms were the bait of choice with no real difference between either of them. As is so often the case, sinker size was the key with anything over an 0 Ball being too heavy for where I was fishing. 
While grunter bream are not my favourite fish to fillet, once that chore is out of the way they are fantastic on the table. The blubberlip are put to good use too as they go quite well in the smoker. 
A sample of the catch are in the photos. 

Well looks like everyones stumped. So I did alot of googling. The closest resemblance I could find was a Bigeye cigarfish aka Evermanns Nomeid Ariomma brevimanum . Apparently a type of drift fish that hangs around floating debris, jellyfish. Once mature hangs in the deep 600 - 1000ft. Then shallower of a night. Apperntly eats salps and plankton. (and squid as i found). They have been caught around Hawaii , cook islands, Phillipines.. I guess where ever the currents take them and the water seems warm.
Well there you go. Doubt il ever see another. 
 

kmcrosby78, that is so right 🙂 
Cheers Hamish

Yeah, it wasn't working for me either. Regardless, I've caught a tummy bug so i can't really do anything 😞 It's just hit me last night. The site wasn't working for me since Friday too.
Hamish

Hi all
I've just gotten back from a trip in the Brisbane River, near the Story Bridge. I was fishing of the wharf in Captain Burke Park, that's the one near the beach.
First of all, we went to get some live bait from the beach. WE threw our nets for about 30 minutes and we were pretty unsuccessful. WE caught a sole, a couple baby bream, some glassies and one mullet. WE only used one of them though, the mullet. I chucked it out on my 650 Penn reel spooled with 30lb braid on a Rogue Firepoint 2m Boat rod. I had a size 1 star sinker on and a pretty large swivel. I had 80lb mono leader to a 6/o circle hook. The second rod isn't a very good quality setup though it has lasted and works great - I've had it for over 5 years. 
Once I casted the mullet out, it took about 15 minutes for our first action. I saw it getting some pretty good pecks, and i could feel they were good nibbles. When the nibbles stopped, i reeled my line in and expecting the bait to be gone, i saw it's head was bitten off clean. I cast it back out and then in about 5 minutes the reel was screaming. I tightened the drag and struck. Once the fish was on, it felt heavy and was taking some good runs. The very large head shakes gave me the feeling it was a Threadfin Salmon or Jewfish (Mulloway). Though, about 30 seconds - 1 minute later, the fish had busted me off. ON closer inspection, it looked like a knot failure but i made sure the braid was tight. I think the braid must've weakened from the knot and broke. The fish was off and i wound up the line and re-rigged.
After throwing numerous herring and prawns cocktails out (and herring and prawns) i realised dead baits we just going to keep getting pickered. As well as having 2 bream lines out, which also were getting pickered, we weren't having any luck. WE went out to catch some more live bait and we were eventually successful. Another lousy mullet was pinned through the tail and thrown back out in the river. WE waited and then we caught a little herring which was thrown out on the other line.
After about another 30-45 minutes, i got another take just as we were leaving. After the initial run, the fish shot up and took a jump. IT made a decent splash and was probably about 20 metres away from the pier. I thought it was a salmon at first, as it was silver and jumped. When i finally got it to the side of the pier though, i realized it was another small bull shark, probably just over 90cm. I walked it down to the beach, were i had an audience watching. After a quick struggle trying to de-hook it, it busted off and i took a picture. Then, i swum it and it kicked off. 
I guess this was a successful trip, but i was targeting threadfin salmon, which is what i reckon i had on first. I will certainly be coming back here for another session and i hope this interests someone in my tale.
Cheers Hamish

Hi all
I've just gotten back from a trip in the Brisbane River, near the Story Bridge. I was fishing of the wharf in Captain Burke Park, that's the one near the beach.
First of all, we went to get some live bait from the beach. WE threw our nets for about 30 minutes and we were pretty unsuccessful. WE caught a sole, a couple baby bream, some glassies and one mullet. WE only used one of them though, the mullet. I chucked it out on my 650 Penn reel spooled with 30lb braid on a Rogue Firepoint 2m Boat rod. I had a size 1 star sinker on and a pretty large swivel. I had 80lb mono leader to a 6/o circle hook. The second rod isn't a very good quality setup though it has lasted and works great - I've had it for over 5 years. 
Once I casted the mullet out, it took about 15 minutes for our first action. I saw it getting some pretty good pecks, and i could feel they were good nibbles. When the nibbles stopped, i reeled my line in and expecting the bait to be gone, i saw it's head was bitten off clean. I cast it back out and then in about 5 minutes the reel was screaming. I tightened the drag and struck. Once the fish was on, it felt heavy and was taking some good runs. The very large head shakes gave me the feeling it was a Threadfin Salmon or Jewfish (Mulloway). Though, about 30 seconds - 1 minute later, the fish had busted me off. ON closer inspection, it looked like a knot failure but i made sure the braid was tight. I think the braid must've weakened from the knot and broke. The fish was off and i wound up the line and re-rigged.
After throwing numerous herring and prawns cocktails out (and herring and prawns) i realised dead baits we just going to keep getting pickered. As well as having 2 bream lines out, which also were getting pickered, we weren't having any luck. WE went out to catch some more live bait and we were eventually successful. Another lousy mullet was pinned through the tail and thrown back out in the river. WE waited and then we caught a little herring which was thrown out on the other line.
After about another 30-45 minutes, i got another take just as we were leaving. After the initial run, the fish shot up and took a jump. IT made a decent splash and was probably about 20 metres away from the pier. I thought it was a salmon at first, as it was silver and jumped. When i finally got it to the side of the pier though, i realized it was another small bull shark, probably just over 90cm. I walked it down to the beach, were i had an audience watching. After a quick struggle trying to de-hook it, it busted off and i took a picture. Then, i swum it and it kicked off. 
I guess this was a successful trip, but i was targeting threadfin salmon, which is what i reckon i had on first. I will certainly be coming back here for another session and i hope this interests someone in my tale.
Cheers Hamish