Neil Stratford

I took my brother up to Monduran in November 2022 for a three day camping trip . It was our first time there and haven’t been back since , so I’m certainly no expert on the place The dam was over 100 percent and was spilling , was temp in the main basin was only 24 deg C,it was 2 days before and after a super moon , it was also a full solar eclipse. I dropped a fish next to boat first cast and we didnt get another bite all the entire first day. We went back to camp disappointed and were forced to review our tactics. We got 24 Barra in the remaining couple of days fishing day time only. The code we cracked was a combination of 1.fish showing on side scan, 2.looked for water a couple of degrees warmer than the main basin. 3.fished up in the shallows off gently sloping points fringed with Water Lillies with timber present,well away from other boats 4 . Super Stealth on the electric when spot locking . 5. Number of casts = number of fish. 6.. didn’t bother with fishing only the tide changes we just stayed on the water and fished all day.and enjoyed a few drinks in the evenings. Apart from one other boat , everyone we spoke to at the camp ground donuted that weekend , so we were pretty happy with our rookie effort.I put up a post back in November 22 but you won’t be able to view the photos.

Did a quick bay trip this morning , more shark issues , dropped three burners as they ran me through the reef , going to have up grade from 12lb to 20lb braid to spin the odds more in my favour.

Have a look at Shimano’s Ocea PE 1.5. I’ve been using this for years on a couple of reels for casting lures , It has a very thin diameter and is a good casting braid - but it is expensive .This stuff is good. if you have time drop into a tackle store called “Bait “ on the corner of Compton and Kingston Rds Underwood . They carry a braid called TailWalk Power Eye , this is also a very good braid , thin diameter and I feel it’s more abrasive resistant than the Ocea . regards neil

Last 3 trips have been a little disappointing, but have managed to scrape up a few feeds of nice eating fillets. Did a whiting trip and got some quality whiting for the table , dropped a big Mangrove Jack right at the boat as I was trying to net it , surprised no one has mentioned hearing me let go a naughty swear word as I recon half the boats down the Gold Coast way would have heard me. Fished Peel Island this morning but had to fight sharks and dolphins , all morning , I surrendered at 8am after a 3m bull shark got a trophy snapper as it surfaced just behind the boat. I usually take pity on the cod and release them all , but I know this fellow pictured stood little chance of making it back down. Did a Hinze Dam trip with Ray K last Thursday , it was a slow day , but the company was good. I think it took me a couple of hours before I managed to entice a few bass to bite for me. Hopefully my mojo returns for the next trip. Regards Neil

Spaghetti and Cheese for dinner . Sliced Banana and tinned Nestle Caramel with a dollop of thickened cream on top for dessert.

Spanish remote , that would have made for an interesting day -But you didn’t swear did you Ray! That would have made for a great utube video. Good to see you were able to get it sorted i bet it’s not a very big walk from the bottom of the ramp to the car at the moment. Neil

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

Hi Ray , hope you’re keeping well , and good to see you still getting a few bass in the Eastern Arm . I thought of you when we had all that rain , and had a feeling you might have lost a few pots when the tide came up Never mind , I’m sure they’ll re surface eventually. Regards Neil

Two more for team south Snapper 745mm and Spangled Emperor 550mm

Don’t get all excited Hweebe , the photo attachment issued isn’t fixed . (Sorry, it might be I didn’t even try it) My photos are attached via copy and pasting a link.Pain in the …… I’ve got a few more that I’ll put up later. That Northside 3rd placed squire won’t be in play for too long.

Flathead 620mm, Bream 310mm,Cod 320mm, Grassys 390mm 370mm,380mm School Mac 720mm Spanish Mac 2x 1100mm For Team South. Regards Neil FF

There’s a fair chance it was made by Murray Goulburn (Devondale ) as they were a huge supply of milk powder back then . They still use blue packaging. Back in the sixty’s there were a lot of small Dairy Co ops ,many of which had driers so excess milk wasn’t wasted , it could have been from any of these. Ie Caboolture co op Dairy Company was know as CCDC . Booval ( Jacaranda) had a drier. Norco had a drier at Southport. Casino had a drier Toowoomba had a drier. Neil

Take your own hose and get a four way brass tap key from Bunnings ,so you can access the council park water. I’m pretty sure there would be a tap in or near the public toilets or at the picnic shed, at the ramp park.Its always a good idea to flush the salt out of your motor asap -if you can. Also good to give your trailer and boat a quick rinse as well. Neil

Extremely well junior Jono. Those big catties are animal fish. When is dad taking you back? Maybe put in a few shrimp traps three or four days before you go next time , Live Shrimp are the gun bass baits.

Well done Kat , cannt complain about a feed of whiting. regards Neil

Well said Jono ! Fish Eat Fish Sleep is for the weak . Lets see what the Northside has !

Well done , the snapper will go down well.

Kat , Good luck tomorrow, make sure you take the Bushman”s if your fishing early or late , the sandflies were on the bite. Doughnuts , yes they were a bit tentative, just not many where I was fishing. Greg , the photo issue isnt rectified, I tried , but it didn’t work.

Hi Kat , the biggest two were 390 and 395mm .

No sorry , I have no link to it available , if you send me your mobile number as a private message on this site , I should be able to send it to you on messenger. Neil

Dug some wriggler worms on Tuesday afternoon , it was hot , and unfortunately for me ,the beach was covered in 6 inches of weed where I wanted to dig ,forcing me to rake it off in order to get at the worms. Ended up getting enough worms in about half an hour for a quick fish . Headed down to the Pin on Thursday morning and fished the run up King Tide . The fish were there but not in numbers I like ,but the quality of the whiting was excellent so I wasn’t complaining .Also scored a lone Grunter which was a disappointment as I thought it was going to be a huge whiting . I tried to post a couple of photos in the usual way , but they still don’t load . Regards Neil

Id be having a banana royal commission then doing a banana shake down of the boat !

Hi Ray , Nice bass Rick! Double gate access hey, they can now keep people off the dam when they want, and leave the picnic area open . Presume the western ramp will be the same set up. Merry Christmas Neil

Bonito was the choice of bait.

I’m in for the Southside Neil