gold coast - the spit 22/07/06

[Nov-rain]

finally got out to have my first cast on water in one and a half years...

was down at the spit this morning . past seaworld and just before the end of the spit. was fishing the inside of the spit not the outside, in the cove where some boats were parked. water looked deep in the middle coming up to gradual flats on the side so i thought i'd try my luck to see if there were fish in there. the flats looked esp promising cos there were some lays in the sand that looked suspiciously like flathead .

4lb main line with 6 lb leader and i used a natural coloured 'prawn star'. used the slow lift and quick jerk but didn't get so much as a nibble so after 45 mins or so i switched over to a berkely 2" pumpkin seed. same technique, drop and lift but even so, i didn't get a nibble on that either. maybe it was the wrong spot or wrong timing on tide or maybe even wrong technique.had to leave anyway.

i was walking around the flats to look for better places to cast from and kept running into armies of the blue crabs. there were literally hundreds of them and i did think of using them as bait but didn't have anything to catch them with. any tried using them as bait before?

after leaving i decided to check out the versace jetty just beside pete's seafood shop. there was a no fishing sign there so i just walked on the jetty to have a look. there was thousands of oysters on the rocks and just below them, happily munching away were pretty good-sized bream. in fact there were a couple of schools around. i thought of jumping down onto the rocks to have a cast but decided against it. could be illegal or something.

couple of questions here.
1) anyone tried fishing where i fished before? any luck?
2) could it be wrong technique?
3) anyone used those crabs for bait before?
3) the versace jetty? anyone tried it before?

plus point is i finally got to fish after a year and a half.

[shayned]

soldier crab = whiting

[shandos]

The little black soldier crabs are the go for big whiting in some areas eg -- northern tip of Bribie. The bigger blue ones do not seem to work .

Paul

[richieboy]

Baby soldiers are tops for the breambo's as well. Not to worry about the day tho mate. At least you're back in the world of the living. Just don't go back into hybernation champ.
Cheers.

Richie

[gutzy]

sorry bout the long delay(internet down)I have fished these areas regularly over the past few years and will give you a few tips on what I think works.
Where the trawlers are at petes fish market look 20m to the north and you will see a small stretch of sand along the bank.
Be there on the run in tide with small live bait (yabbies , worms , crabs etc)
Cast towards the middle as it is the deeper section of water , if in a boat land on the sand bank and throw a few lures near the moored boats and bring back with a slow retrieve.
You WILLcatch something.
My last bit is dont bother fishing in bum bay(they dont pay fees there) it is dirty and not very deep.
Try around the other side where the dredgers are moored , I found at night is best for a mixed bag.
Hope this helps.