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Hello! Just joined but been appreciating the info in the forums I’ve just started a month of holidays and decided I’d try some prawning. im so super new but I’ve seen people clean up at Colmslie and so that’s kinda…my go to. thinking about making the trek to pine river. just looking for general pointers any tips or like dos and donts. I have a 9’ cast net and working on getting the throw right. Old mate at the jetty was nice and told me about bait (cat food and breadcrumbs) tried low tide last night and thinking about trying hightide pre sunrise in the coming week. Any advice is appreciated!

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Hi all This morning I snuck out for a quick flick with my cast net in hopes of catching a few Brissy River Banana Prawns. I slept in a bit more than I should have and ended up arriving at the spot just before sunrise, after a quick ride. I wasted no time and was pleased to catch four prawns on my first cast of the morning. I continued catching a couple each cast until the sun started shining on the river, which was when the prawns slowly started to trickly away into deeper water. I also had a rod out with a live prawn, which for the most part, was getting no love. I continued casting around the jetty in hopes of some more prawns, and eventually I found a few in a deeper pocket of water I don't normally cast at. I ended up increasing the tally into an amount that made it not quite satisfying but worthwhile enough for the two or so hours I put in. I left a bit after eight, after catching five prawns in one throw. There were plenty of casts I got nothing at all, and in hindsight I should have gotten up at 4:30AM instead of turning off my clock and going back to bed . Next time I come prawning here I will definitely bring some berley and get there at a more suitable hour. Stats of Trip: Tide: I prawned the last of the run out to the slack. Would've been better if I got there earlier. 1:30AM, 2.3M, High, 8:10AM, .2M, Low. Moon Phase: 74%. No moonrise or moonset while I was prawning. Bait Caught and Used: Live prawns, mullet. Fish Caught: Zilch, a bit more than a kilo of prawns though. Humidity: 67-77% Air Pressure: Around 1033 at my house when I left, dropping to 1027. Notes: Prawns are definitely best at this spot before sunrise. Next time wake up earlier. Overall Success Rate: 50% - no fish and will probably be my last fishing session for a few weeks because of school. Thanks for reading, Cheers Hamish

Hi all This report will be about my last three sessions in the Brisbane River fishing and prawning. They were each relatively successful, and I will start off with my session on Saturday. I got to the spot at about 5:30AM and after setting up started cast netting. I was pleased to catch a good amount of nice sized prawns first up, which were deployed on the lines. I also caught someone's car keys, but the first catch on line for the day was a stingray (unusual catch for this spot). By about 8:00AM, the prawns disappeared, so it was lucky I already had a bucketful for the days fishing. Also, around this time, I had a screaming run on one of my reels baited with a live prawn and live herring combo, but unfortunately it didn't hook up. Michael arrived shortly after, and we continued fishing in anticipation. Bait Unfortunately, apart from a few fast runs on Michael's rod that for some reason did not hook up, and a couple of inquiries on mine including one decent hook up which shook the hook, it was a quiet day. A few catties were caught, but there was hardly any bait around for the majority of the day's fishing. We called it quits at about 1:00PM, after going through lunch without any bites. Stats of Trip: KF Tide: 3:15AM, .5M, Low, 8:40AM, 1.5M, High, 2:35Pm, .3M, Low Moon Phase: 7%, New Moon Bait Caught and Used: Live prawns, mullet, bony bream, herring Fish Caught: Catfish, stingray Tackle Used: I used a Shimano Baitrunner DC on Kmart rod with 30 pound braid, 50 pound leader, size 2 snapper sinker, 6/o circle hook, Shimano Symetre 4000 on Sentire rod combo, same rig, Shimano Sedona 6000 with 30 pound braid and Abu Garcia Nexus rod, same rig as above. Air Pressure: 1019 Humidity: 83% Overall Success Rate: 40% - fun session with some good prawns That night, I was back at it again with Dad trying our luck for some prawns. The first spot we went to was a new one, and there were already a couple people there. Unluckily for us, the prawns didn't get the memo, but we eventually found a spot we were getting 1-2 a cast. We probably could've kept them for ourselves here but gave them to another guy having no luck, as we were mainly there to suss the place out and then move on to a different spot. I think he must have felt like the luckiest guy ever, two strangers came down and started catching prawns for him. The next spot was a bit more lively, and we ended up with a bit more than half a kilo after a short period of time. Being quite tired, we headed home at about 9:30PM. I packaged the prawns up in bags, and decided to use these ones as bait as there hasn't been a whole lot of bait in the river recently. Stats of Trip: RD, KP Tide: 9:00PM, 2.3M, High Moon Phase: New Moon Bait Caught and Used: Prawns Air Pressure: 1019 Humidity: 86% Overall Success Rate: 70% - got some I gave the fishing a miss on Sunday, but luckily today I had a pupil free day from school. This could only have meant one thing, so I loaded up some gear and got the train and ferry to a spot I haven't visited for a while. Story Bridge before sunrise (this is Riverside ferry terminal) There was no one else at the spot when I got there, and I was set up a little after half past six. I chucked some of the prawns out from the previous night, and got to cast netting. Bait was really slow at first, and apart from a couple herring and silver biddies it wasn't looking good. Likewise, the fishing action didn't seem too promising, with a rather large jenny sand crab coming in first, followed by a dead seagull that had been caught in someone's snagged fishing line (seagull and line was binned, not good to see). Luckily, at about 9:00AM, having caught no fish and only getting a couple of picks, I managed to get a couple schools of prime size poddy mullet in the net. These would prove to be a bit of a lifesaver, and I lobbed a lollipop size one out on one of my rods. Now feeling a bit more hopeful, I sat down and had a bite to eat. Unfortunately, my mullet came back in scaled and barely alive, so a bit before ten it was lobbed out again ready to be munched. Sure enough, fifteen minutes later I saw my rod getting a subtle bite, and I was pleased to hook up to a decent opponent. A few strong headshakes later and one fast run under the jetty, a very solid Brisbane River flatty (about 65CM) was sitting in the bottom of my dilly. Nice! Flatty I've been seeing a lot of these caught lately, so was pleased to nab a decent one for myself. Despite my best efforts, the fish was quite badly gut hooked, which made getting the hook out difficult. By the time I did get it out (I wasn't too keen on releasing the fish with the hook in its throat as it was a rather large one that wouldn't rust quickly), it must've been too late, because I swum the flatty for twenty minutes and it wasn't going anywhere. A little later, another guy rocked up. We both got our lines in, but there was still no bait or real bite activity. After a couple hours, we were pleased to see a school of tailor come through, which chomped two of my livies before I landed a 45CM model, which came in with some solid aerobatics. This was kept, and shortly after, the other guy fishing managed to land a 55CM model, which put up a great fight. I ended up not being able to catch any more livies after having a legal buck sandcrab eat my last mullet and drop off as I was pulling it up, so called it quits shortly before two. Tailor Stats of Trip: B Tide: 4:15AM, .7M, Low, 9:40AM, 1.8M, High, 3:30PM, .5M, Low Moon Phase: .7%, New Moon Bait Used and Caught: Live mullet, biddies, herring, dead prawns, herring, anchovy Tackle Used: Shimano Baitrunner DC 8000 on Kmart rod, Okuma Coronado 55 on Silstar Crystal Powertip 6-8KG, Shimano Sedona 6000 on Abu Garcia Nexus 6-10KG, all had 30 pound braid, 50 pound trace, size 4 star sinker, 6/o circle hook, barrel swivels. Air Pressure: 1020 Humidity: 77% Fish Caught: Flathead x 1, Tailor x 2, Sand crab x 2 Overall Success Rate: 90% - I told my dad I wanted to catch a decent flatty today and got one! Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. It was good to catch a couple of fish on the last day of the weekend after a couple of uneventful sessions. Probably need to start getting used to wearing the buff again after getting burnt decently today as well. Cheers Hamish

Hello fellow fishers! Just wanted to provide an brief update on a recent Brisbane river land based session we had. Me and the mrs decided to head up to a land based spot for some prawns, which were in decent number (couple per cast). Considering we were catching enough for a feed I decided to throw some larger models out as live bait. Had two rods out, one was a distance cast to get as close to the channel and a closer cast (this also avoids tangling on my own line) About half an hour before the change of tide my baitrunner started buzzing with sound, with a few LARGE tugs and rod tip stayed loaded. Hooked onto what felt like a potentially medium-large mulloway or threadfin on the rod that was casted out further. Managed to bring it pretty much to the pontoon and my line had snapped as I saw a touch of colour (however still unsure on what species). I noticed that my 40 pound leader was frayed in a very odd manner. It is hard to explain but the bottom 5-10 cms of my leader felt like it was sanded down and there was discoloration. Anyways fixed up my line and cast out another live prawn. On the tide change that beautiful sound of the drag started again however this time was a solid run. Strike and the fight commenced, after a short period was able to bring a medium-large mulloway (either just legal or just under so not huge). This is where things went horrible wrong, the hook was just pinned by the lip, concerned that the lift up to the pontoon would of ripped the lip. Unfortunately didn't have a net on hand, one of the fellow fishers on the pontoon tried to assist in bringing up the jewfish on the pontoon. This is when the mulloway decided to head dive down and go for another run before I could loosen my drag and the line snapped. While the chaos was occurring my other rod also went for a small run, stopped however the rod tip was loaded. Brought the other rod in to catch one of the biggest eels i personally had ever caught, would of been well and truly over a meter. Released off to annoy another fisherman. You win some you lose some, only makes me hungrier for another Brisbane river mulloway. Still went home with almost 2 kilos of prawns, so happy days! Date: 12 June 2023 Tide times: Just after top of tide Moon phase: Third quarter Bait: Live prawn Species caught: Mulloway Size: 70-75cms (was unable to measure as line snapper while trying to bring it onto the pontoon) Barometric pressure: 1020.24 Rods: Penn Prevail II 10 ft and 9'6 ft Reels: Shimano Baitrunner 6000 and Penn Live Liner 6500 Line: 30 pound braid Leader: 40 pound Hooks: 4/0 live bait hooks Sinker: 60-70 gram star sinker on slider.

Hi all Once again, the last couple of days I've been out in the river trying for something decent. It hasn't been the best fishing though, but I have seen a decent variety of fish caught. The first session was last Saturday, and was at a spot I hadn't been to in a while. After arriving at about 7:50AM in the morning, I met with Michael and we got straight to cast netting. It wasn't long before we had a few herring, and we got to fishing. Andrew arrived shortly after, but the tide was roaring out making fishing slightly difficult. An bit more than an hour had passed when Michael's rod got a decent hit and he was on. A fight full of headshakes saw a 34CM squire pulled up, the first I had seen in ages. Hopefully there are a few more of these getting around as it cools down. After about another 45 minutes or so, I saw my rod getting some bites. It wasn't long before I realized I was on, so I set my drag and began pulling in the fish. It wasn't big, and I presumed it was a toad. Annoyingly, a rather fat one surfaced, so after I got the hook out I threw it back into the river and chucked another bait out. The bite was pretty patchy, but eventually after another hour or so Michael was on again. The fish was hardly fighting and gave a couple headshakes as it surfaced, so we were all pleased to see a baby thready of about 30CM. It was one of the smallest we'd ever seen, so it was released quick and thrown back into the water. After that, the bite went a bit quiet again, but it wasn't long before Andrew was hooked up to a fish. About half way through the fight, it jumped out of the water a couple times, and it was clear Andrew had a tailor on the end of the line. We eventually had it on the jetty, and it came in at 45CM. After fishing for about another hour and catching no more, we cooked up the fish and some lunch before I headed off for the arvo. Stats of Trip: Tide: 5:50AM, 2.5M, High, 12:50PM, .7M, Low Moon Phase: 31%, decreasing Air Pressure: 1005 Humidity: 72% Gear Used: I used a Shimano Baitrunner 8000 DC on a Kmart Rod, a Abu Garcia Ambassadeur on an Ugly Stik, 30 and 20 pound braid mainlines, 30 pound leader, size 4 star sinkers, barrel swivels, size 4/0 and 6/0 circle hooks. Bait Caught and Used: Herring, garfish Fish Caught: I got a toady, others caught 1 x squire, 1 x thready, 1 x tailor Overall Success Rate: 25% - a quiet day for me but a decent variety of fish caught The next day (yesterday), I was busy in the morning, but decided to go out for one last session to finish my holidays. I went to a spot nearby my home, and arrived by about 2:45PM. I didn't waste any time and got straight to cast netting as I had no deadbait to use. It took a little while, but I eventually had a couple small silver biddies and prime size mullet, which were casted out onto my line. The tide was rising, and I was hopeful of a thready. It wasn't long before I was on the first fish of the day - a catfish. After getting rid of this I ended up getting snagged on one of my lines, so I rerigged this as well and casted out another bait. The tide was getting a bit higher now and I got a few more baitfish including some mullet and gar, which were casted out in no time after being caught. The tide was starting to get a bit higher, and although I had some good livies out the bites just weren't really there. I tried repositioning one of my rods to the top walkway of the jetty with a live mullet, but this brought no fish either. As it started to get later in the day it was looking like I was going to catch no fish. Fortunately, as the tide really started pumping, a few good sized banana prawns started drifting through off the front of the jetty (on any other tide other than low, it is a really low tide at this spot). I capitalized on this opportunity, and as well as about 12 river perch (from 10-30cm), a fair few bream, a small grunter, I got about 15 good prawns and lots of herring in a short time period. There were also some anchovies getting about, so hopefully with the good bait at this jetty I'll be able to get out for an after school fish here sometime. As the prawns slowed I started focusing on the fishing, and caught another catty. As it began to get dark, I lost another rig as a catfish pulled me into a snag, and I sent out an anchovy/prawn combo and the same mullet that had been out for the whole session. As my Dad arrived I caught another catty on the anchovy/prawn bait and let the mullet go after I got it off my hook. I left at about 6:30PM, disappointed with the lack of bites. At least I have some deadbait for next time now. Stats of Trip: Tide: 2:10pm, .4m, Low, 8:00PM, 2.0M, High Moon Phase: Quite small, decreasing Humidity: 74% Air Pressure: 1004 Gear Used: I used a Shimano Symetre 4000 on a Shimano Sentire Rod, A Abu Garcia Ambassadeur on an Ugly Stik, a Shimano Baitrunner 8000DC on a Kmart Rod. 15-30 pound braid mainline, 30 pound leader, 4/o and 6/o circle hooks. Size 6 ball sinkers and 3 barrel sinkers. Bait Caught and Used: Live herring, mullet, prawns, anchovies, silver biddy Fish Caught: Catfish x 3 Overall Success Rate: 25% - got some bait Thanks for reading, Cheers Hamish

Hi everyone, just started prawning late in the season last year in northside spots around brisbane - cabbage tree creek, nudgee beach, boggy creek, north pine river. Just wondering if anyone can confirm if they're coming by any since Christmas? Have headed out a few times in Dec and Jan and I've not come by any. Hitting up the usual spots at high tide in the AM as well. Is this normal? I thought they came on in Dec and Jan?? Cheers Ben

Well it’s that time of year to dust off the top pockets and have a throw. Went for my first two sessions for the year over the past two weeks and did quite well. Both sessions saw me and a mate get two buckets of prawns per session in under two hours. All of the prawns were of a good size too aswell as a few casts with heavy pockets. This was to be expected due to the decent amount of rain we’ve had compared to the last two seasons. Any way looks like it’ll be a cracker season especially once they start to show up around The southern bay islands and nudgee. By the time they migrate to these locations I reckon they will be pretty solid. So if anyone is keen to get out now is the time as they are definitely on!!

When is the best time to try for prawns down at the Pinkenba boat ramp?

Hey all Today my dad and I decided that because there was no tennis on this morning, we would make the most of it and try and get our name on the board for a species in Suburbs of Origin. Our plan was quite simple; keep one rod with a plastic/lure, and catch some livies for the other two. We planned to drift to the first spot, then fish that for a bit, then fish Cobia Bridge for a bit more, then drift back up with the tide. We were awoken at about 4:30AM by the alarm, and I believe we were collecting bait at about 5:30AM. It only took four casts to get about 15-20 good sized prawns, and then we loaded the yak and left. We decided to ditch the drift idea, as we thought it'd be better to paddle down with the tide and come back up with the rise. We arrived at what we call 'Three Pylon Creek', as there are three pylons out the front, and started fishing. I did my first cast out in the middle of the creek, then another one to a jetty nearby... Then to the mud bank. My soft plastic lure, a 3 inch motor oil grub (thanks @samsteele115, legend!), was twitched once. Then twice. Then I felt some weight and realised I was on. all hell broke loose shortly after, and this thing was running around as fast as a cheetah! It leapt out of the water at one point early in the fight, and I saw some silver so I thought it was a salmon. I had my drag as tight as I dared, so it wasn't taking any runs. My dad was quick to grab our kayak net, and just before this he had identified it as a flatty! We got it in just after it took a good run, but once it was on the boat all hell broke loose...Again! It went crazy in my dads legs, and was clearly very unhappy to be on the boat! After some rowers had a good time watching us muck around, we got it on the measurer. My dad called it for 55cm, so I was pretty happy with that, especially because it's only my second fish on a lure ever! Here is the fish just prior to being released While it's no biggun, it's a respectable Brisbane River fish. After that, my dad got a few nibbles and an OK hit on the salmon line, but they were all small by the looks. I had a sinker that was probably to big for shallower water but still used that so I didn't have to change it. After our adrenaline rush subsided, we decided to set sail to our next spot - Cobia Bridge! We got to the beach at about ten past seven, and did some cast netting briefly. My dad got nothing but some tiny prawns, which was unfortunate seeing as though the last time we were here we got mullet, biddies, and whiting in two throws! After some casting (only for a couple small hits), we hit the bridge pylons. We put ourselves in the middle of two pylons which kept our yak from drifting. It was pretty cosy. I dropped the lighter line line down with bait, and after a couple minutes of nothing my dad did the same. It was very deep there, and I knew if I did hook a really big fish I'd probably get spooled because I didn't have much line. LOL. We stayed in this spot for a short while, (well about half an hour), and despite some small nibbles we still got squat all. My dad was really hoping this spot would produce, and I reckon it will too, we just need to fish it a bit more! It is nice under the shelter of the bridge but the bloody trains that go by every second minute are annoying. Going under the bridge The next spot is another small creek I pass, actually on my way to school. The tide had changed by now so it was ideal to drift back up towards it. There is actually a river walk project being built there, so there will soon be some EPIC structure for cod, salmon, bream, jacks, and god knows what in there. It'd only be fish able be boat/kayak, but there will be some spots you can fish from it land based when it's done at the end of 2021! https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/roads-infrastructure-and-bikeways/bikeway-and-pathway-projects/indooroopilly-indooroopilly-riverwalk I gave the pylons some good casts with my soft plastic grub, for unfortunately nothing. The actual creek was very shallow, though I still casted in there in hope of another lizard, or even bream. I have seen a big bream on the surface there on my way to school, as well as catfish swimming out. The structure is very promising, as there is a heap of rocks around and in the creek too. Despite my best efforts, and best skim-casts, this spot proved fish-less. "Oh Well!", we thought, "Next time for sure!". We then crossed the river and fished a bunch of the jetties. It would've been far more ideal if I had changed lure to a hard body, but I figured there was not much point as I could skim-cast and cast my soft plastic better. The slow roll and twitching retrieve wasn't working, and on some jetties we even trolled the lure along, so it was disappointing to not get anything. We eventually stopped fishing the jetties, and it is actually very lucky that my school is on the river and has a jetty! We pulled up there, and had a quick break - Basically, we got onto the jetty, and I casted my lines in straight away in hope of something like a good breambo. I tied the kayak up to the jetty with some rope I put in for this reason, and my dad and I ate some lollies and a PB sanga (well I ate the lollies and he got the sanga). The drifting we did before this was not very productive, with nothing but a snag and some deep rocky areas which could possibly hold fish. Me looking very jolly like with the three finger salute The tide was well and truly ripping in by now, so we paddled up back to Three Pylon Creek. My dad and I started the drift prior to the creek, and drifted down. There are a heap of ancient looking pylons there, so I'm wondering if it was an old wharf when they used to ferry logs and stuff like that up and down the river. We got to the creek which was far higher, and decided to actually go up it. I put the casts through the middle, in the snags, and on both banks, for nothing. We kept going up and up and up though, until we got to a bridge and the creek rocked out. It was also a bit stalemate and not much flow here, so we figured it was time to go back (that, it was getting hot, and we were exhausted). Up Three Pylon Creek... With a Paddle! The final paddle back was quite hot and tiring, though we eventually made it back to the jetty. After we unloaded the yak, had a quick snack, and packed up, we were off to home. The session was pretty fun overall, with the flatty and the good exploration trip. Some interesting things to note may be that there was a absolute truckload of bait at Three Pylon creek (mainly mullet and herring), the flathead came out of about 20cm of water on a very muddy bottom, under Cobia Bridge there wasn't much bait and not many fish, and finally, around the new river walk project the pylons haven't been there for very long, maybe why the fish aren't there? That's the full session though, and here are the stats of the trip - Tide: 6:50AM, Low, .3M, 12:50PM, High, 1.7M Moon Phase: 90% moon, so quite a bit of run Bait used: Live prawns Lures used: 3 inch Motor Oil Z-man Grubs on a 1/6th jig head Bait caught: Prawns Fish caught: 1 x Dusky Flathead, 55cm Weather: Glass out, hot, slightly cloudy Time fished: 5:30AM (or so) - 9:40AM Tackle used: 12lb, 14lb, 30lb braid mainline, 20lb, 30lb fluorocarbon leader, 1/6th jig head on Z-man Motor Oil 3 inch grub, 4/o suicide and circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 2 and 6 ball sinkers, size 2500 Shimano Nasci and Diawa Shinboi, size 650 Penn reel, 8 foot Ugly Stik rod, 6"6' Abu Garcia Venomat? rod, 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod. Air Pressure: 1020 Overall Success Rate: 80% - at least I got one good one! OK, that's the report done everyone. Thanks for reading this session, I hope you guys at least somewhat enjoyed the report Stay safe with COVID-19! Cheers Hamish Some good bait prawns

Hey all I''m just going to do a quick report from this mornings session. By all means, it was no long one (like I usually would've) as I needed to get home... To study! My dad and I woke up at 5:00AM, but then went back to bed, and ended up leaving the house at 5:40AM. We got down to the park and even though the tides weren't ideal we got straight into fishing. My dad started off straight away getting some good bait sized prawns, which were live baited straight away. One in the structure and the other out deep (though it ended up getting washed back into structure because the tide was ripping though so fast). The lines remained untouched, but my dad was still getting good prawns. I baited up the salmon line with a bigger model and hoped for the best. While my dad was netting, an inquisitive duck came up to our rods and started standing on the railing. Before it flew the heck out of there, I sneaked up on it and got photos. The craziest thing is after it flew off for the first time it came back! Why, Hello there! The tide was rising rapidly, and we were not getting any hits at all. My dad kept getting more and more prawns, but the numbers and size were decreasing. By about 7:00AM, he called it stumps and shortly after left for home. In that brief period, we had a couple of tiny touches but nothing big enough to get hooked on our line. I probably should've given the lures samsteele115 gave me a crack, and I had them in the bucket, but I didn't due to the fact the tide was rushing in so fast! I think they would be most effective (at this spot anyways) when the tide is dead low, because that way it may make more commotion in the water. I kept fishing, and after about 20-30 more minutes I realised the salmon line was snagged. I struggled for a bit, and the old mate yakker man (the fella who always comes down in his yak to paddle every morning) arrived. He offered to hold my line and paddle it out to try and un snag it, as we thought it was caught on the pipe. He did this well, and after a screaming run on my salmon line (which I just imagined to be a fish), the line was un snagged. Bravo. And not only that, but there was also a small perch on the end. Hooray! That was skull dragged in, and then de-hooked (which took me long enough as the bit around it's mouth had the circle hook jammed right in there). The perch required some good swimming, and seemed to have a bit of kick left in it when I let it go so I hope it swum off fine. It's like they are affected from barotrauma, but there aren't any tell tale signs like inflated swim bladder, guts coming out of mouth, etc. Anyways, here is a pic - A River Perch After that, I stayed for about half an hour longer. I had just enough livies to last me the whole session, and despite me praying, the salmon line (or the live prawn on the end at least) could not escape pickering. I began to wash off the jetty, and by 8:00AM my gear was packed up and I left. Here are the stats of that brief morning session. The main reason I left early was also because the tide, which was absolutely gushing in, and making it very hard to fish effectively. Stats of trip - Tide: 3:20AM, .4M, Low, 8:56AM, 1.6M, High Moon Phase: 92.5%, so a far bit of run Air Pressure: 1024.7 Weather: Cloudy, chilly Tackle Used: 12, 14lb, 30lb braid mainlines, 20lb and 30lb mono/fluorocarbon leaders, size 2 and 6 ball sinkers, size 4/o suicide and circle hooks, large-ish barrel swivel, 6"6' Abu Garcia Venomat? rod (or something like that) 8" Ugly Stik, 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, size 2500 Diawa Shinobi and Shimano Nasci, and that's it! Bait Used: Live prawns Bait caught: Prawns Time fished: 5:50AM-8:00AM Overall Success Rate: 30% - a nice morning out Alright, hope you guys enjoyed the report. I also hope we can all stay safe with COVID-19. There were four cases in Fig Tree Pocket, which is literally over the river from me! Cheers Hamish

Hi all I'm putting up the report from my last few days fishing at the local park. This is from Thursday until today. Some sessions were certainly more exciting than others, and hopefully you're all not bored to death by another series of reports! I got down to the local park and had the lines in at about quarter past two. I had the lines in first off baited with dead prawn from last session. To catch bait this time though, I'd done something different - made burley. The mix was very simple, but I'll do a quick walk through of it as well. You will need the following - 1. Breadcrumbs - 2. Chicken Pellets/other pellets 3. Tuna oil (one of the stinkiest things on earth in my opinion) - First off, layer the bottom of your container (for the purpose of this I used an ice cream tub) with breadcrumbs. You can also just buy a cheap $1 loaf of bread from Woolies and rip it up into small bits. Once you have a layer of this, do the same, but with your pellets. Continue to do this until you have the amount of berley you want. Make sure you are giving it a good mix so both of the things are well dispersed into one another. When you're done, get your tuna oil. (DISGUSTING ALERT!!!). Give the mix a generous splash of this. That is the recipe done. Easy peasy. I found this worked excellent on baits, but it also attracted some undesirables, like glassies. Back to the report. I chucked a bit of this in the water (get yourself something to scoop/deploy it with as it stinks you up if you hold it), gave it a couple minutes, and then threw the net in the general vicinity. As well as a bunch of bloody glassies, up came a couple prawns. I put them on the lighter lines, as these weren't to big, and then kept casting. It actually didn't take long for a lighter line to go off, as I saw a couple nibbles, then a big strike... I ran up, but unfortunately, whatever it was it didn't hook up. On one of the first throws, I felt a big more weight in the net than usual. I was hoping for a mullet, or at least a school of something, but up came another baby bream. I think it's very good there are juvenile ones around here, because it means that they are being bred into the river, and, where there's small ones there's normally bigguns, or so I think... Here it is - Juvenile Yellowfin Bream - roughly 20cm After that, it all went a bit quiet. I was still getting lots of prawns and glassies (more of the latter), and the glassies would almost always be stuck right in the net and take a couple minutes to come out. So annoying. I kept berleying, and they kept coming up in the net. I found the best way to get them out was to just give them a big flick, which therefore flinged them back into the water. The prawns on the heavy line just kept getting pickered, and since these glassies were so hardy, I decided to see how the went as bait. I pinned two through the area just below the fins, and they swum as hard as a biddy. The next catch did not come until later... I decided to give the line out deep a check. It had been pushed towards the pylons, and as I pulled it up there was a lot of weight with it. I thought it may be a catfish, or an eel even, but when I got it up I realised it must just be some log/wood. On closer inspection, I realised it was a bunch of line and sinker from the ground. I wonder who's it may be... Mine? I was quite curious. How much of this would be in the whole, entire, ocean, polluting many areas??? My glassies were still going strong, but unfortunately nothing else was biting. What does that mean? Cast netting, of course! I started throwing the net to top up on the prawns. More glassies and less prawns, though. As I went for another throw, I saw the glassy line buckle over. I pulled up the net as fast as I could, and picked up the other line. I knew it wasn't big after about 5 seconds into the fight, and in about a minutes I had an OK catfish up. No photo for this one, I actually flicked him off the hook so quickly I forgot The day was very quiet after the catfish, and after more relentless picking attacks I got the final haul of prawns out of the live bait tank (not too many but some were Ok size) and chucked them in the esky. I was also fishing with someone else, whom could pancake my net very well. he was fishing for big sharks/cod, but it was very quiet for him. No hits or anything except pickers. I think it also is worth a mention how low the tide was when I got there, which initially helped with the berleying and bait catching - That is the first report done for now, here are the stats of the trip - Statistics of trip - Tide: Moon Phase: Fish caught: Yellowfin bream x 1, catfish x 1 Bait caught: Prawns and glassies Bait used: Live prawns and glassies Tackle Used: 10lb, 14lb, and 30lb braided mainlines, 20lb and 30lb fluorocarbon leader, 80lb trace, size 2 and six ball/bean sinkers, size 4/o circle and suicide hooks, large-ish barrel swivel. Size 1000 and 2500 Shimano Sienna and Nasci, Size 650 Penn Reel, 6"6' and 8" Ugly Stik rod, 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, Size 2500 Daiwa Shinobi reel Weather: Sunny, slightly cloudy Overall Success Rate: 40% - Like the other sesh, at least it wasn't a donut!!! OK, now to the next report. This time I was fishing with my mate, Hayden, and he wanted to come down at 1:30PM. I met him there a little bit after that, and we got fishing. It was a dead low tide as I got there, which is normally a good tide here. Today was no exception. On the first throw, I got a few prawns, so the lines were thrown out with livies. That continued, and I also continued berleying up the water for bait. More prawns, as well as some glassies. Unfortunately, the pickers would not leave us alone. The prawns just kept getting eaten and eaten! I decided to throw a line in off the jetty to try and get my friend a fish, so with a little live prawn on, I gave him the line to hold. It wasn't long before he got picked to bits. This happened a couple more times, but then when he was getting some nibbles he handed to me. I felt the nibbles, and then felt the rod load up, and then I was on!!! Briefly... The fish dropped the bait as quick as it took it, so that was mildly disappointing. With this , we put the line next to the jetty pylons to see if any fish would eat it there. It was very quiet for the next part of the session, apart from more live prawns and more pickers... As I was doing a quick check of the line, not much was happening on it. I walked back down onto the jetty to do more cast netting, but as I went down I saw the rod next to the pylons get some nibbles, and then I heard the reel squeaking. I tightened the drag, and I was on! Woohoo. It was only a small cat, but both my mate and I had some fun free spooling the line, then pulling it back up again for more 'fight time'. Here it is - Dirty Catfish I de-hooked him, and grabbed him by the tail throwing him back into the drink. It was then more quiet-ness, and my dad eventually came down. He said I had/should go home soon, and my mate wanted me to come back with him so I began packing up at about 5 to five. As I was reeling in the salmon line though, it was a lot heavier than usual. I was still reeling very quickly, and drag was actually coming out. To my surprise, a river perch came up. No fight to it at all... And it clearly explains what's been picking me - those dirty, old, perch! Hopefully these pickers bugger off! That was the end of the session, except for me taking home 5 or so prawns, as I didn't have that many more in the bait tank in the first place! I packed up the cart and got home. A nice, warm, shower certainly helped with the cold temperature outside. Here are the stats of this report - Statistics of trip - Tide: 9:00AM, 1.8M, high, 3:20PM, .2M, Low, 9:50PM, 2.4M, high Fish caught:River perch x 1, Catfish x 1 Bait caught: Prawns Bait used:Live and dead prawns Tackle used: 10lb, 14lb, and 30lb braided mainlines, 20lb and 30lb fluorocarbon leader, 80lb trace, size 2 and six ball/bean sinkers, size 4/o circle and suicide hooks, large-ish barrel swivel. Size 1000 and 2500 Shimano Sienna and Nasci, Size 650 Penn Reel, 6"6' and 8" Ugly Stik rod, 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, Size 2500 Daiwa Shinobi reel Weather: Nice, not to hot or cold, mild winds Overall Success Rate: 55% - At least it wasn't a donut OK, if you're still reading, this is a bit embarrassing. I went out yesterday morning, for a session. I thought it would be a good one, as I have always done good on the +5 +11 session logic/pattern (probably a bit more of an religious thing than truth). It was freezing cold, and even though I was in my thermals, I needed to throw the cast net. On my first throw, I got a butter bream, all the way up the river. This interested me very much, and I was curious to see why. It then became evident my hands and feet were very cold, and, well, that's why I left in about 30 minutes of getting there. LOL. Cool - that's a first - Brisbane River Butter Bream! OK, so here is the final report. The most exciting one too. I'm hoping you haven't lost interest and you're still with me. I got to the park at about 2:15PM today, and the tide was still about half way up, running out. Not quite ideal, but the run out was (it was the tide height that wasn't). I had a hard time gathering bait first off, with only occasional prawns in my first casts. Once I got enough though, each line was out (I had four lines, as a mate was there too). One of them didn't last that long though, as it got snagged, and would not come off even with a heap of pulling and yanking from all angles with our hands. My friend cut it with the knife, and that line was not re-rigged all day. Prawns were by no means plentiful, but I was starting to get a couple. The salmon line was pickered, numerous times (I witnessed this while cast netting), and I wasn't having much success with throwing the net. It seems the pickers first rip off the prawns legs, then eyes, then head, and then the body (somehow miraculously missing my hook!). More cast netting, after cast netting, and then a bait check, was basically what I was doing... I eventually got a school of glassies, so as last resort I live baited a couple of the buggers and sent them out, hopefully for something golden. My friend head off soon after, at about 4:30PM. The first run of the day was again, soon after this. I was cast netting, and heard my little Sienna screaming. I pulled up the net, and hastily got up there. Unfortunately, the fish had dropped the bait. I believe it was a small catfish, anyways. They are actually a speedy little fish. I stayed up at the top of the jetty, with the two lighter lines, while the salmon line and glassies soaked. The line in the cod spot got pickered, so I dropped it down with another live prawn (I'd also caught some more live shrimp, river shrimp, in the cast net). It didn't take long for a peck-peck, and then the rod to load up. I thought it was just a picker, but before I knew it the line was screaming off the reel, as fast as a cheater! I started trying to get this fish to the surface, as it was beyond me what it could be. Bream? Cod? After about two minutes of screaming runs, up came a big lizard (I believe it was a blue-spot flathead, because the tail was blue). There were some nervous moments, as when I began walking it down to the jetty it nearly ran into the pylons and did me in, and then again as we were netting it (some passersby did the honours). He/she was landed. Relief! Sadly, it was hooked right down it's gob, so I cut the line. I hope it spits the hook quickly. It's battle wasn't over, either. It went crazy the second I lipped it, and before it was trying to slither back into the drink. I grabbed the photo real quickly though, and got it back into the drink. With one big splash this biggun was off! Woohoo. A solid 60cm Brisbane River lizard. How's that?! Another man had also came down with a rod and reel, and a lire. He had a quick flick, but annoyingly for him he got snagged on his second cast. Bugger! We then had a chat, and i found out he was actually just on holidays, and he found a fishing rod in the house he was staying in. "Why not?" he said. He said he also came from Cairns, where he is a bit (lot) more serious. He catches big queenfish trolling lures on a handline off the back of his surfski. Pretty cool if you ask me. His real target was mackerel, where he's only hooked (and been busted off) by one. While we were having a chinwag, my line, with live shrimp, went off, and after a short fight, up came a little catfish - At about quarter past five, Dad told me to come home, so we said goodby to one another and then I packed up, and was on my way. I was extremely happy with the flatty today's session, as it is my first 60cm flatty with a pic (I got one with a mate in Marcoola in the surf a few years ago, but chose to release so no photo. It was estimated 60cm - odd). I was home, happier than ever. Here are the stats of this trip - Statistics of trip - Tide: 11:35AM, 1.7M, High, 5:30PM, .3M, Low Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous phase, 98% full moon, so a lot of run Fish caught: Bluespot flathead x 1, Catfish x 1 Bait caught: Banana Prawns and River Shrimp Bait used: Live and dead prawns and river shrimp Air Pressure: 1024 Tackle Used: 10lb, 14lb, and 30lb braided mainlines, 20lb and 30lb fluorocarbon leader, 80lb trace, size 2 and six ball/bean sinkers, size 4/o circle and suicide hooks, large-ish barrel swivel. Size 1000 and 2500 Shimano Sienna and Nasci, Size 650 Penn Reel, 6"6' and 8" Ugly Stik rod, 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, Size 2500 Daiwa Shinobi reel Weather: Nice cool weather - minimum wind Time fished: 2:15PM - 5:10PM Overall Success Rate: 85% - While it wasn't the target species, it was bloody solid! Thanks for reading guys, I know it was a bit or a report-marathon. Hope you all enjoyed. Cheers Hamish

Hi all I decided to go out for another session this arvo, targeting threadfin salmon. I got the gear ready in my lunch break today (4 rods, 2 for bream/cod/perch, one with a plastic for lizards, and the final one with a live bait rig for salmon). My friend was coming down too, so I went down at about 2:45PM, and had the lines it at about three. After I deployed the baits, River Shrimp, I got out the cast net to see if I couldn't get live bait. I threw off the jetty because otherwise it would've been to shallow. The first cast resulted in some small prawns, which I kept purely for bream/cod/perch bait. The next cast I got one or two more. These were a bit of a better size, and I put one out on the jetty for salmon. While I was on the top though, the rod out in the middle of the river went off. I rapidly picked it up to try and set the hooks. Just as I was deeming it a pick attack, the rod next to the pylons also went off. My friend picked this one up, but unfortunately, to my dismay, neither of the rods was on. That left the score with the fish on 2 and us on nil. After that, the rods were bait checked (no bait was left), re baited, and re casted. I did some more throws with the cast net, which resulted in more prawns. I was doing one last throw before I went back up to mind the rods for a bit when I realised that something was in my bottom pocket. I pulled up the net, and to my happiness a decent sized mullet was in it. Hooray! This was the bait from last times bust off mystery fish (most likely a big salmon, if you want the full story read Session #22 and #23). I put him in the live bait bucket and started reeling in the big line. When I got it up, there as no bait on it, which was slightly disappointing. The mullet was pinned through the mouth and deployed... The other rods were then checked and baited with live bait, which were small prawns. My hands and feet were starting to go numb now as well, because it was that cold and windy. I then sat down and watched the rods. For about 15 minutes, apart from the net falling over and some people passing by, it was quiet. No touches. Well, I then decided to get a couple more prawns in the cast net and the bait bucket was filled nicely. I kept fishing with them though, and gave the live mullet line a quick check. Mullet still on hook - check. Mullet still swimming lively - check. Straight back out he went, in hopes of enticing a salmon. By now I had given the rod with a placcy a couple flicks, but since the tide was so low it was in efficient. By now, it was nearing 4:30PM, and just before this a family came down. I had seen them before "magnet" fishing, but this time they had a rod, some pilchards by the looks, and a hardbody lure. They stayed for about half an hour, and the boy was just watching me catch prawns the whole time. I gave the salmon line another bait check and the mullet was still going good. Back out it went. The other lines were getting picked now as well, but as I was walking up there one of them went off. It wasn't very big, but whatever it was it dropped it. About all of ten minutes later, the rod next to the pylons went off. It seemed OK, but it got us in some structure, snagged up, and the hook was no longer in the fish. After a few tries, I eventually put on some gloves and yanked the line hard enough for it to break. I am quite glad it wasn't my knot that broke, but then again, I was annoyed it was a snag. I kept fishing for about another 20 minutes now, and left at about 5. My second donut here in about 2 weeks. What a surprise. I can't remember the last time I've caught nothing there and now I catch nothing twice, LOL. The cart was loaded, and the rods were reeled in and put away last. Upon departure I decided to get a quick sunset snap for AFO so my report wouldn't be a pictureless write up - Very gloomy weather! When I was home, I got a quick shot of the prawns. The cart served well, taking my gear home excellently. The mullet would've been released but my hook gave its mouth a deformed shape and I thought if it had a mouth like that, it might not swim off so I just kept him for bait. Here is the cast netting catches - The catch from netting Here are the statistics of the trip for anyone interested. My assumption is the sudden cold front has shut the catfish off the bite, and I have read before catfish don't like the cold. In my experience, perch catches increase over Winter, so I think some smaller hooks may be in order. Hopefully the bream catches improve over the Winter as well - Statistics of Trip - Tide: High at 10:30AM, Low at 4:45PM, 1.8M-.3M. I fished the last of the run out. Moon Phase: New Moon, so quite a bit of run Weather: 13c, 63% Humidity, Wind 11Km/h (I think it was way higher but cannot really record it myself) Air Pressure: 1011.5 (Different to other days I've caught fish) Bait used: Banana prawns, river shrimp, mullet, live and dead Bait caught: Banana prawns x 8, mullet x 1, Glassy x 3. Fish caught: - Tackle Used: 6"6' Ugly Stik and Rogue Firepoint Rod, 8" Ugly Stik rod, Size 2500 Shimano Nasci and Diawa Shinobi, Size 1000 Shimano Sienna, 14lb braid mainlines, 15, 20, 30lb leaders, 80lb trace, size 2 and 6 ball and bean sinkers, size 4/o suicide hooks and size 6/o circle hooks, Ecogear plastic, size 1/8th jig head, largish barrel swivel Crustacean caught: Prawns x 8 Overall Success rate: 40% - Windy, numb hands, cold, donut. At least I got some prawns. OK, that is the report done. I may go out again on Sunday, but I think I'm going to have to start wearing thermals as it is that cold, especially for morning sessions. Hopefully the restriction are eased for COVID-19, and we can all stay safe despite it still being around. Hopefully you all enjoyed this report as well, I know it is boring. Sorry for any spelling mistakes. Hope you enjoyed Cheers Hamish

https://www.bnbfishing.com.au/white-spot-disease-southeast-queensland-again/?mc_cid=887ecbed70&mc_eid=47674f88e7

Hi all Today I went out for another session at the local park. If you haven't already as well, I recommend you read Brisbane River Session #16. It is a lot more exciting than this, although today was still a good day out. I was targeting bream, cod, and threadfin salmon/sharks. It was a early start as well, as we left at about 5:50AM to get there for a 6:00AM start. So, after arriving at six, we got the net out to see if we could get some live prawns. First cast of net net brings a prawn which I put straight on next to the pylon. The next cast brings two, and this one went straight out. We got about 5 more prawns, and this was while the tide was still rising. It was just about to change when my dad and I got a double hook up on the livies. I was on first, on what I thought was just small. After a little bit into the fight though, we hear a screaming noise and the other line is going off. My dad stops goofing around with me, and he proceeds to pull in the fish. Mine surfaced first, and I was surprised to see a decent catfish, which i only landed after 1 or 2 runs. We tried netting it, but it took a run under structure. Then my Dad pulled up a decent bream, and told me to sort it out while he sorted mine out. Eventually, we got the two fish up onto the jetty and took some pics. Here they are - The bream went twenty-nine on the brag mat, and the catfish went about 40cm (though it was an estimate). After that, we proceeded to do some more cast netting, which resulted in a couple of prawns, but mainly leaves and sticks LOL. It was about half an hour to when the fish was pulled up, and then I saw something swimming towards the bank. "Holy crap, a dog," was what I initially said as it looked a bit like a little Chihuahua head or something but then my Dad saw it and we realised it was a kangaroo. Swimming across the river, practillay in suburbia . It was actually a pretty bad situation as it was going towards the bank but then turned around the second it saw us then swam around in circles in the middle of the river. Luckily, the tide was just about changing so there wasn't any run to push it downstream any more. It was starting to go under, so my Dad said he might need to swim to get it, which would've been a great photo, but we decided to wait a bit more to see if a paddler could come along. Luckily one did, the old guy who comes down there for a paddle every day, so we asked him if he could paddle out to help it. He did, and while another guy came along with little to no care for it (my Dad yelled at him and he didn't bother about it), the man sort of shepherded it back to the jetty. Our plan was to scoop it up in the landing net then send it on its way, but it had other plans. We got it in the net but then it decided to hop straight back out into the drink. The man then proceeded to guide it back to the bank around the jetty and go off on his paddle. I know it was good, but I am just wondering how it will go in the local park since so many people go there. I suppose it will just stay around the outskirts and eat grass. Here it is - Sorry for the bad photos, but that is a wallaby in the BR! After that, it was about 7:30AM. Since the tide had started to go the other way, I had the heavier line out. It had nearly gotten caught on the kangaroo, but fortunately with some manoeuvring it was free. It was baited with a dead frog mouth pilchard as we hadn't caught any live fish (mullet, herring, silver biddy, frogmouth pilchards, etc) , which was a pity any we didn't have enough prawns for one big bait. Within about 20 minutes, I had done a quick bait check and re-baited, but then the rod went off. I could distinctly see a bend, but I couldn't hear anything, so that told me it was a pretty small fish. I didn't even have a fight with it, I just basically pulled the catfish in. Here it is - After that, I chucked out another frog mouth pillie and checked the prawn lines. They had no bait, and I wondered if something had somehow picked them off without us noticing, and I doubted they had fallen off as we pinend them well through the tail. I rebaited the lines and chucked them out regardless, hoping for another fish. Though, in about ten minutes, there was another strike on the big rod. I ran down, hoping it was still on, but to my disappointment whatever it was had dropped the bait. I casted it out with another frogmouth pilchard and hoped for something. In another short while I was on yet again, pulling up a decent catfish. I de hooked it, took a quick pic and back in the drink it went. Here it is - After that fish, I got the line out again. My dad headed off now, and the bite was quite. My friend came down shortly after, and we were social distancing. I had one more strike on the heavy combo, and I missed it, so I decided to reel it in as I was out of frogmouth pilchards. I had a couple more throws with the net, but there were no prawns around so I resorted to the Australian farm prawns I had gotten the other week. I was doing everything from chopping them up to peeling them, to see what worked best. I found the peeled bits chopped up was a treat, so this is what I did. I had numerous nibbles, but they were all small. I then had a little take, but I unfortunately missed this. Then, with a new bait, slightly larger, the rod went off. I picked it up eagerly but to my absolute dismay whatever it was had dropped the bait. After that, I gave the other rod a bait check. after winding up the slack, I felt a tug, then a pull, then realised I was on. Whatever fish it was, it was in a bit of structure, but after a couple little runs and a bit of positioning, I got it out. I started pulling it up, and to my surprise up came a cod. I think there are a few cod under the pylons, so I was pretty happy with that. It didn't look to big, but when I got it up onto the brag mat it was about 30cm. No where near legal, but still not a bad fih. Here it is - After that, I put in about ten more minutes but it was starting to slow down. It was about ten, so I decided to call it a day. I was very happy with the results, 1 bream and cod in the day. . Hopefully you all stay safe with COVID-19, I hope you enjoyed the report. Sorry for any errors in the text. Here are the stats or the trip - Statistics of trip- Tide: High, 2.0M, 6:55AM, Low, .5M, .5M. I fished the run out Moon Phase: Third Quarter Moon, so not that much run Weather: 30c, 14Km/h winds, 41% humidity in Brisbane Time fished: 6:00AM-10:00AM Bait used: Prawns, live and dead. Frogmouth pilchards, dead. Bait caught: Dozen prawns or so Fish caught: Catfish x 3, Estuary Cod x 1, Bream x 1 Tackle Used: 14lb braid mainlines, 9 and 12lb leaders, 80lb trace for threadies due to sharks and structure, 30lb trace, 4/o circle and suicide hooks, size 2 sinkers, size 6 ball sinker, large swivels, size 1000 sienna shimano, size 2500 Shimano Nasci, Size 650 Penn, 30lb braid mainline. Overall Success: 80% - A nice morning out with some good fish Cheers Hamish

Hey guys. Decided i needed some essential seafood last night so went down to redland bay with my cast net and a rod. Caught a few whiting and even a legal one which was a good win unfortuantly it was at the cost of my cast net which ripped on the rocks while tryna catch some prawns. At least i got a few prawns before it ripped. So now im tossing up wether its worth reparing or if i should take a trip to bcf to buy a new one.....maybe a bigger one

Another link. This time about prawning. https://www.bnbfishing.com.au/top-prawning-tips-southeast-queensland/?mc_cid=e7bda52dd8&mc_eid=47674f88e7

Hi all I was just wondering if anyone has been doing well on the prawns lately in the Brisbane River. The other night i went to Colmslie and only my dad and i only caught about 4 with about 2hrs or throwing (we caught about 35 herring though). I was wondering if anyone had any good spots where prawns can be caught for some bait. Cheers Hamish

I tried putting this in environment & politics section and tagging it, but 'error 401?' kept coming up so here it is.... Taken from Dept Agriculture and Fisheries newsletter 7 December 2016 Biosecurity Queensland is continuing to destock and decontaminate ponds at two aquaculture farms south of Brisbane following last week’s confirmation of an outbreak of white spot disease (WSD) in prawns. WSD is a viral infection that affects crustaceans. Australia has previously been WSD free and this is the first confirmed case we have had in an aquaculture setting. This week, the infection has been confirmed in a pond in an adjoining aquaculture operation. This is not unexpected given the immediate proximity and business links. Surveillance has commenced on prawn farms in the vicinity and in nearby waterways to determine possible sources of the infection while also enabling early detection of disease should it occur on other prawn farms. Working with Queensland Boating and Fishing Patrol, recreational fishers in the vicinity are being asked to report unusual signs in prawns and crabs caught in the area. It is crucial that all aquaculture operators implement good biosecurity, observe their stock closely and report any concerns. Description Prawns with WSD may have a loose shell with numerous white spots (0.5-2.0 mm in diameter) on the inside surface of the shell and a pink to red discolouration.