Central Moreton Bay Fishing status: “It’s stuffed!”

[ThePinkPanther]

Yep, it really is!

I’ve got over 60 years fishing this area around Green Is down south to Peel Is and all areas across to Straddy and it’s becoming nigh on impossible to get a decent feed these days!

I know, I know, now and then you get a reasonable haul but it’s usually the exception rather than the rule!

Flatties disappeared many years ago, tailor rarely seen anymore, good sized and plentiful whiting a thing of the past, mackerel very patchy and hard work getting much on the bay reefs! We stopped amongst some 40 boats on the Harry Atkinson Reef and never saw a fish landed around us .......

I was out out today at sparrow fart with a mate, magic day on the water ....... worms, squid, pillies....... rigged for bear and along with another hundred boats, I don’t thing one fish worth keeping was caught!

In SIX HOURS going to every spot I have marked, we got one 3” whiting, not even bites! Boats were charging everywhere (part of the problem) all looking for the elusive fish!

As a retired guy I get out mid week when there are only a few boats on the water but pretty similar even then! Mid season maybe? Possibly, but I’ve got over 20 normally good whiting spots around the Rous Ch and totally dead on them all!

The multitude of (Poorly marked) Marine No Fish Zones makes this area very difficult to fish and we counted at least FIFTY BOATS all in these no fish areas! Fortunately B & F Guys never appeared!

Not catching fish is part of fishing, I know that, but as a long (long) time user of the Bay I can most definitely see a huge decline in fish wanting to be caught! 🤪

I’m dun! Gunna go clean my boat! Go get ‘em!

[FINICKY]

Too many boats, not enough fish.
The Bay is only a small Eco system and it gets hammered every day and night because of its close proximity to a large population.
It is sad but what can you do? Ban fishing?
In the 90's you could keep 30 snapper over 30cm and now you are flat out catching your bag of 4.


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[Noelm]

I guess it's the same everywhere, you go back a few decades and there was (say) 50 boats catching 10 fish each (500 fish) now there is 500 boats catching 1 fish each! those figures are not based on science, just my personal example to portray how increasing population alone influences catch rates, add to that, this extra population has to live somewhere, so the environment gets changed too.

[ozscott]

It's part of the reason I sold my Vagabond and got a 4.5m tinny. I can easily drag it to more remote locations and get into tight areas that are not hit so hard. Such a shame the way the bay has gone. You do get good fish at times but have to work hard and be out there a lot. Cheers

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[blairv70]

There are still fish around out there - I guess we just need to be thankful that not everyone can work out how to get them. Targeting the right combination of time/tides/moon phases etc will produce a feed.

[TheRealPoMo]

You should all thank me for feeding them....and catching bugger all.
Just doing my bit.

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[ozscott]

You can certainly get good fish (good sounder and leccy helps) but it isn't like it used to be. When my kids were young it was a doddle to get them hooked on fishing with a good bag each outing and a nice feed for dinner. They caught the fish and helped prepare it so understood the food chain too. Cheers

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[ThePinkPanther]

Seems we are all of the same opinion, the good old days are gone!

I’ve got a nice new Surtees 4.95 Tinny and will also have to start looking for spots away from the heavily fished areas!

But a day on the water chucking hooks around is still enjoyable all the same!

[Noelm]

What it amounts to is, eventually even "secret" getaway locations get popular, and they become fished out, so a new remote spot gets hammered, and so it goes, as a general rule, a good thinking person, who knows how to fish will get a feed, even in city hard fished areas, the person who goes out late, uses heavy gear with rubbish bait, hoping to catch anything that swims by will be sadly disappointed, even in fish rich locations.

[catshark]

its the same everywhere now , unfortunate but reality, the cost in fuel, maitinance etc in order to run a large boat arent worth the return you get trying to catch fish which arent there, its also why i downgraded to a smaller boat, to concentrate on a wider envelope of waterways for better success. its hard work trying to bag out these days. why? well just go for a walk down the side streets of Cabramatta and see the TONS of undersize snapper and other species that are sitting out in the open air to cater for a high consumption from our ethnic friends, this is one suburb only... the day i saw that knowing how much wastage of undersize fish must happen daily made me shocked, while we must adhere to bag limits and marine sanctuarys, the other half turns a blind eye.

[scottar]

Population pressure, boat affordability, massive advances in electronics and tackle, fishing media and the internet have all had huge impacts on fish stocks. Fish can still be caught but it is nowhere as easy as it used to be.

[Noelm]

Yep, fully agree with that, it doesn't matter where you are, if you live in suburbia, you are going to have to think to catch fish, blind faith will just not work anymore. Just yesterday I was snooping around the ramp and the "old salts" were coming in with bag limits of Flathead, a couple of local bottom fishermen had a decent catch of Snapper around 2-4KG, but, the newcomers in the brand new boats, with a dozen rods and reels with big sinkers still attached, and the double dropper rig still baited and sitting in the rod holders had a couple of rubbish Pike and Red Rock Cod and some tiny Nannygai, all lamenting how this place is fished out, it's the same all over.

[Alchemy]

You guys need to read Spero’s reports. I was seriously depressed coming back to SEQ after 8 years in paradise (NQ), and while the bay doesn’t compare to NQ it is far from fished out.

http://reports.fishingmonthly.com.au...7c0682afac102a

[Alchemy]

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[catshark]

same scenerio everyweek .head out with the goal of catching reds, pelagics , reality sets in and head back into the beach to catch the ever reliable flathead, to save grace from getting a roasting... no need to defrost the meat today love, were gonna nail it today.
todays fishing world perfectly summed up in post #11.

As a boy i used to read about the great tailor run on fraser island, pictures of men shoulder to shoulder fishing the surf were the pictures i used to see, being a southerner it was a different world from the trout fishing i used to do , anyone care to comment if the tailor are still there? never been there, but its on my bucket list.