How to catch a feed of fish in Moreton Bay (bait fishing) Part 2 Land based

[bondy99]

I agree to the above. I can add it's a waste of time fishing in an area where swimmers, boating traffic, this includes jetskies disturbing the area. The mouth of the river in Pottsville up to the bridge is populated with holiday makers and you see people walking and swimming in that stretch and at same time about 6 anglers in the water trying their best at catching a feed.

Before dawn and late in the evening, I'm 53 and still trying to find an area that's not been touched.

Some places may exist but when you get developers blocking off access (now called private property) to build suburb blocks in coastal areas, or don't have a 4WD to get to out of the way spots , does present challenges.

Bondy

[charleville]

One of the moderators has put a sticky thread in the General Fishing section highlighting this website...

http://www.sunfishqld.com.au/fishing_guide.php

As it shows a lot of land based fishing spots, it probably deserves a mention in this thread as well.


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[tunaticer]

Here is a hint for Redcliffe.....7-9pm week nights, weather needs to be 5 knots from the eastern sector or anything from the western sector. Head to almost any rocky foreshore, groin, or inshore from any known rubble patch within casting distance. Do not use a torch unless you are facing the land, definitely no light on the water.
Fish 6lb mainline and up to 10lb leader down to a 1/0 or 2/0 circle hook with one fillet of a pillie folded in half and placed on the hook. Cast it into decent depth water alongside a reef patch but not on it and wait for something to pick up the bait, do not put the rod down. Snapper move right into less than 1 metre of water during the evenings but are incredibly shy. Unweighted baits on light lines are the go. The longer your cast the better.
Full moon evenings you can actually see the snapper come inshore in the early evening in winter when the water is so clear. Any movement of people walking by or torchlight will see them disappear.
Live hardiheads are a gun bait too for inshore snapper.
Generally they are 1-3kgs, but have come across 6kg models too in the shallows.

[Paul H]

I agree with pretty much all of the above - but for me the two most important points are probably:

1) Waking up in the middle of the night (at this time of year) to start fishing at least 30 mins before first light.
2)Trying (and I know its hard) to find a stretch of water that has been undisturbed by boat traffic / other anglers overnight.

Point 1 will turn you into a very strange beast after a while - I now fall asleep at all evening events, regardless of importance!

I put up details of all the locations I fish, on my blog at http://landangler.wordpress.com.

I know it drives some anglers nuts when I give away spots and I apologise to them - but I figure sharing creates good fishing karma in the long run.

Musketeer, Great blog. Thanks for sharing !!!

[stinkyfinger]

I do not live up the Gold coast or Brisbane as yet, But I went up there a few months ago looking at houses,
I chucked in the car a soft plastic rod & a few bags of rubbers.
I think once you truly learn the art of soft plastics with the right gear & knots, you'll never look back,
I only managed a few flicks here and there when I could, Managed some very nice fish in my travels in and around the gold coast & the banks of Morton bay including some nice legal reds, Bream, Flatties & a nice 70cm Jew.
I love soft plastic fishing at night personally, but they are very effective any time of day really.
There is an ocean river down here that gets smashed in summer by every man & his dog, boats, jetskis you name it. the banks are shoulder to shoulder, I go down for a bit of fun some times, you'll walk along the bank asking what people have caught & generally the word will be nothing all day, Then I ask them if they mind if I cast a lure next to them,
Generally on the first cast I hook up. then the next 5 out of 10 casts, drag a nice flattie up & release it. they go nuts watching you catch a fish within minutes & worse of watching you release it.
I to only a few years ago never really gave them a fair go. but once I did. I have looked back at bait unless I'm fishing offshore or trolling live baits.
find out what the fish are eating where your fishing, then use a plastic that represents that food.
For me in summer, the fish are eating prawns, so I use a Gulp Banana prawn & fish eat live prawns at night mostly, so use a soft plastic at night, you'll be surprised really

My advice is, learn plastics, then take a mate out for the weekend, make him fish bait all weekend and you only fish plastics, no matter what he is catching. Also remember this, if there is no fish where you are casting, then don't say plastics don't work, cause bait most likely wont work either & if it does. it will only be tinny fish.
My mate used to fish bait till the weekend I took him out and made him fish baits all weekend while I fished plastics. Now he doesn't use bait any more either lol.

So get out there and chuck a line in any where, you cant catch a fish without a bait in the water.

1 other option that wouldn't hurt too, Find a guide, you'll only need one day out with them, they will have to put u onto fish & then simply go back and fish the spots they took you too as a good start.
Should only cost about $200 for the day I'm guessing.

[Sjenkins]

Hi just wondering if anyone had charleville part 1 article?