Bretto77

They are doing well. Learning lots and putting their learnings into practice. 

Lol. I don't think you are a one trick pony. You are pretty good at finding the right time to be in a certain place whilst not retired. @Neil Stratford does have a bow of many strings. 
Comment was made with great respect to you both 👍.

Lol. I don't think you are a one trick pony. You are pretty good at finding the right time to be in a certain place whilst not retired. @Neil Stratford does have a bow of many strings. 
Comment was made with great respect to you both 👍.

Lol. I don't think you are a one trick pony. You are pretty good at finding the right time to be in a certain place whilst not retired. @Neil Stratford does have a bow of many strings. 
Comment was made with great respect to you both 👍.

The reason why Manly harbour is relatively highly toxic is it has no real tidal flow and a long history of works on boats there especially anti fouling removal and repainting. It accumulates and is not dispersed with tidal movements.
So in saying that most rivers and water frontages are safe to eat fish from because they either have decent tidal flow or they have minimal industrial contamination.
Dont eat fish caught in Manly harbour, Scarborough harbour or around any of the boat yards where they redo anti fouling especially.
Scarborough also had quite a high level of cholera bacteria in it back in the 80's and 90's....have not seen mention of it since though....i would not be surprised if it still does being stagnant water.
Redcliffe to Manly Harbour and all the rivers and creeks between are safe....just avoid the boat yards areas especially.

Hahaaaaaa @Bretto77
@Neil Stratford Neil's got all bases covered, i'm just a one trick pony 😁

With respect, yourself and Neil Stratford are amazingly annoying 😜😜😜
It's great that you are both on the right side of the river however 😉😅

With respect, yourself and Neil Stratford are amazingly annoying 😜😜😜
It's great that you are both on the right side of the river however 😉😅

With respect, yourself and Neil Stratford are amazingly annoying 😜😜😜
It's great that you are both on the right side of the river however 😉😅

With respect, yourself and Neil Stratford are amazingly annoying 😜😜😜
It's great that you are both on the right side of the river however 😉😅

With respect, yourself and Neil Stratford are amazingly annoying 😜😜😜
It's great that you are both on the right side of the river however 😉😅

Grunter seem to school up at certain times of the year in different places. I used to take an annual break at Burrum Heads in January and the run was either on the week before or the week after but occasionally I would be there at the right time and there would be heaps of boats lining up to catch good numbers of 50cm+ fish. Great eating. 

For me I get up to about 10 of these fish a year in SEQ.
I am not sure if they are more numerous now or our techniques and lures have changed that is enticing more bites.
II regularly caught smaller models in the 80's in Bribie Passage....usually on small live baits.
These days I catch larger models on soft plastics off Redcliffe, at the Port and in the Pine River usually.....mostly around the 60cm mark.....I think the presentation is the key to not catching many or any small ones these days.

Nice fish! I've caught one about that size in the Brisbane River plus a few smaller models on dead flesh baits and seen a few smaller ones caught periodically on livies normally. Usually in the warmer months.  
I've also heard live prawns are a good bait. 

Nice fish ! Would have put up a great fight.
I caught my first one at 36cm a couple of weeks ago at Harry's that went pretty hard for its size. I've been seeing quite a few being reported on Facebook too.

Hi @flattyfan4573 that is a wonderful fish! I also seem to hear about these fish being caught in MB more than say 5 years ago. I wonder if the environment (floods/warmer temperatures/changes in current strength from back to back to back La Ninas) have anything to do with it? Or are they filling a niche that historically other more common MB fish have left open (i.e. snapper?). Could be a combination of both.
Either way i am stoked they are here in numbers. They look cool, fight hard and taste good! (so i have heard)
BTW I think you should change your username to "GrunterHunter4573"
Andrew

That's the go! Might be due to come have a look down south ... is there any camping on the islands in the bay? Hmm

Thanks Steve, looking forward to you and Brian finding some at last years hunting grounds... 🙂

You sure know how to find those bigger models, Darren. Nice work!

Great photos.
Nice Snapper.

Thanks Hamish and Kat and Brian, if the wind calms down and the stars align, there are plenty of bigger ones out there in the bay to catch in May yet.... and of course bring on June and July 🙂
Wobbygong, i think u can camp on Peel island and North Straddie with a permit.
Jason caught the old stonefish in the eye i think Brian, and yep it fought like a rock lol... bluudy ugly things... eeerrk

Nice one Darren. That looks like the May comp winner to me.
Did the stonefish fight like a rock and waste a good bait ?

Great Snaps as usual!

Looks like a successful session @Allnighter, great snapper. 

Headed out with Jason for a quick fish this morning, heaps of bait still around in southern bay. We kept 3 squire at around 45cm for lunch and released a 70cm which always gives me a warmnfuzzy to watch swim back down.
By catch was an ugly old stone fish 🤮