Luderick Redcliffe

[masterdusky]

Anyone on here regular fish for luderick this time of year around the Redcliffe area, was nosing around the end of the new bridge and there were a couple of likely looking spots, was interested in finding some local spots to save driving down th TWeed, any suggestions?

[tunaticer]

Only two places I know of on the Peninsula is Clontarf right near the bridges near top of the tide of the canals. I would imagine that the pilons at the end of the Woody point jetty would be worth a shot due to the current lines there are good.
Deepwater Bend rock wall produces the goods but constant berley is the only way to gain success there.
The cut through near the Whyte Island Ramp is a good spot for the luderick too but you may have to stand in line there or be early.

[masterdusky]

cheers mate, although whyte island ramp cut through? Im not familiar with this place, street name?

[tunaticer]

Sorry mate, The channel before Fishermans Island at the mouth of the Brisbane river. Flows between the southern bay and the Brisie River. Good currents, deep water, rock wall and pilons 4m our from the rock wall. Home to many luderick in winter.

[Freeeedom]

Yeah - I've caught luderick there, and also a couple of big spotted dories, which really give your luderick gear a work over. There should be plenty along the rock walls in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River. I've tried the rock walls at Deep Water Bend without success although I've caught the odd luderick in the Pine in the bait net. Other places that produce that I've done well at are Jumpinpin (caught some real monsters there), the Caloundra boardwalk, the rock walls at the mouth of the Mooloola River, and the mouth of the Noosa River. They are also supposed to go off around the pylons of the bridge over the Maroochy River.
What this means I guess is that luderick are common in SE Qld but haven't really been targeted by many fishos (except a few Mexicans). They are a great fighting fish and are heaps of fun on the light gear you have to use to catch them.
With the cooler than usual winter we've had this year the weed should be growing well. I noticed quite a bit at Redcliffe when I came back from Mud on Monday. I've always regarded August as the best month for luderick in SE Qld, so now is the time to have a go! Might be time for some exploratory trips.
Cheers Freeeedom

[tunaticer]

I would imagine that Dunwich and Amity on Nth Straddy would probably be the best structured areas close to Brisie for luderick, good currents and good deep clean water running past steep rocks.
In my experience the luderick really fire with more than 2 knots of current.

[ThePinkPanther]

I caught a one kg luderick under my pontoon at Raby Bay in a cast net a couple of weeks back and as they are a "schooling" fish thought for sure there would be more around but not a touch on cabbage week, nothing.

Often wonder if the leads into Raby Bay would be worth a go?

[Noelm]

I don't think it makes too much difference where you are, if you know what you are doing and know where a Blackfish lives and eats, then you will be successful, they are a tricky little devil to catch, but are great fun, and very good to eat, if you keep the bigger ones, and any from around the ocean rocks are great table fair!

[bondy99]

Hello

Apart from Caloundra Boardwalk are there any other good spot landbased?

Have no boat so pylons off the river banks is no good for me.

I use to catch them under Boyd Bridge on the Tweed but roadworks have buggered that too.

[Noelm]

probably 90% of Blackfishing is done from the shore.

[tunaticer]

Military Jetty at Caloundra is another good location. Most of the rock walls in the Noosa Sound and the Weyba Creek bridge.
Newport Waterways would have to produce decent catches as well as the rock walls around the Scarby Harbour.

[masterdusky]

Freedom, can I ask where you seen the weed at Redcliffe, and if by any chance it was wire or soft ?

cheers MD

[Freeeedom]

MD, the rocks along the forshore at Clontarf are covered with it at the moment. A good spot is the rocks where Victoria Avenue meets the Hornibrook Esplanade - there's a park there right by the rock wall. At low tide you could fill a bucket in about 10 minutes. Although it looks like the 'weed' - the long thin, soft, hair-like weed - I actually think that it's a long thin form of Ulva (known to nigger fishos as 'cabbage') and is the predominant weed that grows in this location when the winters are cold enough. Whatever it is it works well!
Cheers Freeeedom

[fat-buoy]

You can also try the exit of the Newport Waterways canals on the north side.. I have hit them before in a cast net there but not on a line... also another vote for the boardwalk at Caloundra.. seems to be very popular with guys catching them of a good size at the moment.

[Funchy]

Hey Freeeedom,

Other than cabbage do you know what other reliable form of bait can be used for blackfish? Also tips on set up would be greatly appreciated. (I used to go black fishing with my dad down at the Palmers Island bridge, Yamba, Nthrn NSW but always with weed and float. Geez we are going back now.:-X) Was wondering if anything else worked or stick with the tried and true? I want to try around the Sunshine coast.

;D

Thanks in advance.

[tunaticer]

Small yabbies or green clickers are the next best baits for the luderick, I know a guy that gets a few using the thin soft green worms you see on the sandflats at times, I dont know how he gets them onto a hook tho being so soft.

[Freeeedom]

Hey Freeeedom,

Other than cabbage do you know what other reliable form of bait can be used for blackfish? Also tips on set up would be greatly appreciated. (I used to go black fishing with my dad down at the Palmers Island bridge, Yamba, Nthrn NSW but always with weed and float. Geez we are going back now.:-X) Was wondering if anything else worked or stick with the tried and true? I want to try around the Sunshine coast.

;D

Thanks in advance.

Hi Funchy
There are two main baits. 'Cabbage' (marine green algae of the Genus Ulva - also sometimes called sea lettuce) which grows widely on ocean headlands in cooler waters. It's easy to find from about the NSW border south. I've attached a picture of it growing on the Bluff headland at Iluka. I think the weed growing on the bay foreshores at the moment is a variety of Ulva. Cabbage is a good bait in rough water around headlands etc.

'Green weed' ( a filamentous (hair-like) marine green alga, which I think belongs in the genus Enteromorpha). This also grows on the rocky headlands but is much less abundant. I can usually find some at Iluka but because it's rarer it gets picked over by anglers as soon as it appears. Weed is considered the better bait in quiet waters, such as inside the rivers.

The top bait at Iluka is called 'Iluka black'. It's a branching alga (I'm guessing it's an alga since I've never been able to get my hands on any) that is dark brownish-grey in colour. It is not available in the bait shops so you have to collect your own. It grows in the drains coming out of the cane fields. The location of these spots is a closely guarded secret but it outfishes any other bait in the quiet water locations by about 5 to 1.

Luderick will also eat many of the brown algae too. I have successfully tried small bits of brown algae from the Iluka headland in the washes there and was fishing next to a guy one day who was targeting drummer using the brown algae growing at his feet. He was one of the fanatical grumpy old codger brigade who fished only for luderick and drummer and who won't talk to you much until you've fished next to him about twenty times, but he was absolutely killing them that day (and made me look like a rank amateur).

I've read that luderick can also be taken on white bread (fished as you would for gar, mullet etc) and on green peas! On Lord Howe Island a close relative of the luderick called the bluefish is fished for with bread both as berley and bait. They will also take yabbies and sometimes peeled prawns - best in winter in SE Qld at night.

Because weed is sometimes a bit hard to get you can't afford to use your precious weed for berley. An alternative that I have found worked for me was to run the mower over the lawn and use the fresh green grass clippings for berley.

Cheers Freeeedom

[BLOOEY]

Nice one freedom. Not sure what type of weed/algae it is but you find it growing on the roots of mangroves in the brissy river and probably many other locations, purple/brown in colour and a wirey feel. This stuff is also very good for blackfish,silver and black drummer but it is a bugger to present well on a hook. Do you know what this gear is? Ben

[Freeeedom]

Sorry Ben - I can only remember a few of the algae these days. Somewhere along the way I lost my textbooks on the algae and have regretted it ever since. I usually avoid the more wiry types going for the softer weeds, thinking that the fish probably prefer something that's easier to chew!
Cheers Freeeedom

[TheGurn]

Many years back I joined in with some of the old hands at the boardwalk for a while. They were getting heaps of really good fish.
They told me where to get some cabbage off the headland.
I got the same floats, same bait, same hooks, same line.
I rigged up and joined 'the walk'.
I did exactly as they advised, copied what they did, used exactly what they used, floated exactly where they floated.
Same split shot, same depth, same everything.

Nadda. Not one fish. Even dressing to the other side didn't help.
I finally lost all my floats to the snags and thought to myself, "Well, that's it for luderik. Lotsa fun, but they're too quick and finicky for me"

Not long after, I was fishing the Pine off the rocks at Dohles using 20lb nylon, a big king prawn on a 6/0, pinned to the bottom by a four ball.
Yep, you guessed it. Caught a bloody big luderick..

Go figure..

[Funchy]

Feeeedom,

Thankyou so much for taking the time to answer my question so comprehensively. My old man used to fish in Yamba for Luderick and had his spots for "pickin cabbage". I just wish I had taken time to pay a little more attention, but then again I have the same issues with my boys now (sumthin about the world tuns turns turns?????). Anyway, I will be on the lookout for weed and try around the sunnycoast when I get home.

Once again many thanks for taking the time mate.

[Freeeedom]

Many years back I joined in with some of the old hands at the boardwalk for a while. They were getting heaps of really good fish.
They told me where to get some cabbage off the headland.
I got the same floats, same bait, same hooks, same line.
I rigged up and joined 'the walk'.
I did exactly as they advised, copied what they did, used exactly what they used, floated exactly where they floated.
Same split shot, same depth, same everything.

Nadda. Not one fish. Even dressing to the other side didn't help.
I finally lost all my floats to the snags and thought to myself, "Well, that's it for luderik. Lotsa fun, but they're too quick and finicky for me"

Not long after, I was fishing the Pine off the rocks at Dohles using 20lb nylon, a big king prawn on a 6/0, pinned to the bottom by a four ball.
Yep, you guessed it. Caught a bloody big luderick..

Go figure..

I know exactly how you feel - I went through exactly the same experience when I first started to chase them. I would stand next to the guys catching them and do everything they did (or so I thought) and catch nothing. But gradually with constant effort and a bit of advice now and again from some of them I started to catch the odd one at first and then more regularly each time. I still don't regard myself as anything like an expert but if the fish are there I can usually get some these days.
If I was to give a few tips to anyone starting to chase them they would be
a correctly weighted float - should JUST float with a couple of centimetres of the tip above the water line (this is vital if fishing quiet water)
a very light leader from the lead to the hook - I use about 25cm of 4 pound Vanish
a small bait covering (and therefore hiding) the hook. Drape the weed across the line and plait it around the hook - the knot on the hook should stop it sliding down. Cut off any excess more than a centimetre below the hook. If using cabbage take a small leaf (about half the size of a postage stamp. Fold it a couple of times and carefully push the tip of the hook through one end of it a couple of times. Use the rest of the leaf to wrap around the shaft of the hook and secure it above the eye of the hook with a half hitch
berley regularly with a mixture of finely chopped weed mixed with sand. Throw a handful of this mix into the area you are fishing about every four or five minutes
don't strike too early when you get a 'down'. If your float disappears count to three and strike gently if it hasn't come up again before you reach three. If it does come up wait and see if the fish will come back. The 'old timer's rule' is 'strike on the third down'!

Cheers Freeeedom

[Funchy]

Ohhhh Lordy.... now I remenber why as a teenager I just couldn't get into it. No patience at that age. Thaks again Freeeedom, now I am an old fart I am goona get into it.