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Hi all I know it's a bit late but I'm going to put up three more reports. I didn't catch much in any of them, but all of them I had an OK time and at least I did not donut. The first one of these was from the 7th of July, and then the next few a bit closer. Sorry I've been slack, and also sorry that I'm doing another 3 in one, but now it's back to school I'll probably be back to only one or two sessions per weekend. So, I arrived for the first session earlier in the morning. Before seven. I did a couple throws of the cast net, for some live prawns, but the tide was still a bit high and fast. That was why I didn't get to many. They were deployed on the line, out in the deeper water, as well as the one in the cod/bream/flatty spot (if you haven't already, read session #37 - I got a good flatty in that one and it will give you more context in future reports). My line began to go off soon after, but it was not a normal strike. It was like the fish was just nudging the bait. I picked it up and set the hook though. At first, it was a dead weight, but then it took on OK run. After that, it was just more fun. Run, run, run! Heavy, heavy, heavy! While it was only a weird catfish in the end though, they sure do make good practise for fighter proper fish. I hope to get a few more of these buggers to fine tune my technique on fighting fish (if you've seen me, you'll notice when there's a biggun on, I'm often shaking in surprise/worryness, and then not playing the fish as well as I could be). I also noticed the weird white spots on the fish, which you can see if you look closely. In an older thread, I have heard about the red spots (a parasite) on catfish. Never the white ones. And also, the colouration on these fish is weird, also. A normal forktail catfish (salmon catfish) is silver, like many I catch. These ones seem to fight better, but look browny, and have bad spots on them. Anyone know what the go is with these? I might also say, solo netting is a hard job. First of all, I had to grab my net and walk him down to the jetty (involved a bit of 'oohing and arring' because I was stretching to reach it). Then, I had to bend under the railing to the jetty, to get to a spot to net him. Finally, he kept swimming under a branch stuck on the jetty. I eventually got him up though. LOL. Then everything went dead. I got a few more live prawns, but even they stopped. It wasn't looking good also, because, like always, my hands were freezing. I guess cotton gloves don't work when you use them for cast netting . Luckily, a very kind lady gave me a plastic bag and told me to put it on my hand to keep them dry. It certainly worked, but my hands were by no means warm! My friend was coming down as well, so I didn't want to go home. The bite was quiet for the whole time I was waiting for him. No hits whatsoever. I mainly focused on keeping warm. I also noticed that we were beginning to run out of bait. I couldn't manage anything in the cast net, so I just kept one line out for extended fishing time. This line got nothing the whole time. The most likely reason we were running out of bait was pickers, and since I only had some prawns left (I didn't really want to use them all but had too) I was preparing to go home. We ended up staying 'till a bit past eleven AM, but by then the bite was really shut down and nothing was happening. I went home, planning to go out the next day. Here are the stats of that trip (not very accurate as it was ten days ago) - Statistics of trip - Tide: 6:50AM, Low, .4M 12:20PM, 1.7M, high Bait caught: Prawns Bait used: Prawns, live and dead Fish caught: Catfish Tackle Used: 10lb, 14lb, and 30lb mainlines (braid), 20lb fluorocarbon leaders, 30lb fluorocarbon leader, 80lb mono trace, size 4/o suicide and circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 6 and 3 ball sinkers. Size 1000 and 2500 Shimano Sienna and Nasci, size 650 Penn Reel, size 2500 Diawa Shinobi. Overall Success Rate: Now, to the next one. It was the following arvo, and this time there was a crowd. I brought my normal fishing mate, plus one from school, plus the previous report's one, and he brought two of his mates. I got down to the park with everyone a little bit past quarter past two, and within about 1 minute of having the first line in out deep I saw it getting pickered. I began to reel it in, and realised I was on. There was no fight whatsoever, but it was good to land one straight up. I was hoping we'd just pull in a bucket-load, but we only ended up getting that one. It was OK size, quite fat - When released, I called it for a floater, but he swam off eventually. It seems they don't have the strength to swim off opposed to barotrauma/trauma from handling. I'd assume that os why it is such a timid fight. My friend's line/reel wasn't in tip-top condition when we were at my home, so while I was there, I wiped the bucket tonne of sand out, gave it a quick oil, and straight-away, it worked better. It is only a Jarvis Walker combo, but as you'll see next, it stills catches! His line was just getting nibbles, so I informed him so. I was the only one who noticed, actually, as no one else was looking. He started the fight, and in about a minute I saw an eel... Hooked in the butt! It was fouled all over the line, and since I still hadn't gotten any livies, I just chucked it into the live-bait bucket. After I dispatched it (not very well, it kept alive!), we kept fishing. Here are some pics first though - I managed some live prawns after this. The bite was still very quiet though.. like it had been on the other sessions. My friends' friends headed off, seeing as though they were bored. The salmon line was still untouched, and when I checked, pickered. I kept waiting though, and in between the bait checks and cast netting throws, we still weren't to cold/exhausted. I gave the salmon line one more bait check, and I felt a bit of weight. It only took me a sec to realise I was on to a piece of crap, and I very quietly pulled up a catfish. It gave my friends a surprise when I got it. LOL. He was flicked back (my friend insisted of having a photo which he now uses for his profile piccy, I'll have to catch him something OK he can actually use), and I kept fishing. There were no more fish landed for the day, and while there were a few more prawns it became pretty dead quickly. Once it was dark (ish) we started to pack the gear up so it was an easy leave when we had to. We headed home shortly after and called it an OK day... Here are the statistics of the trip - Stats of trip - Tide: 1:00PM, 1.7M, high, 6:45PM, .4M, Low Bait caught: Prawns Fish caught: Catfish x 1, Eel x 1, Perch x 1 Bait used: Prawns, live and dead Tackle used: 10lb, 14lb, and 30lb mainlines (braid), 20lb fluorocarbon leaders, 30lb fluorocarbon leader, 80lb mono trace, size 4/o suicide and circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 6 and 3 ball sinkers. Size 1000 and 2500 Shimano Sienna and Nasci, size 650 Penn Reel, size 2500 Diawa Shinobi. Weather (general): Slightly cloudy, little wind Overall Success Rate: 40% The final report was about as exciting as getting bored to death! I arrived in the early arvo with a mate, and it was wet. I prefer this weather because it is nicer to be in, but rain generally isn't to good in my fishing experience. I got out a prawn and in about ten minutes the line was getting hits. I picked up and realised I was on. The small perch came up no problemos. It was released, but I was still hoping to catch something a bit bigger... I kept fishing, and while I was getting a couple prawns, nothing was happening (except a bit of rain). It wasn't' the most boring thing ever, but I will say it certainly could have been more fun/exciting. The next couple hours, I just kept throwing the net/talking. It is kind of lonely when you seem to be the only one around, especially when the weather is so gloomy. There was a bit more isolated rain over the day, but later it stopped fully. I also kept having fun with the pickers right in the shallows. I would drop it down (hoping for something sizeable) but then get pickered like no tomorrow. I actually managed to pull a little toadfish up, which has a very distinctive vibration in the fight. It let go before I officially 'landed' it though. LOL. The day was over as quick as it started, and I left at dusk. It was a bit of an effort, but all these sessions were certainly worth it. Here are the stats of this trip, too - Stats of trip - Tide: High, 1.7M 1:40PM, Low, .4M, 7:30PM Fish caught: Perch x 1 Bait caught: Prawns Bait used: Prawns (live and dead) Time fished: 2:00PM-5:15PM Tackle Used: 10lb, 14lb, and 30lb mainlines (braid), 20lb fluorocarbon leaders, 30lb fluorocarbon leader, 80lb mono trace, size 4/o suicide and circle hooks, large barrel swivel, size 6 and 3 ball sinkers. Size 1000 and 2500 Shimano Sienna and Nasci, size 650 Penn Reel, size 2500 Diawa Shinobi. Overall Success Rate: 30% I hope you enjoyed these reports. I doubt I'll go out tomorrow if I'm still feeling bad. At least that eel will make some good bully baits in the Summer (can't wait, I'm going to try for a bully on my 1000 Sienna!). Thanks for reading. Cheers Hamish

Hey everyone I have been a bit of a slacker posting up some of my reports, and in between school, feeling crook, fishing , and other assorted things I have not had the most time. I am doing it now though, so it is time for a three in one report. The first will be on Sunday the 7th, and the next last Saturday arvo and last Sunday morning. Here is the first trip (probably the most exciting) - So, I arrived at the park at about ten to three and got the lines in (after getting the gear out). I initially baited them with dead prawns, and chucked them out. The tide was going out, which is my preferable tide in that area. I then got to cast netting, which resulted in about five prawns. Two of them were large enough to use for salmon, and the other two were a better size for the bream/cod lines. This took about fifteen minutes, but once I went back up onto the pier to take a break the rod casted towards the middle of the river went off. I sprung up and picked up the line, slowly lifting the rod tip and tightening the drag at the same time so I didn't pull the hooks. I was on, but to my disappointment, after a short fight, a small catty came up. Oh well, I thought. I took a quick pic, and then chucked it back in the drink. Here it is - I did a bit of brightening on that photo as well, because when I took it my lenses on the phone were fogged up. Just after he was released, the rod next to the pylons went off. I picked it up as quick as anything, but to my disappointment I had dropped it, or it had missed the hook up. There was a group of people speaking a different language (Mandarin or another Asian language) watching me pull up the catfish. When I dropped the other fish, and said, "Bugger!", they all laughed. I did some more cast netting, and I watched many small pickers take my baits. I think this is one big problem with dead baits, especially when fishing landbased. While I was cast netting, a couple more smaller prawns came up, which were good for livies on the two smaller lines. After I pinned them through the tail, they looked as good as any other prawn (except for the fact a big metal hook was a feature ). Between sitting down and bait checking lines, the time flew by. It was soon four thirty, and I gave one my re bait. Then, I looked down to the jetty. The salmon line was buckled over! I ran down, really hoping for it to be another salmon. At first, I was adamant it was. It had the right weight, and had taken a good livie. As it came closer and closer to the surface though, I doubted it more and more. After a two minute skull drag, to my utter disgust, a monsterous catfish came up. I asked the passers by to get the net (mainly so I could move the thing), and brang it up. The photo was just a crappy one, but you can still see the general size. (50 cm) Here it is - After that catfish, I only needed to wait about 15 minutes until the next rod went off. I picked it up and set the hook, and proceeded to drag in another catfish. I am actually quite surprised I've been catching some, as it is Winter. I guess that day they were just on the bite, because even if they aren't as active they still need to feed. Here it is - OK, so that is the first report out of this three parter done. Here are the stats - Statistics of the trip - Tide: 11:50AM, 1.8M, high, 5:50PM, .2M, Low Bait used: Prawns, live and dead Bait caught: Prawns Weather: Slightly cloudy, light wind Tackle Used: Ugly Stik 6'6" and 8' Rods, 2500 and 1000 Shimano Nasci and Sienna, 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, 650 Size Penn Reel, 14lb and 30lb braid mainlines, 15lb and 30lb fluorocarbon leaders, 80lb trace, 4/o circle and suicide hooks, size 2 and six ball and bean sinkers, large barrel swivel. Fish Caught: Catfish, Forktail, x 3 Time Fished: 2:50PM - 5:20PM Overall Success Rate: 60% - At least I got a new PB (yucky catfish ) Now, to the next report. This one isn't going to be very long, as I didn't even manage any photos. I got down to the park at about the same time as last time, and chucked the lines out. The tide was rising this time, so after a couple snags on the line out in the channel, I moved it into the channel/eddy created by the pylons. While I was cast netting, I saw this line go off. I didn't think it was much, and I was right. Pickered. This happened numerous times, and I couldn't stop it. I just had to wait for a hook-up. While cast netting, I had some good live prawns. I chucked them into the bucket, with the aerator on. Since it had been so quiet, I didn't really expect anything... But as I was walking back up, I saw the rod going off. I jogged up, really hoping it would be hooked up. To my surprise/happiness, I could set the hook. The fight initially started with some soft but brutal head shakes, like whatever it was was trying to throw the hook. Then, as I began to bring it up, it went screaming off. It was only a short run, but it was a fast one. I was now very curious to see what this fish would be. I kept the line tight, and I kept pulling it up, but to my disappointment when I pulled it up it was nothing more exciting than a dirty, old, rotten pike. . It would've been about 1 metre, give or take. When I pulled it out of the water, it started having goes at me, so since I am me I was to chicken to lift it over the edge. This turned out to be the fatal decision... In about 20 seconds, my 15lb leader must've frayed, as it snapped. The pike was released, much to my irritation, as it would've been coming home for some baits. I didn't get a picture of this one, sorry. After that, I still had some fishing time left... So, obviously, I kept fishing! Re-baiting the lines and cast netting was quite exhausting, and I went through a good amount of dead prawns. "Oh well", I thought, "That's what they're for". I cannot remember to many fine details of the trip as it was about a week ago from now, and I am no elephant . That is this one done, even though it is shorter than usual. I've decided to not bore everyone with a long report with no fish. Here are the stats of the trip - Tide: .6M, 11:20AM, Low, 1.6M, 5:00PM, High - I fished the running out tide Moon Phase: Third quarter Bait used: Prawns, live and dead Tackle Used: Ugly Stik rods, 6"6' and 8", Shimano Sienna and Nasci, Size 1000 and 2500, Size 650 Penn reel, 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, 14lb braid mainlines, 30lb braid mainline, 15lb and 30lb fluorocarbon leader, 80lb trace, size 2 and 6 ball sinker, large barrel swivel. Bait caught: Prawns Time fished: 3:00PM-5:20PM Overall Success Rate: 50% - At least it wasn't a donut Thanks for reading that one everyone, now you've only got one more to endure (). The last one was on Sunday Morning. It was also quite special, as i took some of the scouts in my troop to show them how to fish. I was required to do this for my Scout Individual Sportsmanship Badge, which goes towards the Pioneer Badge (sorry for nerding out about scouts). I arrived a little before seven, and got the lines out. I then got the cast net out, to try and get some live bait. Since my dad was with me though, he decided to have a go with the cast net. He didn't get many prawns, only a couple, in a short time, he had some herring. Two good ones to be exact. Between this time, all that had happened was a couple picker attacks, so, the day wasn't shaping up to be great. Ideally, we would just be pulling in perch/catfish, one after another, so everyone could have a chance at a fish. Of course, that wasn't going to happen today . The live herring was deployed, and then we waited... But the first fish was not what we expected. I eventually set the hook in one of those 'pickers', which turned out to be a small-eyed gudgeon (yes, it is the thing that we could not identify last time. With the help of Andrew P, we got it eventually) . Here it is - Sorry for the pretty-average photo in that, I just took it in my hand because I couldn't be bothered to do it all again on the ground. Now, I think I am in the process of seeing if they are a variety just washed down from some of the rain we've had lately, and if I should release them, because they ARE rare, or if they are like bay grinners, and I should use them for crab bait, bait, etc. After that fish, it didn't go quiet, but they just kept picking us. I've used a good amount of prawns on them ... The next hook up came about half an hour later. Nothing eventful really happened in that time, except for my dad cast netting a school of frog-mouth pillies, all of which were gilled straightaway (except for one or two). I picked up the line first, and then set the drag. He was just continuously reeling in the whole time, even though I told him to lift and wind as you brang it down, but it didn't really matter as he was keeping a taut line. The fish was taking out line, making me think it was something OK. Unfortunately, it dropped the hook, which was annoying. For the next hour or so, it was very quiet. A couple more herring in the net, and that was really it. But by then, 2 more people had came, and that was everyone who was coming for the day. I gave the net a couple throws (didn't get much) and overall, it was very quiet. Just pickers taking our baits. I could see everyone was tiring, and wanting to catch a fish. Unfortunately, it was not the best time of day to catch fish, as they only came at about 9:30AM. Since it was very quiet, and I had some spare livies, I decided to put one down in the cod spot. I noticed a tangled on the tip of my line though, but it was far, far worse than I thought. Just when I nearly had it done, I feel two big bangs. Immediately after, the line snaps. I was pretty sad, because I think whatever it is would've been a good fish! I dropped a live frog-mouth down after I'd re-rigged and within about 2 minutes the line is screaming. Unfortunately, it missed the hook up. This was the only luck I got on those lines, despite me putting another livie down. Looks like whatever it was got full from my baits. Eventually, they all got hungry. I suggested they get a McDelivery (Maccas) and they all liked that idea. I know it is rubbish food, but I was completely outvoted and at least if they knew they were going to get free fast food they were going to stay. here weren't any bites while we were waiting, but eventually (since we couldn't be bothered to download the app) my Dad came down with the delivery. Yummo! (Of course, I had some too ). We then ended it then, and everyone went home. I was quite satisfied as I showed everyone how to cast and how to bait lines. Here are the statistics of the trip - Tide: 4:40AM , High, 1.8M, 12:00PM, Low, .5M Moon Phase:Third Quarter Bait used: Prawns, frog-mouth pilly, herring - live Bait caught: Prawns, frogmouth, herring Tackle Used: Ugly Stik rods, 6"6' and 8", Shimano Sienna and Nasci, Size 1000 and 2500, Size 650 Penn reel, 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, 14lb braid mainlines, 30lb braid mainline, 15lb and 30lb fluorocarbon leader, 80lb trace, size 2 and 6 ball sinker, large barrel swivel. Weather: Slightly windy, light clouds Time fished: 6:50AM-11:30AM Overall Success Rate: 60% - Went good with scouts OK, I hope you enjoyed reading this big report. My first ever 3 in 1. I have a little bit more study for Science to do now (well, last minute revision as I just want to revise ) and then I'm down all my exams. Sorry for any spelling errors, and that the report is so long. Cheers Hamish

Hi all I'm a bit (very) exhausted at the time of writing this but I'm going to do it anyway. This arvo I decided to finish up school (which I did, I have a weekend free of work because I finished it, hooray!). I asked my mate if he wanted to come down for a fish and by three fifteen I was out of the house with the loaded up cart. I walked down with four rods and was fishing with all lines in at about three thirty. The first ten minutes was more setting everything up, but then I had a couple throws with the net. Except for a couple of tiny biddies and bloomin scat, I had nothing. I did a bait check on the smaller lines and they were all pickered. Then I remembered since it was rising tide, a line right in the channel made between the jetty and shore is good for perch and catties. In about 2 minutes of having this line in, it got pickered. The same thing happened a couple more times and then I realised we were running really low on prawns. Action was required and I got throwing off the jetty. The first cast resulted in some good prawns, so I gave my mate a yell to come down with the bucket. Down he came, and I tested the new Pryml aerator. It worked excellently, and it kept the prawns live. I decided to reel in the heavy line after that to get a live prawns on pronto, but as I did I felt weight. It took about 2 seconds to realise I was on, and I gave my friend a yell to come with the net. The first fish of the day came up shortly, a decent catfish of 38cm - I tried to deal with him, but the circle hook had pinned him twice through the mouth. It just happened that when I was struggling de hooking him, my Dad came down with my brother and Mum. He eventually got the hook out, and I gave the catfish a good swim. He wasn't going straight down, but he was swimming the right way up along the surface. I think he just needed some water through his gills, because I think he swam back down up the river. After that, I deployed a live prawn and bait checked the other lines. They had been picked, so I re baited with a bit of mullet and another bit of prawn. It wasn't long before I was back cast netting, and I got one or two more prawns. Just then, the big rod went off again. I thought it was just a pick, so I told my friend so and he was aware. Then, just as I was pulling up the net, it buckles over and line goes out. I yank up the net (which had a couple prawns in it) and I tighten the drag and strike. I am on! The fish first took a good run down deeper and I just had in the back of my mind what it might be. After about two minutes of screaming runs and me pulling it in, I began to get it closer in. It tried to go under the jetty and pylons, but I made sure to keep it out. It was just about then when I saw the trace and what came after it. Another Threadfin Salmon! Simultaneously, my mate and I yell out in joy, and then we try to land the thing. It was hooked very well, so I knew we weren't losing it but I also knew it wasn't worth getting the hook back because it will just rust out soon, as opposed to giving the fish surgery. He ran back up to grab the scissors, and then we proceeded to properly christen the new landing net. It took about 4 goes because the fish kept jumping out, but eventually I got him in then it and brought him up on the jetty. The thready initially tried to hop back into the water, but I picked it up quickly, hastily measured it, and then got some ripper photos (or to be specific, the group of boys who went to primary school with me did ). Here is the thready, sorry the photos aren't entirely the best but they are still visible - After he/she was safely released, which was a bit of an affair as it required quite a few good swims, I just enjoyed the moment for about 5 minutes, and then everyone else there wouldn't shut up and just kept yelling, "Yeah Hamish, big fish!!!!" LOL. It was actually quite fun, and then eventually I checked the other lines, which had no bait. By this point, I simply just cut up a live prawn, chucked them out and waited. I then re tied my hook on the trace and cast the other out with a live prawn. By now it was about 5:00PM, so it was starting to get dark. My mate said he would be going when I left, and I told him we'd be about another half hour. The lantern in the cart came out now, just so we could see a bit better, and I kept throwing the cast net off the jetty. This resulted in a couple more big prawns, and time flew by. Before we knew it, I made the call to start packing up and it was good I did. By the time everything was away, it was getting dark. I made the trek home, and the funniest thing was when I saw my Dad in the driveway I said one word. "Salmon". He bluntly replies "Yeah right, show the pics mate!". I very promptly showed him and the look on his face was great! I then unloaded the contents of the esky of unpacked the prawns that were leftover, and some were of great size. Here is a quick happy snap of them. I also find with about 15 minutes on an ice brick, they go to sleep so I think for anyone keeping them that is the best way to get them killed. Here they are - Here are the stats of the trip - Stats of Trip - Tide - Low 12:20PM, .6M, High, 6:00PM, 1.6M Moon Phase - Waning Crescent, which is the phase that occurs roughly after three weeks of the full moon. This means there isn't much run. Air Pressure - 1021.8 Weather - 24c, 8Km/h winds (I think there were higher winds because there were white caps), 61% humidity, slightly cloudy. Fish caught - Catfish x 1, Threadfin Salmon x 1 Bait caught - Prawns, biddies, scat. Bait used - Live and dead prawns, mullet. Tackle used - 8", 6"6' Ugly Stik and Rogue Firepoint Rods (plus a graphite rod that I don't quite know the name of, which also starts in Session #4). Size 1000 Shimano Sienna, Size 2500 Shimano Nasci and Diawa Shinobi, Size 650 Penn reel, 30lb braid mainline, 14lb mainlines, 15lb Pryml fluorocarbon leader, 30lb fluorocarbon leader, 80lb mono leader, large barrel swivel, size six ball sinker, size 2 ball/bean sinker. Overall success rate - 100% - Target specie caught OK, so I hope you all enjoyed the report, I certainly had fun catching the contents of it . I hope everyone can stay safe with COVID-19, because while the restrictions are eased it is still around. I also am super happy with the thready, my thready curve of once a year might become once every three weeks. Cheers Hamish

Hi all As some of you may know, it is my birthday today, so after some convincing I got my Dad to wake me up at twenty to five this morning to go fishing at the local park, seeing what we could catch. In the cart there was a new landing net, perfect for me because of its size. After I had put three layers on and walked down there, we got the lines out baited with a mix of prawn, live and dead, and a bully line out just for fun with a piece of eel. After all of 2 minutes, we had our first strike. I leapt over to the rod, hoping to be on. To my dismay, nothing was on the line. "Oh well," I thought, and got my line back into the strike zone. In no more than ten minutes, I was on. After tightening the drag and doing some pumps, I could tell whatever this thing was it was heavy. I was proceeding to pull it in, saying to my dad I might need a hand because whatever it was, it was a good fish. When I was about to see it, it took a pretty decent run out, so then I started having a fun little fight and a bit of practise for big tough fish. After a couple more runs, I saw the unmistakable shape of a catty. It was a pretty good fish, but another one of the brown ones. These ones seem to be bigger, fatter, and fight harder. It measured 40 cm and was still dark when we took the photo - A nice catty just before dawn Also, I know it sounds a bit silly but is this a different species of cat to a forkie? I find even forkies at this size don't fight as hard and these go really hard on both light and medium gear. Also, I think these ones practically live in the mud because you can see how dirty the fish is, compared to pulling up a salmon catfish (forky). Maybe that just happens with all big cats. As well as that, these guys bleed all over when de hooked. Any ideas? OK, back to fishing. While the lines were set we were [well, my Dad had 'volunteered' (I totally didn't make him LOL) thankfully] throwing the net. The prawns we were getting were great. The first few casts resulted in only one or two, but after that they went off. The bait tank had a good amount in no time, so live prawns for the day. Hooray! While my Dad was going with the cast net, I saw the 8 foot rod getting pecs so I picked it up. I was on straight away, and I felt the really brutal but small head shakes of a perch. The size prawn it took was impressive, but I find good size River Perch don't shy away from big live prawns (for anyone targeting them, even though there's not much to target them for ). I got it up, proceeded to get a photograph, de hooked it and sent it on its way. Here it is - A 20cm-30cm River Perch Even though he wasn't the biggest perch or in the best condition, it was still nice to catch him and see him swim off to grow bigger for next time. I then re casted my lines and started having a go with my cast net. After one or two prawns, I looked up. In the space of about five minutes, my dad was holding the rod, ready to strike. Then, he yanked hard. Since the drag was so loose the line came out crazy fast, and luckily after he tightened it it was still on. He eventually got it up, and up came another solid (not massive but good sized) River Perch. Here it is, it was safely released - Certainly not in the worlds best condition, but a solid, gold, BR River Perch. By now, we were in full swing. Four lines out, all targeting different things - shark, salmon, cod/bream, and vermin/perch for the sport. After that nice little perch, I see the heavy line bent over. I sprint down to the jetty and pick it up, and I could tell it was probably a catty. This catty however had lots of go in him, and it was probably my fault I'd set the drag a tad to tight but if it was looser it would've been a hell of a lot more fun! LOL. Just as I surfaced him, he pulled really hard and to my shock my leader knot pops. My immediate thought was, "poor fish!" because it now has a hook and 2 metres of line dangling out of its mouth, so I decided to figure out why. My four reasons are the following - Leader knot slipped (not very likely though as I check all my knots, especially leader knots and that didn't slip); line was weakened from the knot (most likely); the drag was to tight and something wasn't up to scratch; or finally the fish had somehow worn the line. Whatever it was, I was disappointed but it was an old hook so it will rust out in no time . After that, my friends dad happened to be passing by and since it was also Mother's day today (what great timing )off my Dad went. I didn't have any camera also, so for the next catch you'll just have to believe me. Both the lines up on the pier (I reeled in the shark line because legally I'm only allowed to have three lines out in tidal waters in QLD) and it took about one million attempts to get the hook out but eventually I got the hook out of my eel bait and threw it away. I then looked down at the jetty and saw that my line was on. I ran down and started reeling in whatever fish I had. It turned out to be another big catfish, measuring around 40cm. This guy went really hard also, next time I'm battling one I'm loosening the drag off completely and just going to have some fun. Sorry there's no pic, but he flopped out the hook and I just slid him back in to the drink. I also think I'll start giving bigger catties a proper release instead of a flop down, a bit better for them. The bite went really quiet after that. The bait tank still had a good amount of bait in it, so no need to do any netting. I just sat down and watched the lines. The odd nibble occurred, and the big one just kept getting pecked off, over and over. it had been happening all morning, and when I saw it going off I ran down (about 45-60 minutes minutes after the bite went quiet). Whatever it was had dropped the bait, and a couple more nibbles almost confirmed to me so. I started cranking in the bait, and I think this is what set the hook. I realised I was on, and started fighting the fish. It didn't stand a chance on 80lb line I thought, but for the pound to pound fight it was great. Trying to go under the jetty and around the pylons, when I got this fella up I knew I didn't want to lose him. How I wished my dad was there to scoop it up and christen the landing net... Oh well, I got it up. You may be wondering what this fish was. Well, it was a 30 cm bream. A nice fish by most people's standards, and a very welcome by-catch. Now that I think of it, 3/4 of the last sessions I've had I've caught a bream, the three being morning. It's not even Winter yet. I am thinking the bream in Winter will be promising here, but like usual, no promises! LOL. I politely asked some passers by to take a pic and they did quickly, and I got him back. He kicked off straight down, hopefully now he's fine living somewhere else. Here he is - While it may not be the best pic, it was a welcome catch on 80lb line! After that bream, I decided to start washing the mud and other assorted river gunk off from the jetty from the net. Hopefully that makes it a bit better and cleaner for others. There were a couple more hits and strikes nad taps along the way, but nothing stayed connected so I reckon if they weren't breambos they were catties. After I'd cleaned up, I began discarding some smaller live prawns (made sure they were alive). I got rid of them and kept the bigger one, most of the big ones we'd caught had been eaten, LOL, but all up if we were cast netting all day we easily would've gotten 30, we probably had about 25 in total. Just to show the average size of the prawns we were getting, here is one in comparison to my hand (would've been about a 12cm prawn) - Back at home, I washed up, packed the gear away, gave my mum a Mother Day pressie, got my parents pressie, and cleaned up the gear. A very good and exhausting b'day, that's for sure. I hope you can all stay safe even though these restrictions are gradually easing, we still need to go by the rules. Sorry for any errors in the text also. Here are the statistics of the trip - Stats of Trip - Tide: High, 1:00AM, Low, 7:20AM, High again at 1:00PM. 2.5M, 0.4M, 1.8M. I fished the last of the run out, the change, and the first of the rise. Moon Phase: Full Moon, which may be a reason why there were so many prawns. Weather: 19c, 8Km/h winds, 59% humidity Fish Caught: Catfish x 3, River Perch x 2, Yellowfin Bream x 1 Bait Caught: Bucket load of prawns and a couple frogmouth pilchards Bait used: Live prawns and frogmouth pilchards Tackle Used: 6"6' and 8" Ugly Stik Gold rods, size 1000 and 2500 Shimano Sienna and Nasci, 14lb mainlines and 20lb leader, size 650 Penn reel, 30lb braid mainline, 30lb fluorocarbon leader, size six and two ball and bean sinkers, large barrel swivels, size 6/o and 4/o circle and suicide hooks, 2M Rogue Firepoint boat rod, Size 5000 Jarvis Walker with an Aurora Rod, 30lb braid mainline (that's my cheapy combo, 20in 80lb Halco wire trace. Overall Success Rate: 80% - no target species caught but a great day out! Hope you enjoyed, Cheers Hamish The fully loaded cart for a finale picture!

Hi all Yesterday I went out for another session on the Brissy River, just at the local park. I wouldn't have gone normally because the tides were out, but I had a mate around who wanted to go for a fish so I decided to take my exhausted self down there (I think kayaking, mountain biking, and another fishing trip does something to a weak 11 year old kid because I felt sick last night, LOL). Also, sorry to post up another report after the Moreton Mania one, I think that one was a bit more exciting anyways. So, once I rigged up the rods, got the gear ready, and packed the fishing cart we went down to the park. When we got there there were a few people congregating on the jetty (teenagers), so much for social distancing... I then proceeded to chuck the smaller set ups out with some prawn I'd caught there prior to the session, and began throwing my net. The first cast resulted in some prawn, and so did the next few. With about 8 livies, I threw the two biggest out on the salmon line. While my mate wasn't getting hit (mainly because either the prawn he put on kept coming off due to bad presentation, tide, or pickers) I caught a few more prawns. By now we were about 45 minutes into the trip, and I saw a couple pecks on the salmon line. I thought it was a catty, and when it took off a couple minutes later I knew it was. Up came the first fish of the day, +1 for me! After I dealt with that, I proceeded to catch some more prawns, and a little river shrimp. For about another half hour, I had some throws where I got some, or got nothing. Our next strike was about half an hour away, but since my friend was taking the prawn off me we missed it (well I saw it and he heard it, LOL). I doubt it was big anyways, but you never know. We kept on fishing, still having a chat to passers by. It amazes me how everyone thinks that social distancing doesn't apply because of the eased restrictions, the amount of crowds I saw pass by was quite large. We had about an hours break from any fish, but I was still getting a few prawns. I had a few drinks because it was actually pretty hot in a balaclava, long sleeve top, polo fleece, sunnies, and cap, and I made sure to put some burn cream on my legs (the mud was probably protecting them as good as anything though, I was dirty as). At about 4:45PM, my friend got a hit on my little rod next to the pylons, and then he thought he'd dropped it. Turned out he hadn't, because when I told him to pull the bait up he had a little perch on. It had a lot of go in it apparently, because it hit pretty hard. Here it is - After the perch, I caught a couple more prawns, but by this time some fella had pulled up with his little tinny to the jetty, and it was still too shallow to throw from the walk down to the jetty so I had a sit down. Not to long after, the little rod has a big bend in it's tip. I run over, and my friend thought it was snagged, which was partly true... Whatever this was, I could feel it was big. It had me around some structure on the bottom, I think a crab pot (ironically enough from a member of the WBB, I remember him coming there when I was young and taking all the crabs into his white bucket ) tied to the bottom. It kept trying to go off, and I was just waiting for him to come out. In about 2 minutes though, I felt my line go slack. I reeled it up to see my bloody 9lb leader had been busted off, sigh! I think I'll only be using 20lb leader on that rod from now on, because if there's a big cod I don't want to loose it again, LOL. In about half an hour, it was time to go home. I proceeded to reel in the big line, but when I got down there the line was going off. I picked it up and I was on. Soon enough though, I saw a thing curling around on the surface. "An eel?!" I thought. Nope!. When I got it up, I realised it was a little log, which was drifting in the current. It just shows how strong the tidal flow is here, because for a bit of wood to be able to take a heap of line (despite the drag being somewhat loose) is pretty impressive. I began reeling up the other lines, but as I reeled in the small one it went off. I was on! I quickly proceeded to pull up something that looked a bit like a small lizard, but on closer inspection I thought it might be a rock gurnard. I am still not 100%, but I think it's pretty close to that whatever it is. I catch them in my shrimp traps a fair bit, too. If anyone has a better idea, please tell me. Here it is - I got the hook out and packed the gear up, time to go home. It was just getting dark on the way home, and when we were back on the road we had to call a dog's owner because it was on the street, I figured it would've just found it's way back to it's home (turns out the person lived 3 houses down) but I guess it's better than getting them worried or something like getting hit by a car . Here are the stats of the trip: Statistics of trip - Tide: 2:40PM Low, .3M, 8:40PM High, 2.1M - I was fishing the rise Moon Phase: First quarter, so not that much run Weather: Sunny, light gusts Bait caught: Prawns and shrimp Bait used: Live prawns, dead fresh prawns Fish caught: Catfish x 1, River Perch x 1, Rock Gurnard x 1 Tackle Used: Shimano Sienna and Nasci, size 1000 and 2500. 6"6' and 8" rods, Ugly Stik. Size 650 Penn reel, 2M Rogue Firepoint rod. 14lb mainline with 9lb and 20lb leaders, 30lb mainline with 30lb leader and 80lb trace. Size 4/o suicide and circle hooks, size 2 and 5 ball sinkers, big swivel. Overall Success: 85% That's all for this report, I hope you enjoyed. Hopefully I will finish my school work off soon so I can get out for a Friday fish, and by the way, it's my birthday on Sunday. Hooray! LOL. I hope to be getting a charter (it's become a bit of a tradition for my b'day because I've had the same one for two years now and it's great) but hopefully the restrictions are eased enough so they can operate. Sorry for any grammatical errors as well. Cheers Hamish