Southern Moreton Bay
| Date: | 2nd August 2006 |
| Time: | 7:30am - 2:45pm |
| Tide: | Low at 8:41am (Peel Island) |
| Launch site: | Toondah Harbour (Cleveland) |
| Water temperature: | 19°C |
| Lures/baits used: | Hard-bodied and soft plastic lures |
| Report: | I originally planned to fish around Cassim and Sandy Islands near Cleveland, but with the tide out the area looked uninviting, the forecast was good, and Peel Island beckoned. |
| Trolled a HB on the way over than cast SPs around without a touch. Landed at Horseshoe Bay for a stretch of the legs, a bite to eat, and to tie on a new leader after busting off on a reef. | |
| Back on the water I was throwing a Squidgy around and getting a few bumps but no hookups. A couple of fish pulled drag for a second or two before dropping the jig. Changed to a Berkley 3" minnow (fast becoming my "go to" SP) and was soon releasing a 28cm Squire after a spirited tussle. A couple more casts and had a twin, then a few more casts saw the SP hammered by a baby Squire only 15cm long. | |
| By this stage the Berkley minnow was tattered so changed to a Snapback which produced the best fish of the session, a Squire just over legal length. | |
| It was a fairly solid workout, taking about 2.5 hours each way and paddling between somewhere between 16 and 20 kilometres. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |
| Date: | 27th May 2006 |
| Time: | 6:30am - 11:00am |
| Tide: | High at 9:26am (Victoria Point) |
| Launch site: | Victoria Point |
| Water temperature: | 17°C |
| Lures/baits used: | Hard-bodied lures, soft plastics, and bait |
| Report: | The mornings have been getting "crisp" and when I left home the air temperature was around 8°C but by the time Karl, Ross, Nick, and I launched the Sun had risen, there was negligible wind, and the water temperature was 17°C, so it looked like we were in for a pleasant day. |
| The plan was to circumnavigate Coochiemudlo Island, fishing a variety of locations, and expecting some Bream and maybe some Squire if we could locate some suitable shallow reefs. Karl was using soft plastics. Ross had a RMG Sneaky Scorpion on one rod while his other rod was rigged with a Pilchard on ganged hooks targetted at either Squire, Flathead, or the Tailor that had been reported to have been putting in an appearance in the channels between Coochiemudlo and Macleay Islands. Nick was putting his faith in an Ecogear SX40, while I had a Kokoda Sprog in my Bream outfit and a home-made slug on my baitcaster in case a school of Tailor decided to join the action. | |
| First decent fish to come aboard came from a small section of rocks on the southern shore of Coochie. Ross was working the area when I tossed a couple of casts in and came up tight to a 45cm Flathead. | |
| There wasn't any more action until we got around to the shallows on the North side of the island. Here we found schools of Bream. Some we spooked, some would follow our lures before turning away and some we caught. | |
| A small patch of mangroves getting a foot-hold 50 metres or so away from the shore looked inviting so Ross went to one end while I went to the other. The sunlight was quite bright giving a distinct shadow and I reasoned that any fish would be likely to be in the shade and would pounce on any baitfish struggling along in the bright light so worked my lure accordingly. | |
| First cast resulted in an enquiring bump and the next cast to the same spot produced a 26cm Bream. A couple more casts and I found myself in a tug-of-war with a 60cm Flathead - my new PB. Comparing notes with Ross later, I learnt that he had used the same tactics and had landed four Bream from the patch of mangroves. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |
| Date: | 20th November 2004 |
| Time: | 6:00am - 12:00pm |
| Tide: | Low at 10:10am (Victoria Point) |
| Launch site: | Victoria Point |
| Water temperature: | 26°C |
| Lures/baits used: | Hard-bodied lures, soft plastics, and bait |
| Report: | It was the first time that either Nick, Gavin, James, Ross, Peter, Stefan, or I had visited this area so nobody knew what quite to expect although recent reports suggested we should get a few Flathead and maybe some Squire and Grassy Sweetlip from the flats and shallow reefs around Coochiemudlo Island. |
| We started trolling a variety of hard-bodied lures on our way across to the island. Before long I was retrieving my line, thinking it was fouled with weed, only to find I had hooked a rotten Grinner. Ross sent a few casts towards a rocky outcrop on the beach at Coochiemudlo and hooked but quickly lost what appeared to be a Trevally. Stefan switched to bait and opened his account with a couple of small Sweetlip taken on prawn. | |
| During the previous week I had been stirring Nick about his ability to catch Toadies and Grinners but had to eat my words as I landed another two Grinners. One of them was foul hooked and actually managed to pull some line off my lightly set drag. At least I wasn't alone, as Nick had also landed a Grinner and a Pike. | |
| Stefan was catching a few bream and tarwine but unfortunately none were of any size. | |
| Paddling up the eastern side of the island Gavin landed a small Moses Perch which was to be the only fish caught until we were almost back to Victoria Point. | |
| Casting lures around a sand spit finally turned the trick with Gavin taking a 40+cm Flathead on a small baitfish pattern lure. An undersized Flathead caught and released by Stefan, and a few bumps which resulted in soft plastics with bitten tails, kept our hopes up. Late in the session I landed a 27cm fork-length bream on soft plastics. | |
| Seven kayakers fishing for six hours for the grand result of only two legal fish was a little disappointing, particularly for James who had travelled for three hours to join us. It was, however, a pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning and an opportunity to discuss kayaks, fishing, and future outings. | |
| Submitted by: | Tony |