Mud Island (Moreton Bay)

[The Complete Angler]

Hi All
So I went to Mud Island recently (for the first time) as the weather was looking good. Almost no wind and by the time we got there it was about an hour until the high tide started running in again.
We tried so many spots that I could see from my Navionics app but apart from some undersized Squire and Wrasse it was a rubbish day.
We fished and drifted all along the north eastern side and also at Jeays Reef using plastics and Pilchards as bait. We didn’t even see any bird action out there! I mean, maybe it was just one of those days! Who knows?

My question is; without giving away any secret spots of course, I want to see what and where you prefer to fish, where you’ve had success, what bait you’ve used and what type and colour plastics or lures you’ve used in the area that has been successful.

I have only had my boat for two weeks now so obviously it will take a considerable amount of time to search out my spots but any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all

Regards
TCA

[TheGurn]

Hi mate. There's heaps of reports on here with heaps of info in them from guys in the know. Plenty of spots and methods to try out if you do a search on the site.
We used to drift the eastern side of the island beside structure with a parachute out using lightly weighted 3inch nuclear chicken coloured wriggle tails. (Not gulps.. more berkley nemises or zmans). I really think colour isnt all that important anymore... within reason. It's more contrast and action. Here's a tip: Superglue the head onto the jig. Sometimes the snapper would pull it half off and not come back for a second bite if you didn't. Only seemed necessary over there. Go figure?
We did okay for a while but for us and this method it seemed to have died off a bit the last few years that we went there. Maybe the fish got educated. Chased the grassies over there for a while instead but haven't been back for a couple years now.
Research and time on the water will help big time.
Happy hunting.

Cheers
Gurn

[Jeremy]

You really need to put some time and effort in to catch fish in Moreton Bay. Get there real early (like an hour before sunrise), use some burley, light lines and very small sinkers. Pilchards are OK or otherwise use fresh baits. Run-in tide and SE wind for snapper. Mark spots which hold bait schools as the bait is usually found in the same spot. Don't move around too much. Be patient and fish the one spot several times to figure out what works. There really is no substitute for time and effort - other than a mate giving you a good mark :-)

[The Complete Angler]

Thanks very much for the reply. I’ll check out/search other threads on here too! 👍🏻

[alleycat]

Hi TCA, Mud used to fire up till about 10 years ago and then it seemed to go downhill, as for spots much of the northern side has the same structure and can hold fish of they are around, but to put it into perspective my last 5 trips to Mud have yielded zero,..

[Watto79]

Hi Mate,

Mud is one of those spots, like most in the bay easily accessible and therefore can be a bit of work to catch decent fish especially consistently!

Best tips I can give you for mud is to do your fishing around sunrise and sunset, these are by far the most productive there..

Night time can be ok as well on the right moon phase/night..

Try and fish it mid week and not in "ideal" conditions when there are not boats zooming around all over the place..

Bait, fresh is best and if you can catch your own that is the way to go...

Plastics work well there, especially smaller ones in that 4 inch sort of range..

There are big fish that lurk around there at times, we have caught lots of snapper there including some big ones (10.3kg) best to date..

As for spots, look around away from where all the boats tend to congregate in water depths between 8 - 12m..

Plenty of bits and pieces laying around out there if your willing to spend the time looking..

But you have to be prepared to put in considerable hours to reap the rewards..

Good luck

[The Complete Angler]

Hi TCA, Mud used to fire up till about 10 years ago and then it seemed to go downhill, as for spots much of the northern side has the same structure and can hold fish of they are around, but to put it into perspective my last 5 trips to Mud have yielded zero,..

Thanks mate, it seems to drop off to deep water fairly quick off the northern side, there were plenty of bait fish around, just nothing bigger about. I will try some of the other options next time and anchor up whilst burleying and see if anything comes along. Cheers

[The Complete Angler]

Hi Mate,

Mud is one of those spots, like most in the bay easily accessible and therefore can be a bit of work to catch decent fish especially consistently!

Best tips I can give you for mud is to do your fishing around sunrise and sunset, these are by far the most productive there..

Night time can be ok as well on the right moon phase/night..

Try and fish it mid week and not in "ideal" conditions when there are not boats zooming around all over the place..

Bait, fresh is best and if you can catch your own that is the way to go...

Plastics work well there, especially smaller ones in that 4 inch sort of range..

There are big fish that lurk around there at times, we have caught lots of snapper there including some big ones (10.3kg) best to date..

As for spots, look around away from where all the boats tend to congregate in water depths between 8 - 12m..

Plenty of bits and pieces laying around out there if your willing to spend the time looking..

But you have to be prepared to put in considerable hours to reap the rewards..

Good luck

Thanks mate. I don't think i mentioned in my first post that we left the boat ramp before sunrise and got to our first spot as the sun poked it's head over the horizon. I think i'll head over and scout it around. You're right, fresh bait would be good also! Cheers

[Watto79]

Be out there, anchored and fishing at least half an hour before that sun pops its head up mate..

Also apply burley very sparingly, have found that it usually only attracts vermin and undesirables in most instances..

We don't burley at all to be honest unless its the tail cut off a bait or similar flicked over the side..

Good luck mate, if your willing to put in the hours and try things that others don't there are still good fish hanging around there at certain times..

[Lachie1]

Mud island is one of those spots that for years i thought was over rated and over fished. I fish there quite often these days and some of my best catches have come from there - especially as far as bay snapper go. As others have said you have to put in the time and effort - explore, read reports, research, try different techniques and different tides etc. The thing i like about mud is that there are so many different options and every trip can be different. There are fish in 2m of water and out past 10m of water. If you put in the effort you will be rewarded, that being said i still have sessions where i dont pull a fish...