Goodwill Bridge, Good Spot!

[molo2]

Hey guys, it has been a long time since I went fishing (2 weeks is far to long) and yeah just two nights ago me and my friend decided "Hey we should go fishing in the Brisbane River". Me and my friend; Reg, were craving to go fishng, whether or not if we do catch anything. So on Sunday morning the 29th May we made out way to Southbank went on the Goodwill Bridge and went on the QUT side half where there are benches and yeah I was actually surprised how many fish we caught. All up we caught 19 fish from 9:30am to 11:30am, only using prawns as bait the first fish I caught was I think a small threadfin salmon (I couldn't I.D. it I went to Amart and looked at the books and I couldn't relate to it) then the rest were all Bream; most of them legal size, Reg caught also all Bream (most legal) but one catfish, damn you Catfish!

I've had previous experience with the Brisbane River, when I was 12 I used to go to Bulimba and fish near the Citycat jetty and caught very few Bream and Whiting and along the Southbank walkway last yeah and only caught damn Catfish.

Honestly, I was stoked and people were watching us but you know in their mind they'll think there are no fish in the river or if there is, its mutated. Well I had a ball, so if you guys are low on cash (especially with these petrol prices) because your spot is too far from home, give the Goodwill Bridge a go, cause I was getting bites everytime I threw the line in, I would've had more but I'm still not a very good fisherman.

And hey it would be kind of good if it did become a trend and more people came to the bridge to come fish.

Anyway that was my weekend, maybe if you fish there you might see me there, hahaha

[Cruiser93]

Onya Molo2 ,
Keep practicing , how'd those bream go down ? I'm assuming you did keep some for a feed .......Mal

[shabss]

do you have pics

[molo2]

Oh damn thats what I should have did, crap! Next time I'll take photos to prove that i've caught a haul there. Arghhh I gotta remember!!!! Thanks for telling me!

[molo2]

Again I wasn't prepared I didn't bring an esky with me, I kinda expected not to catch anything but yeah for sure next time I will bring an esky and keep them disregarding the fact what people say about the water being dirty and polluted.

[jim_farrell]

Aaaahhhhh. No esky and no camera. Guaranteed to catch fish. ;D

[Braddles]

Hey guys;

A great read and thanks for the report - its great to hear stories like that coming from our river (as I stare out my work's window looking at the exact spot).

Are these fish safe to eat I wonder? I will be having a go next w/end anyway... catch and release tho I think..

A friend of mine lives on the river at Bulimba and regularly catches very healthy looking / plump bream. flat head (and eels and cat fish)...

[molo2]

I can tell you that the fish in the river are absolutely edible, when I used fish @ bulimba when I was in primary school I keep the fish and ate it for dinner that night, no matter how big/small it was! I'm sure that fish now in the waters are the same, its just how alot of people who judge the river without finding the facts. I've found no facts but I don't really care if it is polluted and dorty cause a doctor can fix up any effects that happen! Its all sweet!

[Flash]

CSIRO reckons the Brissy is clean enough to eat fish from.

A few years ago there was a lot of nasty stuff coming out Oxley Creek.

[molo2]

Thats good 2 know about the river, ahhhh what a relief but I always had confidence that the waters are safe. I honestly didn't know about the oxley incident, hmmm any info about it?

[Braddles]

I only remember as a teenager (now thats about 10 yrs ago) that there used to be a sign at north quay on the QLD GOVT floating helicopter pontoon walk way warning about mercury content of river fish and that they were not suitable for human consumption...

[Feral]

Yeah, Sydney residents thought eating fish outta their harbour was safe to.....

[Flash]

There was a lot of chemical leeching from the Willawong toxic waste dump into the Oxley Ck.
Some rocket scientist thought that putting a toxic dump BELOW the water table would be a good idea.

Now there is coral and sea sponges growing in and around the river mouth.

[molo2]

well thats fuggin smart, oh well i suppose it can'r be avoided, there are always some people who don't consider their actions and the consequences that lay ahead, even if action was taken and if justice prevailed, there again will be others who will replace them. Makes me angry!

[fishingnottake]

I can tell you that the fish in the river are absolutely edible, when I used fish @ bulimba when I was in primary school I keep the fish and ate it for dinner that night, no matter how big/small it was! I'm sure that fish now in the waters are the same, its just how alot of people who judge the river without finding the facts. I've found no facts but I don't really care if it is polluted and dorty cause a doctor can fix up any effects that happen! Its all sweet! mate those comments really concern me.. one it sounds like you were fishing without thought of regs and there;s an awful lots of nasty ailments caused by eating tainted fish that all the doctor can do for you is make you comfortable... that being said there;'s parts of the river that are fine, and there are parts that are obviously bordering on rancid.... for the sake of a 20 min drive to water outside thwe river why would you risk it for a feed?

[Az]

well said ;)

I fish the river aswell but won't eat anything from the upper reaches, that would include up as far as the good will bridge, i have eaten fish from the mouth but not much further up

The river is definately in a lot better shaper now than it was but you still have to be pretty careful because lead/mercury isn't all that easy to get rid of :o

[molo2]

well im sorry that i; @ the age of 12 back then didn't know the regulations, can u forgive me? And sorry that I didn't have a license at that age to DRIVE those 20mins. And i'm and very sorry that I didn't consider my health in regards to eating the fish. Oh i feel so bad, pfft sif I care what u think?!??!?! I don't care what you think man, I don't really care if I do catch an illness, but sh*t, if it happens, it happens! I follow size regulations but the fact there are fish in the river, all signs show me is that 'hey if fish are alive in there, must be ok 2 eat'. Well if im wrong its my sh*t, if I make a mistake, its none of ur concern, ok? Coz its my problem. But hey I don't know how you directed ur reply but i assumed it was an attack. but if u were giving me some caution, thanks but I don't care. The only way I will stop fishing where I am now is unnatural tastes or unusual physical look but until that happens i'll continue my enjoyment.

[Az]

well im sorry that i; @ the age of 12 back then didn't know the regulations, can u forgive me? And sorry that I didn't have a license at that age to DRIVE those 20mins.

you @ the age of 12 .. u didn't happen to have just turned 13 have you? Because your careless "dr fix me" attitude could only be forgiven if you were still a child... even then you should still know better

but hey.. go for it
it is just a feed afterall.. i mean who needs good health anyway ::)

[ROB80]

molo2, nobody here is giving you attitude. just fellow fisherman looking out for each other. 10 yrs ago when i was at QUT I read a report from one of the PHD students who tested a heap of crabs caught in front of the botanic gardens. had high levels of heavy metals such as mercury and were definitely not for eating. having said that they are bottom feeders and this was 10 years ago when they were still dredging the river. when i was your age i was catching bream near the paper mill at petrie and eating them and i still kickin so can;t be to bad :) at least your fishing not boosting cars or doing graffiti ;D

[molo2]

well I don't care anymore im over it, anyway when i was fishing there @ goodwill bridge some of the bream I caught didn't look the same, I always thought it cudda been a different species but like some of the bream had black fins, is that abnormal or is it another species?

[Louis]

Well done Molo2.

It sounds like you had a good time and caught some good fish.

It's nice to see that there are still some places around that you can get to quickly and easily without the need to drag out the boat etc., and be able to laze away a few hours relaxing and catching the odd fish.

About a week ago I went to the mouth of the canal that empties at Thorneside. There is a little park there and a little bit of sand and it was lovely to sit there at night with the rods out.

I caught two lawful sized bream and had a relaxing time.





Louis

[Az]

get some pics of the other fish next time, there are some grunter bream that get about the river

[Got_the_Fever]

When I was a kid age 10 or so(30 years ago) I used to fish in the river at Davies Park, off the little Jetty. We used to pull in bream and perch out of there all the time. We didnt think about health hazards back then. What did we know about heavy metals apart from the lead we where using on our lines. None of us ever got sick from eating our catches. I can remember that one day we were fishing there and one of the sewage pipes burst, a lot of vietnamese guys were there with cast nets catching jewies. That put me off from fishing around the river, but these days with all the work that has been done to clean the river up I think it is a lot safer. Myself I dont think I would eat anything out of there yet, but it is up to the individual to make that decision for themselves. ;D

Kel

[Bundy_Burp]

Ive fished the brissie river many times in the past catch many a fish and ate them all the family and I are still going strong so I say bugger the scientists go for it . :)

[chrisfish]

I would not eat fish caught near the CBD. The Sydney Harbour comment is a good one as is the one about much cleaner water being 20 minutes away from Brisbane city. Catch and release in town.

[Dirty]

Testing this shit out.

[molo2]

Thanks guys/gals for ur replies, yeah I went fishing on the Goodwill Bridge again I don't know, maybe two weeks ago and yeah my friend caught 11 while me......only six in the matter of 2hrs. I caught 2 threadfins, 3 bream and 1 shovelnose shark; i thought my rod was gonna snap coz its a 2-5kg rod and I think the shark was about 6-7kg and so reg started to manually pull up the line; his hands got wasted! and yeah just about 2m away from the balcony the shark shook and the line snapped. I found out on the net their jaws and are very strong and has the ability to break your hand, sheesh luckly we didn't try or get the opportunity to take the hook out. Reg caught 2 threadfins as well, 1 catfish, and the rest bream. Even though I didn't do well as I did last time I still enjoyed myself. We also tried a spot in West End last week, I can't really specify but near the rowing club building and yeah didn't catch nothing there, could have been a bad time, its always rain that I never catch anything! Then we went down to Nudgee Beach, and I swear the fish right near the pontoon are friggin smart, even though they are small its really hard to get em. There I caught two very small bream, reg caught two as well, and my mates dad got 3 bream, 2 whiting, and a puffer fish. He got 1 of the whiting, threaded a big hook onto it but the fish was still able to move and threw it back into the water and yeah mabe after 15mins he had 1 5 sec long hit and it suddenly was gone, i was assuming it was a tailor, but yeah I think that will be my new fishing hole from now on. Hope to see you there!

[timddo]

Gees, there is a huge sewage pipe that runs into the mouth of the brisbane river on the left hand side. so eating fish in the river or the upper reaches are all the same. I've been eating small shrimp caught at graceville and good and has never done any harm. Anyways you gotta die of something. ;D ;D ;D

[Flash]

He got 1 of the whiting, threaded a big hook onto it but the fish was still able to move and threw it back into the water and yeah mabe after 15mins he had 1 5 sec long hit and it suddenly was gone, i was assuming it was a tailor, but yeah I think that will be my new fishing hole from now on. Hope to see you there!

Put a stinger hook in the tail of your livies, you might have less losses that way.