Redcliffe Peninsula
| Date: | 4th August 2006 |
| Time: | 8:00am - 11:45pm |
| Tide: | Low at 10:22am (Brisbane Bar) |
| Launch site: | Margate Boat Ramp |
| Water temperature: | 18°C |
| Lures/baits used: | Soft plastics, hard-bodied lures, and metal spoons |
| Report: | After an 18km paddle two days ago I was looking for somewhere closer so headed to Margate. I started casting an SP around the marker buoys near the boat ramp without result. |
| I drifted further out with the light breeze and soon caught a Pike. Where there's one, there's usually more so, having taken a quick shore mark I returned to the spot and continued casting. More Pike attacked the SP, but a 4" Snapback was a bit too big so a lure change was required. I had an old 7g Abu Toby spoon which looked perfect. Five Pike later and my lure choice was proven. Another two Pike were lost when they flicked off the treble as I was lifting them aboard. | |
| The Pike went quiet after that so I trolled down towards Scotts Point and as I neared the reef I stopped to retrieve my lure (10cm Deep Husky Jerk). A couple of winds of the handle and... ...strike. This had a bit more weight than the Pike and I was looking forward to fish for dinner, but it turned out to be a rotten Grinner. | |
| I cast a Yozuri Snap Shad around the reefs for a while without a touch so decided to head back to the ramp. I was trolling both lures and about halfway back caught another Pike on the Snap Shad. | |
| A pleasant couple of hours on the water and a bit of fun with some Pike, seven of which are now in the freezer to become troll baits when the water warms up. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |
| Date: | 30th July 2006 |
| Time: | 6:30am - 11:00am |
| Tide: | Low at 6:37am (Brisbane Bar) |
| Launch site: | Scarborough Beach |
| Water temperature: | n/a |
| Lures/baits used: | Soft plastics and bait |
| Report: | It was one of those perfect Winter mornings -- clear blue sky, sunshine, no wind, and the bay as flat as a dunny carters hat. |
| As always, Ross was already set up as I pulled into the carpark. After helping me carry my yak down to the water's edge Ross headed out, promising to have some runs on the board while I was still setting up. | |
| By the time I got to the reef, Ross was working around the eastern side with SP's and soon had a Pike in the bag. | |
| Ross progressed North of the reef and at 7.30am the rod he had trailling a Gulp appeared to become snagged but when it began moving slowly he assumed he had hooked a large turtle seen earlier. For the next 40 minutes Ross was slowly towed back and forth for about a kilometre, eventually retrieving the line back to the 20lb leader and apply sufficient pressure to end the tussle one way or the other. The line broke close to the hook. | |
| Meanwhile, my plan, now that I have a sounder, was to explore the area between the main reef outcrops to see if I could find any reasons for the occasional Squire that comes from there -- there are a few lumps and bumps on the bottom... | |
| I was getting a few hits that failed to hookup and soon saw Whiting following my jig almost to the surface. While not "elbow slappers", a couple of them were about 30cm and would've gone nicely on a plate but it was not to be. I switched my 2" grub for a 4" worm and continued getting hits but no hookups so went the other way with a MiniTank which I thought may look like a small crab but didn't get any hits on this. | |
| Ross then moved right onto the reef and resorted to floating small pieces of Pike over it on an unweighted hook. This yielded three Bream going 26cm, 30cm and 32cm. | |
| Ross had to leave by 9am, but I wasn't going to waste a beautiful morning by going home to do chores and was determined to break my duck. As the tide was beginning to cover the reef I figured there may be some fish lurking behind the reef waiting for anything washing over (in spite of the calm conditions, the water coming over the reef was quite turbulent). I rigged a Berkley 3" Power Minnow on a TT HWS jig and cast it onto the reef, retrieving it with the wash. | |
| It took me until 10am to prove my theory when my SP was smashed by a 30cm Bream. Half an hour later and a second Bream of similar size was also fooled by the same piece of plastic. | |
| I'm thinking that my next project should be targetting Whiting on SPs. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |
| Date: | 24th July 2006 |
| Time: | 10:15am - 1:45pm |
| Tide: | High at 8:55am (Brisbane Bar) |
| Launch site: | Margate Boat Ramp |
| Water temperature: | n/a |
| Lures/baits used: | Soft plastics and hard-bodied lures |
| Report: | I didn't hit the water until after 10am so wasn't expecting great results, but it was good to get out. Cast SPs around for a few bumps and the occassional fish that put a bend in the rod for a few seconds only to let go. I retrieved one SP with the tail gone so they may have been biting short. |
| Trolled down towards Scotts Point and found my lost bit of reef. This time I remembered to put an "X" on the side of my kayak so I can find the reef again! Continued trolling and as I approached shallow water I retrieved my lure (10cm Deep Husky Jerk) only to find I had a Whiting about 15cm long. I really wonder what was going through its tiny mind when it latched onto the lure. | |
| Cast SPs around the reef and finally landed a 30cm Dusky. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |
| Date: | 2nd July 2006 |
| Time: | 6:00am - 9:30am |
| Tide: | Low at 8:02am (Brisbane Bar) |
| Launch site: | Margate |
| Water temperature: | n/a |
| Lures/baits used: | Soft plastics, hard-bodied lures, and bait |
| Report: | I arrived at the designated spot at 6am to find Ross rigged and ready. As I was unloading another yakfisher arrived with an electric powered Tempo and after introducing ourselves to Shane and having a brief chat, Ross headed over to Jake's "Spot-X" while I rigged up. Shane went his own way while I joined Ross. |
| It was approaching low tide so it was good to have a look at the exposed reef. Third or fourth cast to the edge of the rocks resulted in a 28cm Bream (on a Sprog) so things were looking promising. A couple of blokes in a Tinnie anchored nearby, presumably with a berley trail, were landing a Bream now and again. After early success our hopes were high, but after nearly a hour we couldn't raise another scale so headed for Scotts Point. | |
| Whilst paddling southwards I noticed a bit of reef on my sounder, but neglected to take any shore marks. Next time I'm out there I'll need to find it again. | |
| I worked around the shallow reefs with HB's while Ross worked over the reefs and deeper areas with SPs, HPs, and Pillies with the only result being the Pillies losing their innards to pickers. | |
| Heading back Ross caught a Pike on a trolled Scorpion, but a final casting session around Spot X yielded nada. | |
| A nice day on the water (although once we were outside the shelter of Woody Point it was a bit breezy), but unfortunately the fish just didn't want to play. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |
| Date: | 7th May 2006 |
| Time: | 6:00am - 10:00am |
| Tide: | High at 05:01am (Brisbane Bar) |
| Launch site: | Margate |
| Water temperature: | n/a |
| Lures/baits used: | Soft plastics, hard-bodied lures, and bait |
| Report: | It's been a while since I fished the Southern end of the Redcliffe Peninsula and with the wind forecast being less than 5 knots it was a good opportunity to get out on the water. |
| Karl, Ross, and I launched at the beach, while Jake, Carmen, and Nick launched a bit further along at the Margate boat ramp. It wasn't long before Jake was into a small Squire, and Nick had released a small Cod. | |
| Ross, after seeing schools of baitfish being worked over, tossed out a pillie and was soon releasing a 45cm School Mackerel. Great fun on light tackle. There were occasional showers of baitfish over the next hour or so, but none of our offerings could coax another Mackerel. | |
| Nick scored a nice 56cm Flathead, but before long we were all beginning to catch Grinners so decided it was time to move to the shallow reefs off Scotts Point. | |
| The move improved the range of species being caught with Whiting, Bream, Flathead, and Pike being added to the list. Unfortunately, none were of any size, and all are now back in the bay after their brief encounter with a group of kayakfisherpersons. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |
| Date: | 3rd July 2005 |
| Time: | 9:15am - 11:15am |
| Tide: | High at 06:55am (Brisbane Bar) |
| Launch site: | Scarborough Beach |
| Water temperature: | 17°C |
| Lures/baits used: | Soft plastics, hard-bodied lures, and metal spoons |
| Report: | Reports from Friday of Squire and Bream caught on the reef during the morning run-out tide sounded promising although the forecast strengthening winds lessened the attraction. |
| With a light wind at my back, I trolled a minnow and a spoon from the beach to near the reef before I started flicking soft-plastics around the edges of the reef and in the deeper water on the north side. | |
| The only fish I saw was a small Bream caught from a nearby boat. I was now driftng away from the reef a bit too fast, so anchored close to the reef and worked my plastics along the edges and across the sand patches between the reef. The change of tactic brought no success and the strengthening wind was beginning to make things uncomfortable. | |
| It was a slow, wet ride back to the beach with a 20 knot headwind and 0.5 metre waves, but I did manage the "catch of the day" when I found a fishing rod floating about 500 metres off Scarborough Point. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |
| Date: | 11th June 2005 |
| Time: | 6:30am - 10:30am |
| Tide: | Low at 06:33am (Brisbane Bar) |
| Launch site: | Scarborough Beach |
| Water temperature: | 18°C |
| Lures/baits used: | Soft plastics, hard-bodied lures, and bait |
| Report: | Sunrise saw Nick, Ross, Stu, Gerard, and me paddling to North Reef with a light breeze at our backs. |
| First fish for the day went to Stu with an acrobatic Wolf Herring. My trolled minnow tempted a Tailor, but after a short fight it won an early release by throwing the hooks with some head-shaking as I brought it along side. | |
| While I tossed soft-plastics around the edges of the reef in search of Bream, some of the others bottom-bounced plastics in the deeper water north of the reef and it wasn't long before their tactics started to pay off. The standout fish were a couple of nice sized Squire -- Nick's first fish on soft-plastics. Gerard had released a couple of Flathead, and both Tailor and Pike had made brief appearances. | |
| Things seemed to quieten down so we headed back to the reef in the hope that the tide would have brought in the fish. I persisted with both soft-plastics and hard-bodied lures around the edges of the reef without success. Ross resorted to casting unweighted prawns onto the top of the reef and slowly retrieving them -- a method that accounted for several Bream and a small Wrasse. | |
| Gerard was working soft-plastics over the patches of sand between the reefs and scored two keeper Flathead to 50cm. After assisting Gerard with his second Flattie, my next cast resulted in my own 50cm Flathead. | |
| Final action for the day was provided by another Wolf Herring hooked by Ross as we trolled back to the beach. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |
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| Date: | 9th October 2004 |
| Time: | 6:45am - 9:45am |
| Tide: | High at 06:05am (Brisbane Bar) |
| Launch site: | Margate |
| Water temperature: | 23°C |
| Lures/baits used: | Soft plastics and hard-bodied lures |
| Report: | Ross, Nick, and I met at 6am, but by the time we'd discussed the weather forecast and the current state of the wind it was 6:45 before we hit the water. Forecast was for 15 to 20 knot winds easing by afternoon. Although it was a bit blustery, we decided to head out and, if necessary, seek shelter in the lee of Scotts Point. |
| In fact, we had no cause for concern. By 8am the wind was easing and by late morning there was virtually no wind. | |
| Ross and Nick began trolling hard bodied lures, while I tied on a popper and headed for the water breaking over the top of the reefs. Apart from a grinner that fell to Nick's lure there was no action so we changed our tactics. | |
| Lures were changed and cast at the reefs, Nick tried bait to no avail. Ross trolled close to shore and had a follow from a fish but couldn't get it interested enough to strike. Meanwhile I switched to a small curl-tailed grub and cast in towards the edge of the reef letting it sink down the reef face before slowly twitching it back to the kayak. | |
| The tactic eventually paid off with a solid strike from a fish that fortunately decided to swim away from the reef into clear water. I finally landed a 35cm bream which is my new PB. | |
| We persisted for another 1.5 hours with no success so headed back to the beach where we took a the opportunity to have a test paddle of each others kayaks. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |
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| Date: | 26th July 2004 |
| Time: | 7:15am -11:30am |
| Tide: | Low at 09:50am (Redcliffe) |
| Launch site: | Clontarf |
| Water temperature: | N/A |
| Lures/baits used: | Soft plastics and hard-bodied lures |
| Report: | I paddled approximately three kilometres to South Reef and fished all around it with various types of soft plastics. Several light touches kept me interested in this area until I eventually saw some pike following a lure in. I therefore switched to a small bait jigging rig weighted with a SP Jighead and immediately hooked one pike which I then put out on my other rod as a live-bait. |
| After slowly trolling the live-bait around in deeper water towards Otter Rock for a while I found myself in the middle of a large pod of dolphins. I wound in the line and watched them for a bit before moving back to the reef. | |
| This time I dropped an anchor (dumbbell with 7 metres of cord attached) right on the reef so I could fish along a deep drop-off about three metres from the exposed rocks. In this location I had a few touches on soft plastics but all I connected to was another pike. | |
| By this stage the Sun was high and, as I could easily see there was no fish-type life at all underneath me, I decided to head back. From the Woody Point Jetty I zigzagged all the way back to the ramp with a deep-diving lure in tow but, even though it was bumping along the bottom all the way, nothing had a go at it. | |
| I spoke to a bloke in a "tinny" at the ramp and all he had caught was a feed of winter whiting in Bramble Bay. | |
| Submitted by: | Ross C. |
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| Date: | 2nd July 2004 |
| Time: | 07:00am - 12:00pm |
| Tide: | High at 09:02am (Brisbane Bar) |
| Launch site: | Woody Point boat ramp |
| Water temperature: | 14-16°C |
| Lures/baits used: | Soft plastics and hard-bodied lures |
| Report: | It was a beautiful day to be on the water! No wind and the water was very clear. Put in at Woody Point ramp and paddled around to near Scotts Point passing a couple of turtles on the way. Wasted a couple of hours there donating jigheads to the reef gods. All I saw during that time were some baitfish and a couple of mullet leaping about. |
| Then paddled out to the South Reef and finally found the fish! Hooked a bream I think would have been a PB. It had a couple of short solid runs then stopped still and I had trouble budging it. I moved over towards it only to watch as it took me under a ledge to gain its freedom as the leader parted. | |
| I caught and released a moses perch about 12cm long and watched plenty of others investigating the jig. Saw several legal bream but couldn't interest them. | |
| Just as I was about to leave the reef I looked down to see a 1.2 metre wobbegong settle just 2 metres below me. | |
| I saw a few more bream and a flathead on my way back to the ramp. I had a few casts at them but they seemed to be just cruising and not interested in my offerings. | |
| After having tried different lures througout the session, the one that raised the most interest was a glow-in-the-dark Slider — a lure with which I have previously had success in similar clear water, bright light conditions. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |