Neil Stratford

Yes Ray the Bass King is a bit off colour at the moment. Im pretty sure he’d suggest something like Make up some shrimp traps and bait them up with some dried dog food pellets. Put them in the dam along some grassy bank in about a metre or so of water. Go back in a week and put them up ( the kids should like this even before they start fishing) Then use the live shrimp as bait in amongst the trees . Theres no secret spots , just keep moving till you find a few fish.There’s a very good chance you’ll all come away with a fair few bass quite easily .If you want a few pics of my home made traps and rigs used just ask, and I’ll post them for you. You will catch the bass on lures but you’ll loose a lot to snags down there.Don’t forget to purchase your SIP licences as they are required in the Hinze Dam , together with all the appropriate safety equipment. Neil

Nice feed !

Couple of nice Spotties , well done. regards Neil

Much better than the alternative of staying home and watching the grass grow.Don’t despair I recon it’s always hard to catch fish during a spell of westerly winds , regards Neil

Well done Hamish , that’s a cracker Blackspot and the muddiie’s not too shabby either . Great Report . Regards Neil

Thanks Daryl , if that’s the case , I’ll continue using them for a while. Thanks Neil

Hi Bob , That would be an option for reef fish but for toothy Pelagics like mackerel you need to be mindful that they sometimes snap at anything moving through the water , I don’t use snaps for that reason , I just join the wire trace to my main line with a very small unassuming black 80 lb swivel. I’m nowhere near convinced that the large sharks that I’m dealing with give one iota about a magnetic field. I can usually get most mackerel to the boat in probably close to under 2 minutes , bigger fish a little longer. They always go for a small 10 m odd run when they see the boat , the next 30 odd seconds it takes to get them back to the boat is when a significant amount of my spanish are taken . With the magnets being thrashed around with mackerels head shakes , Im hoping that maybe the sharks might sense somethings just not right and they turn off once or twice , and I can get 10 more seconds .I have no doubt they will learn and totally ignore the magnetic field especially if everyone uses them , it will probably even attract them more eventually . Im also thinking maybe hanging a speaker over the side after a hook up playing a recording really loud might work . Does any one have a recording of the sound of an Orca eating a shark , or maybe Some old Abba classics might even scare them off for a while if I play it loud enough. IMO There’s no way even a huge magnetic field is going to stop them getting what they want , if they learn to associate magnetic fields with food I recon they start eating the magnets . If there’s two or more sharks competing for your fish you have little to no chance . But , I think if anglers can get an extra 20 seconds using a variety of different scare off tactics ,a lot less fish would be taken.

And the day gets better ; number 1 nephew just dropped me off 2 nice muddies for being a good uncle !

Hi Kat , I took a photo of my magnet rigs for you .see below.

Got my sashimi morning tea sorted for today. What I kept of yesterdays catch , all cryovaced up. You can clearly see the fat marbled through the steaks and cutlets. And an added bonus my son dropped off 25 kg of snap frozen black tiger prawns all packaged up in 2 kg bags.

Hi Kat , With a bit of ingenuity,I simply attach one of those super strong earth magnets to the lead hook of my mackerel rigs. I bounced the idea off our resident shark expert , Daryl McPee a few years ago when we fished in the same fishing club together -at the time he told me the idea had “ Merit “ I think I put up a post on this forum showing these rigs a couple of years back , with photos of the actual rigs .if you search back into history you may find it. I’ve been using the rigs on and off since then and surprisingly I have only had one of the four or five I made lost to a shark. (they are not 100% effective) . I’ve seen sharks come in on hooked spanish and then veer off at the very last second so I’m pretty sure they work to some degree on sharks , but I’m not confident that the magnetic field also may have an effect on the mackerel taking the baits in the first instance . I can only say yes they do catch their share of mackerel , but do they catch as many - who knows , but they seem to discourage most sharks to give me a few more seconds to get the fish into the boat. regards Neil

Hi Kat , Touch wood , No shark issues this morning , only saw one , but I did go back to using my home made magnet assist rigs. They seem to work as I’ve only lost 1 rig in about two years but I’m still undecided as to whether they put the mackerel off though, as I only had 2 mackerel hits this morning . I found a huge school of Spanish macs on the sounder but found it difficult to get them to take the baits. Managed a good feed so wasn’t too worried.

I took advantage of a break in the strong westerly winds this morning and snuck out for a fishin’mission. Forgot it was school holidays and their was a fair few boats out. Had a very effective fisheries Qld visit at about 9 am , they just pulled up along side in their rubber ducky and I didn’t even have to pull in my troll baits ,just kept trolling and they did their checks on the move .Life jackets , Rego , flares etc etc all passed . Strangely they didn’t want to see my Epirib because I was less than 2 km offshore , which I thought was a bit strange because next stop to the east would have been Fiji . Anyway it was friendly , well conducted and didn’t waste any of my time . Had three hits for the morning and got all three fish - 2 Spanish which were pretty much a pigeon pair at about 12 to 15kg and a big stinky Barracuda that was release to annoy someone else.

Well done on the trevally , they go hard on light gear. regards Neil

I’m pretty sure there’s only about 160 odd East Coast Spanish Mackerel line licences in play in Qld.Some of these probably are not even actively being used . I’m sure these people are being closely monitored and spend significant parts of their days completing paper work for no pay.This is not a good way to treat people who work their guts out. I feel for them having just lost 70% of their potential lively hoods with the stroke of a pen . No restitution given. The Qld Government only knows how many boats are registered in Qld , many of these are not even fishing boats.Unfortunately, the fact is they have next to no idea how many Rec Fishermen there are and how often they fish , little own what they take , where . I can’t see how they can really make any truly informed decisions apart from the fish marketed via Pro fishermen. If shark depredation is viewed as even less fish , why too doesn’t it count as a number in the biomass , Say If 1 in 5 mackerel are being taken by sharks , would not that then mean there’s really 20% more to be added to the supposition of a 17 % biomass which could then really be 20.4% . So many things aren’t being considered , ie can a 60 y/o plus pro fishermen physically catch what he did 10 years ago and does he even want to ? Im happy to be regulated to 2 Spanish per boat and 1 per person in possession at any one time to improve this fishery , but it needs to be reviewed regularly and not let go as per the current shark issue. Those big bull sharks are awesome , but hopefully they leave us humans alone in years to come when there’s even more. I’m hearing that divers off the Sunshine Coast are being harassed by them , I’m starting to wonder how long it will be before they become part of the menu.

Hi Andrew , The catch rate v sharks attacks rates you have quoted for me are floored . I like you don’t right up a report for every time a trip out is made. fyi , below is info on three trips made between those two trips you have critiqued. Trip A 6 Spanish - non lost to sharks. Back to the ramp at 830am . All fish filleted and boned out and nearly all given away to friends and family who appreciate a feed of free fresh fish . Trip B 62 Bass - with a couple lost to tree branches . All bass released. Trip C 1 Threadfin - released Suggest you goggle up - Qld Spanish Mackerel bag limit 4bc utube. It’s an interview between Neil Breen ( 4bc) and Dan McCarthy ( independent politician and Game Fisher).Very entertaining and must see watch for you. I like my spanish fishing and wouldn’t like to see a decline in their stock. I tend to agree with Junky on the this one , the shark numbers are causing lots of issues . Eat more Flake , I’ve also heard it makes great reef fish bait when skinned . My personal catch rates for SM in SE Qld have increased dramatically in numbers in the last 3 years , this is definitely due to increasing my skills around fishing for them .With all respect to the anglers who partake in fisheries surveys most simply lack the know how , where and when to catch SM and unfortunately may never have the joy of catching one .

I took my brother for a mackerel fish this morning , turned up at the ramp a little late due to road work delays on the Bruce Highway , basically all the way from the Pine River to the Caloundra turn off . Got to my first spot to see another boat get a Spanish , we trolled around for about 20minutes without seeing to many exciting things on the sounder , so decided to move on . We then came across a big school of long tails so I popped a stick bait into them twice and hooked up , took me a good 10minutes to get it up to the boat only to see it get swallowed whole next to the boat - very easy release and bye bye stick bait. Moved on again and found a big school of Spanish . My brother took the first strike . It got sharked , we then had a double hook up , both got sharked . We then moved again . At this stage my brother decided to stop fishing and just drive the boat . I then managed to get a Spanish onto the deck . Lost 5 more to sharks , and a few more to broken wire, broken hooks simply by going too hard on them. Then surprisingly got another one on the deck and mission was complete with a good feed. We had two very dramatic shark attacks today , pity I didn’t get them on video . First one was a Spano completing a big cart wheeling jump , followed seconds later by a high spiral leap , only to hit the water and get absolutely destroyed on the surface. The second one went for a bit of a run turned around and charged the boat , it then jumped about 10 feet from the back of the boat and slammed into the stern next to the motor, very close to where I was perched , as soon as he hit the water next to the motor he got smashed , a couple more inches higher and he would have been on the deck . We then decided we’d had enough and went home defeated and tails between our legs . What a smashing day!

I love my Major Craft Volkey VKS - 70L /Big Lake 4 to 8 lb - very gutsy little weapon , but not sure whether they still make them though. The Wilson Blade N Tails RLFBT 05s and 06s are also pretty good kit , and are worth a look at. regards Neil

I’ll go 7 years old. regards Neil

Yes Bob , I think it’s time the powers to be have a look at relaxing the size and bag limits on the bull sharks. I’m not partial to eating them but many people do like them. This might take some pressure off other species. The ones giving me the issues are pretty much all full grown specimens - all over 8foot long . They’re magnificent creatures with appetites to match , they take 25kg mackerel in the blink of an eye.

Thanks for the day out Ray, had a great time as usual. Ps Skipper only has to put us on fish , no need to go that extra yard and put us on logs . Regards Neil

Hi Andrew , No I don’t usually loose that many to sharks. Usually only a few and sometimes none. I fish near a pretty heavily fished area where at least 3 pro boats work . I’m now wondering whether the recent mackerel closure , meant that the resident sharks went hungry for three weeks? Could be just like not feeding your aquarium fish for a few weeks and dropping a little food in I suppose. I give my mackerel frames , shark attack details and any remains to Qld Fisheries .If others report on increased shark activity I’d say they might look at what happens at the end of this next three week closure Dont fret yet , the jury is still out on the Spanish mackerel biomass.DNA testing is stilling happening , but fisheries need more frames to do this successfully.They will come to your house to pick them up , so if you catch any in the next few months call them .

Thanks Kat , yes your right , chlorine for whites , Oxygen based for colours . Soak in cold water for blood. Hopefully all good! I shouldn’t be hugging those fish so tightly.

Hi Kat , No unfortunately it’s a brand new , nice heavy cotton work shirt .My wife has a circuit machine and put a couple of Krackens on the front two pockets ,which indicates to me that I can use it squiding , and a very cool angry mackerel on the back , which indicates it’s also mackerel proof - all good ! . It’s now soaking in the laundry , nothing a little bit of bleach won’t fix (I Think /Hope) Yes plenty of fish in the freezer , but it’ll be all gone in two weeks. Already given away a couple of big slabs of mackerel to a neighbour and just had some of the Sweetlip for dinner. Going Bass fishing with the Bass King later this week , so I’m sure Ray won’t knock back a few boneless mackerel steaks. No opposite coast - They were caught on the Sunshine Coast., but I’m sure if you put a Bonito or Tuna out and slow trolled it off the Gold Coast you’d get an inquiry with similar results. Hi Ellicat yes trolled dead baits. Neil

Thought I’d better have a mackerel fish on the last day before the next closure.Started trolling at 745am and it didn’t take long to find some.In fact the Spanish were absolutely on fire this morning , but unfortunately had to feed the sharks well to put a few specimens in the ice box . Came away with a nice feed and a sore back. Had to sacrifice probably 10 fish to get 3 but managed to break in my new fishing shirt!