Whats on the bite in the bay

[rwells9999]

The weather has been so lousy lately and I have been busy building a live bait tank, what is on the bite out in Moreton Bay and I don't mean Whiting or Bream.

Robin

[webby]

Hi, Generally the bays been pretty quite the last few weeks, either blowing a gale or pissen down rain, plenty of fresh out there.
But heres some place u can try
Squire: Eastern side of mud near the Grazier and the southern end off the 3 cardinals.
Nth of Harrys not right on top
The spit and s/w/rocks at peel ebb tide, dark nights.
The trench of green is.
Mackeral: brissy rd to the 4 beacons, but the ring netters are killing them during the week.
Sth Passage up into the rous or down the top half of Rainbow. Trolling top and bottom of the collumn.
Grassies: havent turned up in numbers this summer for some reason.
But s/w/rocks ebb dark night
The hole in the wall flood night
Wello hasnt produced its numbers this year but early morn.
Cotton reach and the s/e cnr mud out near the cardinal or from the red to the eastern tip top of mud.
Parrot: S/e cnr of mud
The spit beacon working the drop off.
1 mile up to wallen pools.
I know you cant be at all of them at the one time but there your best at present.
Mud or harrys should be good this weekend, but night is the best option.
regards

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

....
Grassies: havent turned up in numbers this summer for some reason...

cause they're down the bloody pin !!!

I've never caught a grassie before Webby but I caught a heap of undersized fish of the sweetlip family of a brown, black, green type mottled pattern with irredesant blue flecks around they're eyes & cheeks. I was targeting whiting at one of my favorite spots with my 4yr old son & we could not keep a bait in the water for the number of these fish all about 20cm. There was a large amount of weed moving thru at the time.

Were these Grasssies or a different Sweetlip - in 20 or so years fishing the pin I've never hooked one let alone let alone the 20 we hooked the other day.

chris

[craigie]

G'day Chris,

Had something similar to that happen to me down the Broadwater. Was fishing the Sanbanks and weed areas between Seaworld and Nev Howards when these little Grassie Sweetlip became as pesky as Toad Fish. They were about the same size as toad fish as well !!

Can only be a good thing, many juveniles now may lead to numerous adults in the future.

My encounter was a couple of years back.

Where did you catch them down the 'Pin', they might be great fun on 1kg line and a soft rod.


Cheers
Craig.

[webby]

Hi Yep they'll be grassies, never caught them down around crusoe but have on the banks north of tulleen along with some legal squire.
There are a few parrot down the broadwater at present up near Roes camp inclose to the beach.
Maybe our luck is changing after all this dry, and some of the shallow reef species are moving into the bigger estuary systems, they are like pit bulls when it comes to attacking baits.
Keep feeding them mate and next year we can chase grassies at the pin and forget about the bream and whiting. Anyway there much prettier then a elbow slapper.
regards

[michael_mad_fisho]

gday chris
i have never caught those grassies down there before and about 2 weeks ago i went fishing there with a few mates and they were in plague trying to fish for bream and whiting was difficut because every hit was a grassie.
michael

[Smithy]

Are you sure these little fish you are calling as Grassies aren't what are commonly refered to in Hervey Bay as Paddies? They look like grassies but a bit more yellow in colour and they inhabit close inshore/coffee rock type areas with Yakkas/Slimeys/Rainbow Whiptails etc.

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

no real yellow to their colouration smithy - but a very pretty fish.

Not wanting to be exact with location, they were caught around the Squire Is area of the pin. I would have moved but I was there mainly to further the brainwashing of my first born not get a feed & they were a great size fighting fish for a four year old - interesting for him to look at & hardy enough to release live.

That same location also produced a surprise before the rains in the form of plague proportion 10cm squire a couple of months back.

Its a weird spot - either you score elbow slapping whiting in the 30-40cm range & school flathead or you catch something exotic & no whiting. I can't pick a relationship between the catches & tide etc.

I have also caught Butterfish there (not ButterBream - different fish) - a wierd looking fish I didn't know existed either - but apparently edible enough to feature on a DPI poster listing table fish of QLD.

chris