Nice mixed bag from the Pine!

[Freeeedom]

I'd been out on Monday looking for some lizards but time after time my live baits were cut off by tailor. I managed three nice tailor for the day but I wanted to have another go targetting the tailor specifically. Started at about 7.30 a.m. in perfect conditions. The tide was still falling and I thought I might pick up a lizard or two around the turn, but the only fish I got in the first couple of hours was a nice little squire about 38cm. As the tide slowed I thought the berley trail might have brought some bait fish under the boat so I had a throw of the cast net. I could feel some decent fish in the net, but was disappointed when it came up full of spotted dory. I released them - carefully - and put the net away. As the tide began to make a reasonable (but not spectacular) bite came on and I began to pick up a few tailor, the odd bream and a small lizard. One good hit felt like a decent tailor but when got it to the boat it was a lovely 60+cm lizard. Ended up keeping 8 tailor (and releasing another 4), 2 lizards and 3 bream (released another 4) plus the squire. The rain came just as I was about to quit but it wasn't heavy enough to dampen a pretty good day!
Cheers Freeeedom

[Goodoo haven]

You got some nice keepers there. Well done.

[Funchy]

Great stuff as usual mate. Do you ever miss ?

[brock13]

Very nice mixed bag there freeeedom. Have u come across any prawns in the pine while chasing live bait?

[Agrav8_and_Lulu]

Great catch Freeeedom, would have been an exciting day on the water. I'm with you, it's good to targeting the tailor, especially when their on the chew.

Daz

[clone trooper]

Nice catch Freeeedom. how did you find the water clartity? I was fishing the south pine on monday and the water was really clear. so clear the fish could see me coming a mile away. cheers Brad.

[thelump]

Unreal session mate. Well done

[Freeeedom]

Great stuff as usual mate. Do you ever miss ?

I can usually do OK Funchy, since I moved to SE Qld from Rockhampton in 1963, and have been fishing the saltwater from about Fraser Island to Yamba ever since. All that fishing has taught me when to fish for a particular species and the techniques that work in a particular location. With the knowledge and experience I can change what I'm doing throughout the year so that I'm always a chance to get a feed. But anytime I go to an entirely new location it may take some time to work it out and start to succeed on a regular basis.

brock13 - it's been the worst season for prawns in the Pine that I can remember, due to the river being flushed out by flooding on a number of occasions. The last decent haul of prawns I got was last October. They are gone now and won't start to appear again until the weather starts to warm up.

Clone trooper - the water wasn't terribly clear. You could see the bottom to about 1 metre. Interestingly there is a bit of weed starting to appear - not enough to stop the fishing but it was necessary to clean the rig on any bait which sat untouched for about 5 minutes or more before re-casting. I hope that's not a sign of things to come! I don't recall weed appearing this early before.

Cheers Freeeedom

[MudRiverDan]

Those Tailor fry up well cut into strips and eaten with a salad.

Nice catch

[Freeeedom]

I love them smoked, and they also make great fish cakes (either fresh or smoked).
Cheers Freeeedom