Hardie Heads for bait

[Nathalie]

Hi all

I am wanting to cast the net for Hardy Heads off the Shorncliffe Jetty. Can anyone tell me if there have been any Hardy Heads around the jetty lately, and is there a limit to how much you can net for bait (freezing).

Thank you all in advance.

Nathalie.

[split-shot]

Nathalie,

Do not now if there are any Hardy Heads @Shorncliffe, but there as a lot in the Pumicestone passage over the Easter break. As for there being a bag limit, I do not know. Try rining the DPI.

[kingtin]

Hi Nathalie.

The last hardyheads that I saw there (last week), went straight through the net as they were very small. The herring are a better proposition but lately it has been almost impossible to chuck a net due to the masses of jellyfish. very hit and miss as to whether the jellyfish are still there but most days, they have been.

There's no limits on either herring or hardyheads.

Good luck

kev

[Luc]

I regularly see big schools of hardyheads/sardines hanging at the down current end of the breakwall of the Redcliffe pier.

You'd need a boat to access them however.

A dilly net is a better option than a cast net.

Luc

[Freeeedom]

Hardiheads respond very wall to berley, either with soaked pellets or bread crumbs. This means that you can bring them around in big numbers quite quickly. There are millions of them in my berley trails when I fish the Redcliffe reefs at the moment. However, as Kingtin says, most of them go straight through the mesh size of a cast net. I put a cast net over a big school a couple of days ago and did not get one! You need a lift net of a finer mesh which you sink to the bottom and then berley the hardiheads over it - then rapidly lift the net to get them by the hundreds. On the down side, I like them as a live bait for lizards and big bream, but do not rate them highly as a frozen bait. Would put herring well ahead of them in that category.
Cheers Freeeedom

[elprez]

As far as bait goes I can only remember catching grunter (big) at Ungowa with them. Never got a bite in the Surf with them and not from lack of trying. Herrings the go I reckon.