Fun and relaxation in the upper Pine River

[Freeeedom]

Felt like a fish this morning, but didn't want to face the weekend crowds and the wind, which was blowing quite hard when I looked outside about 6.00am. So I grabbed a bit of gear, a light spin outfit, a tub of dough from the freezer (prepared in advance for days like this), put the little wave-rider ski on the car and headed for the upper reaches of the Pine River, with a detour to the bread shop for a loaf of white bread. Ten minutes of berleying had some mullet charging at every piece of bread as it hit the water and not long after the first one was in the bag. Managed to catch about 15 mullet and half a dozen bream before the loaf of bread ran out. Three of the mullet were OK, best 39cm, and 2 of the bream were legal. Sitting on the ski with my legs dangling in the water, a light breeze to keep it comfortable, watching the wildlife and catching plenty of fish was a very therapeutic way to spend a few hours on a summer's morning. Makes me wonder whyI don't do it more often instead of paying terrible prices for crab bait at the bait shops.
Cheers Freeeedom

[codz22]

Thanks for your post mate, I havent caught mullet for years you have inspired me to give it ago again they are fun on light line.

[Michael D]

i remember years ago on a jetty with my dad catching bags of mullet!what fun it was for me as a youngster they put up a great fight on light gear had a ball.

[snasman]

Hey Freeedom,the place is alive with mullet atm Ive been bait collecting the last 2 days,problem is Ive been chasing prawns for a feed and only getting mullet and Herring ,good effort,Snas.

[tunaticer]

G'day Freeeedom,

Nice catch there mate, Those mullet might be the target species for the next month or so now you have regenerated an old way of fishing with this post.

Talking to a mate a few weeks ago who told me of a shark some kids had caught under the south pine river bridges beside St. Pauls School. The water there has been very fresh for nearly two months now and this shark was caught less than a month ago. About 1.4m to 1.5m he estimates.

I wouldn't be dangling my legs overboard too much cuz these critters tend to mouth things to see if they are edible or not.

Jack.

[Poodroo]

Nice Freeeedom. I always like it when fishermen diversify and do something different. Good on you for getting out there and still catching a feed. Sometimes I see people catching mullet. Do you use them for bait or do you actually eat them? Some say they taste okay but a lot of people wouldn't bother. Personally I have never tasted them. I remember ages ago an old friend of mine used to tow a punt behind his boat up and down the Albert river. He had a wire divider going down the middle of the punt and a piece of ag pipe tied off up the top which had a wide slot cut out of it on one side. At night time he would chug up and down the river when there was no moon and he would stick a 12 volt fluro light into the ag pipe so that it would emit light out of the slot in the pipe. The mullet would see the light and jump out of the water at it and simply hit the wire divider and drop into the punt. Was a clever way of catching them and it worked very well indeed. He used to get huge mullet.

Poodroo

[Freeeedom]

Nice Freeeedom. I always like it when fishermen diversify and do something different. Good on you for getting out there and still catching a feed. Sometimes I see people catching mullet. Do you use them for bait or do you actually eat them? Some say they taste okay but a lot of people wouldn't bother. Personally I have never tasted them. I remember ages ago an old friend of mine used to tow a punt behind his boat up and down the Albert river. He had a wire divider going down the middle of the punt and a piece of ag pipe tied off up the top which had a wide slot cut out of it on one side. At night time he would chug up and down the river when there was no moon and he would stick a 12 volt fluro light into the ag pipe so that it would emit light out of the slot in the pipe. The mullet would see the light and jump out of the water at it and simply hit the wire divider and drop into the punt. Was a clever way of catching them and it worked very well indeed. He used to get huge mullet.

Poodroo

Hi Poodroo
I always eat a few of the bigger mullet when they're fresh. They are excellent eating with none of the heavy 'mullet' taste that you associate with commercially handled fish. Being an oily fish they are also great to barbecue and smoke. It's a shame that such a good eating fish has such a poor reputation (like tailor also has) because by the time they reach the public they are no longer in good condition. The mullet are also terrific fighters on the light line you have to use to catch them. I've also caught mullet way up in the freshwater of the Brisbane River (near Lowood) using nigger gear and methods and green algae as bait. It was heaps of fun.
I like the idea of having mullet leap into your boat, attracted by a light. Hardly seems fair though, does it
Cheers Freeeedom