Tailor

[bondy99]

Any tailor around or can be caught at the moment in the Caloundra, Bribie or Mooloolaba land based?

Thanks

[chris69]

Any tailor around or can be caught at the moment in the Caloundra, Bribie or Mooloolaba land based?

Thanks

There was some around Caloundra bar a few weeks ago a heap of hardyheads around I think this full moon should be the go.

[Dignity]

They were in the Passage all the way down at Roys a month ago but haven't heard anything much about them since. I usually am only interested in them for use as bait offshore. Big reds love them.

[Dignity]

Went out yesterday with a mate as weather was suppose to be good but I didn't think fishing was going to be that good but as he's a FIFO 4 months on 3 weeks off I took the opportunity to go out as my back has come good. Left Mooloolaba about 9:30 am as we expected to come in after dark and I wasn't to keen on crossing the Bribie Island Bar at night with barely any moon. It was sloppy on the way out but reasonable, on the way to where my furtherest destination was I stopped at a reef about the size of a tennis court which normally will produce snapper about now but is a bugger to anchor on. Anyway I had the leccy so it was a matter of finding the fish, putting the leccy in and my mate was off, keen as mustard as being a crane operator in Kalgoolie for him it's hook up, hook down and first drop a pearlie around 40cm. Now 2 thoughts crossed my mind, one, it'll be a long time till the next fish or two, it's going to be a cracker of a day.

Option 1 presented itself. I've never ever caught a pearlie on this little patch but we couldn't raise anything else either, I think it was lost. Moved on, tried a few spots on, nothing. Ended up in the 65m mark and the pearlies should have been think here, it's a spot where trawlers in the past have dumped their old gear so traditional anchoring is no good but we found a school and put the leccie down. Now I marked the spot where the school was but by the time I had the leccy down the wind had pushed us well past the mark, the leccy started to push the boat backwards against swell and wind to go to the mark. Well I neve realised how much torque these motors have because before I knew it I heard a large bang only to look up and seethe leccy leaning forward at an awful angle and before I could gather my wits the plate it was on gave way and the whole shebang was in the water.

The plate where it was welded onto the framework was quite minimal and couldn't take the strain, the only thing that stopped me losing the leccy was that both the power cable and NMEA2000 cable were securely strapped to a stauncheon. Still it took 2 of us to pull the thing back aboard, they are an awkward thing to handle at the best of times especially as it was the 72" shaft.

With the leccy stowed for another day we tried the old traditional method of drogue parachute but the wind was still pushing us a great rate of knots. We managed 1 snapper but not a single pearlie which was most disappointing. We moved around slowly west and north towards home and fished a number of reefs but all we could manage was a good quality tuskie with a few trevas giving us some fun but that was it. Even at sunset a reef that normally is our go to couldn't produce anything other than the smallest red throat I've ever seen, around 100 mm.

Came home a little disapointed but my mate was just happy to be on the water.

[bondy99]

Thanks for the info people,

Dignity, wow, that would be an interesting moment, yes indeed you were lucky the watersnake wasn't sent to the deep. Not the best of days to be on the water. I have not been out on the water for many moons, mostly been landbased crabbing , still manage couple of muddies after 8 days soak. Place I go to is a mongrel to walk out, only got one good foot since my injury in 2010, Surgeon refused to operate, reckon I was good, in 2010, still in pain and tingling down the legs, 2018 had L4 decompression by Neurosurgeon, Nerve was crushed for too long, nerve never recovered but pain went away.

Surf fishing is now more challenging these days. I have a special seat with rod holder made from lightweight aluminum, Due to test it out soon.

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Chris69,
Difficult for me to chase tailor near the bar with no boat these days.

[bondy99]

Early August I'll drive up to Caloundra or Mooloolaba and check the local beach, hopefully tailor might be about.