Hi all
My brother and I decided to go to our local park on the Brisbane River yesterday, targeting sharks. We were successful and had some other surprises. Here's what happened, and the statistics of the trip 🙂
So, after waking up at 5:30AM, I woke my brother up. Well, it was to early for him, so I got my Dad up and he took me down. After he left, I threw out my shark lines, one with a slab of mullet, the other with a bony bream. The combos were a Rogue Firepoint 6'6" and a Penn 650 with 30lb braid, as well as a lower quality set up. I was up on the pier area, not on the jetty, but i saw two pecks, (well strikes) and I ran down thinking "Jeez, am I on one already?" Nope! I reeled it in, and nothing was on the hook - *disappointed*. Then, I caught a little catfish which was perfect shark bait size, which i kept (mainly because the line was stuck in it's gills). I pulled up a couple more, threw the cast net and caught a prawn for live bait, then Declan came down with Dad, and after a couple more bait checks we had caught about 5 catties. They each put up a good fight for their size, they really took off when the drag was loose 🙂 Great fun too. The catfish are caught on a 1000 size Shimano Sienna and a 2500 Diawa Shinobi.
Now it was about 8:00AM, and I did another bait check on the shark lines. I felt a sudden pull, then realised I was hooked up. After about a five minute fight, I realised the little bully was tangled with this line and he was actually hooked on the other 🙂 It was a pretty bad situation, because he had some wire tang;ed around his body, but after he rolled a couple times I could walk him down to the jetty to land him. In about another 10 minutes, he was netted and then released. Here he is-
We didn't get a precise measurement but I'd say he was around 80cm and about 5 kilos. He scoffed a big chunk of mullet down too. After he was dealt with and released, Declan and I pulled up a couple more catfish, and by that time it was warming up a bit (but we were in shade). We only kept one shark line out, i figured it would be easier to handle. We had a crowd watching the bull shark too, a lady who walks there a lot and someone else.
So, we re-casted all the lighter lines then upped the catfish count to seven or eight. Then, I dropped a line right next to pylon (mainly so it wouldn't get tangled with the other because we were fishing the run out of the end of the pier which is only about five metres wide). I hooked up after about ten minutes, at first thinking it was an ok catty again, but then after feeling the weight and the runs it was doing back to the structore I released it was something better. I got it away from the structure and then was happy/surprised to see a nice estuary cod on the end of my line. I slowly walked it down while Declan was grabbing some gear, like the landing net, brag mat, lip grips and pliers and he scooped it up. I dehooked it and it measured about 40cm on the mat. Here it is -
He was released to be caught next time 😉 and swum off well, back under the pier/jetty. 🙂 After that, Declan pulled up a few more catties (I let him have them after set the drag, etc) and he was having fun. After we got the tally to ten, the bite went quiet, as it was about 10:00AM and the tide had slowed a little. Most of the catties would've been under 30cm, but he caught a couple bigger ones. Then, I pulled in one more and my Dad came down and took us home. Here are the statistics of the trip:
Statistics
Tide: 1.7metre high, run out and .8 metre low, at approx. 10:00AM
Moon Phase: First Quarter, so not that much run
Weather: 34c, 55% humidity
Wind: Very glassy, though the breeze picked up later in the morning
Tackle Used: 14lb braid mainlines, 12;b mono leader, size 2 bean sinkers, 4/o suicide hooks, 30lb braid mainline, 80lb wire trace, 100lb mono leader, 6/o circle hook.
Fish Caught: Shark x 1, Catfish x 9, Estuary Cod x 1
Bait Caught: Prawn x 1
Bait Used: Herring, Mullet, Prawn
Successful Overall: Very Successful Trip
I hope you enjoyed reading the report, I know it was a very fun session 🙂
Cheers Hamish 🙂
