Old Oyster Jetty 25-6-15

  

Long overdue for a good session, I arrived under the Bribie bridge at a cruisy 8.15am; which was roughly two hours before a 0.7m low tide and accompanied by 6 knot South-Westerlies. Recent sessions have been fairly slow- consisting of the odd flatty and a lot of pike or bream. 

I rigged up my 3-6kg Wilson light snapper rod/4000 FJ Symetre with a zman curly tail in the pinfish colour, using a 1/6th 1/0XH TT Headlockz jighead. 10lb braid and a metre of 10lb fluorocarbon sunline (Asian one) would suffice, with 14lb yamatoyo leader ready for our toothier friends. 

I waded out approximately 50m south of the jetty, and by my second cast at 8.30am I had my first flathead- measuring around the legal mark. I let him go and fished on till the change of tide with little luck. Hard bodies enticed only the wealth of pike that inhabit the area, with most casts finding the corner of their menacing toothline. 

After getting sick of dealing with teeth and trebles, I rigged up a trusty zman motor oil curly tail onto the same 1/6th 1/0XH jighead. This worked almost immediately, with a 45cm flathead picking it up in the shallows, only a few metres from where I was standing. I bled it and tied it up, then continued the hunt. 

 

 A clearly presented flathead lie. This was almost at the foot of the jetty- proving how shallow some fish will choose to place themselves. 

At around 10am things started heating up. A pan size flounder presented itself opposite the drain that flows from sandstone point. Although it was only a foot long and looked like a dog’s breakfast, these are great table fare and best cooked whole. Shortly after, I lost another nice flatty, but then managed another similar size model- this one measuring 46cm. 

  
The same area and same lure continued to produce, and at 11am I felt a sizeable thump as the lure dropped to the bottom. It started taking line, yet I was able to gently pull it in- this is where the slightly heavier setups pay off for flathead fishing. My kayak landing net was stretched to its limits, but after about 5 minutes I landed a very plump 51cm flatty. 

I had a few more casts on the way back, but decided to call it with a nice haul for dinner. Sessions like these are really my favourite kind of fishing. You don’t need company, and when the weather blesses you as it did today it becomes a breeze. There’s plenty of fish around at the moment- so I am not against giving away my spots. I am, however, against any type of illegal captures- bag limits and size restrictions are there for a reason. There are no excuses to be complacent. 

Thanks for putting up with that little rant, I hope to be back in the water soon. Happy fishin! 

  

Old oyster jetty 25-4-15

After being tied down with uni and a couple of very average nudgee beach trips, I got to the mainland side of bribie at 6.45 this morning. Low tide was at 9.15, draining to 0.8m and a westerly was blowing 5 knots- leaving glassy conditions in the passage. 

I used a shimano Sahara 2-5kg/2500 combo with 10lb power pro tied to 8lb (Asian) sunline fluorocarbon. I started with a zman curly tail in motor oil on a tt headlocks 1/0 1/8 jighead. 

The late start meant I arrived in the middle of what should be prime-time. Within my first 5 casts I had landed my first flathead- a 50cm model waiting just south of the jetty in a slightly deeper sandy bottom. The motor oil colour worked well for about an hour, producing about 5 flatties, each one slightly smaller than the last.

  
The AYU colour zman diesel minnow quickly performed, with a 40cm model picking it up within the lure even touching the bottom on my first cast. This lure enticed another fish or two, but the lack of tidal flow began to make the fish far more tentative and the weed increasingly frustrating.  

My stomach’s regret of throwing back at least two legal size fish was compounded when my trusty zman natural curly tail also failed me. It may have been a day more suited to large hard bodies or even slugs, but at 9am I called it. By 10am the first flatty had become lunch, and I headed back to Brisbane. 

Hoping to pick up a spot on a boat next weekend for the full moon, other than that enjoy the weekends folks! 

  

Old Oyster Jetty 24-3-15

Ye g’day.  Yesterday I ventured out to the Old Oyster Jetty, on the mainland side of the pumicestone passage. The weather was great, with low tide down to 0.4 metres at 6.13am. There was no rain and virtually no wind, with a 2-4 knot westerly gradually blowing up to 20 by the afternoon. 

A mate and I arrived at 5am, rigging up zman curly tails on 10lb yamatoyo leader with light gear. We waded south of the jetty targeting the patches of sandy/rocky bottom that scatters the area. 

 
The first to hit was a small pike- some fun by-catch on light gear. It took a while for the flathead to get going, but a 35cm model was quickly followed by a 50cm one- the perfect table size, in my opinion. 

As the tide changed, I opted for a 4 inch Maria shallow diver. This prompted a 52cm flatty to strike in the shallows. He was a good fight, and managed to lodge a treble into my finger, but I reefed him in and quickly bled him for dinner. 

A couple of smaller flathead were inbetween a 45cm model at about 8, but we struggled to find anything of real size. I called it quits at 8.30am- just as waders became an issue sinking into the mud around the jetty. 

  
A couple of lizards made a good feed for later and a fun little morning session, all before resuming the life of a uni student. Will be out again as soon as I can get a break from assignments. Cheers

Bribie Island 8-3-15

Last Sunday I knocked off work in time for a 5am start at buckley’s hole on the mainland side of the passage. Conditions were favourable with a 8 knot easterly and a 0.5m low tide, also at 5am. A very bright full moon passed the night before. 

I rigged up 15lb leader and 12lb braid onto my 4000 symetre/3-6kg Wilson light snapper rod. I waded out using pilchards initially fishing just off the drop off. 



There is definitely still fresh in the passage, but it has cleared up considerably in the past week. I had a slow start, only managing a 25cm Moses Perch in the first hour and a half. I decided to swap sides of the passag and wade South of the old oyster jetty. 



Two of these dodgy filleting jobs were under the bribie bridge.

Once I found a decent array of sandbanks and drop-offs, my zman motor oil curly tail rigged on a 1/0XH 1/8 oz. headlockz found a couple of plate-size flathead. Within an hour of wading out I had bagged 45cm and 52cm models- opting to keep the latter. 









Anything after that was a bonus and I got a bit of by-catch fun at around 9am. I foul-hooked a 70-80cm longtom through the top of the body, sending my drag screaming in the process. In pursuit of a photo but trying to avoid his teeth I eventually netted him. 



Was a fun little morning session in the end, hoping to be back there on Wednesday to catch a mean feed! 

Scarborough Reef 2-2-15

Apologies for the late upload, been living it up and trying to avoid death in Bali. The conditions were very solid early on, with little wind and next to no cloud cover. It was a 2.3m high tide at 8am and myself and two mates got on the water a little late at 6am. 

We were fishing with mostly light rods using white pilchards, bonito chunks and squid for bait. I rigged up my 2500 symetre/2-4kg shimano raider with 15lb leader, and my 4000 symetre/3-6kg Wilson light snapper rod with 20lb leader. 



Immediately I was reacquainted with the breambo’s, catching a variety of sizes across all forms of bait. This includes the nice 33cm model pictured above. The Moses Perch were also around- with 10+ 25cm fish being caught and a couple at the 30cm mark. 

As always at Scarborough, a plethora of by-catch was caught. A 50cm spotted mackerel took some squid and pushed my friend’s 2500 stradic to the limit. The standard metre long wobbegong that’s more often than not mistaken for a snag also kept us busy. 

Catch of the day was undoubtedly a 44cm bream- which is definitely the biggest I’ve seen caught. It went hell for leather and although we all hoped it’d be a stonker snap, it’s still a great catch nonetheless. It’s always good to see fish of that age around these areas and it’s an even better feeling releasing them back into our waterways. 





At 10ish clouds began to roll over- which immediately brought a southerly that made the place torrid. As keen as we were, we still had to call it a day and head home without dinner. Another fun days fishing had in the brissy area! Will be scraping together my pennies to head out again in about a week when I’m back from Bali. Cheers! 

Buckley’s Hole 25-1-15

How good are holidays? I returned to Buckleys a touch earlier this morning, at around 4.30, as low tide would be at 7. It was a 6 knot north westerly that blew up around midday and the large tides continued. Thankfully, though, the rain had finally stopped. 

I continued fishing light, opting for my 2-4kg shimano raider/2500 symetre (below right) with 10lb fluorocarbon trace. I decided to stick to pilchard fillets, while using by-catch as bait for my heavier bait runner setup. 

A slow start was compounded by the amount of debris that low tide was bringing. Fast moving water and weed/driftwood forced several beer breaks. As the tide began to turn, the fish also started chewing. Much like yesterday, there were several species around, but the most common of which was Moses Perch. 

It was another feeding day for the smaller fish, as I reeled in a dozen plus MP’s. Luckily, they fight reasonably well for their size- anything over mid 30’s would push my 10lb leader to the max. The biggest one I managed today was a 26cm model, seen here:

A solitary legal bream also kept me busy, but for the most part it was a quiet day. The frame of a smaller MP went untouched for over an hour, so even the rays and wobbygongs were quiet. I had to concede to a Maccas trip on the way home, but hopefully Scarborough reef delivers tomorrow (if I can get home in time tonight). Happy fishin! 

Buckley’s Hole 24-1-15

Despite possibly the worst fishing conditions possible, I headed out to buckley’s hole on the southern end of the bribie passage,arriving just before 5am. King tides, consistent rain and a 20 knot SE’terly produced a rough setting, but the fish were still around. 

I resorted to fishing light, and using 10lb fluorocarbon I waded out to one of the many ledges in the area. Small strips of pilchard fillet appeared to be apt bait, with a very small long shank style hook. 

Almost immediately the Moses perch started biting (and usually swallowing the hook). Being such an aggressive fish, it is often hard to find the bigger models without constantly catching 10-15cm fish. By 6am I had caught a nice range of fish- including bream, moses, butter bream and even a small grassy emperor. 

In total I managed three legal bream, the best being this feisty one, which was just under 30cm:

After about three hours of getting wet, I’d also caught two or three 25cm+ Moses Perch- the best of which being this beautifully coloured (albeit bloody) 27/28cm fish: 

After a fun days fishing, I released my catch and headed back to Brisbane. Will hopefully be back tomorrow and if I’m lucky at Scarborough on Monday! 

Foreword

A little blog to fuel our fishing adventures. Will post photos, descriptions and reports. Mainly land based to the north of Brisbane. Happy fishin’!