Tags: Fishing report. Tide times. Fishing spots. Bribie island. Moreton Bay. Brisbane. Queensland
Over the next few months, as the water temperature starts to rise, most species will really start to become more active and feed more aggressively. September is usually a great time to start heading out offshore and do some trolling. Over the last few years, I’ve nearly converted all my troll gear to braid and big wind on leaders. Whether on a spin combo or overhead combo I’ve found this combination to be absolutely deadly when trolling hardbodys, skirts or livies.
Featured Image(above): 8-year-old Jazmine Millard catching some great whiting off Woorim beach.
Using braid when trolling means there’s no stretch like monofilament, having ten or so metres of wind on gives you that little bit of extra play. There’s nothing better than that initial strike of a solid wahoo, tuna, mackerel, marlin or dolphin fish on the troll. The worst part usually is the bigger the fish, the harder you have to try and pull him away from the sharks. Sometimes in some areas, you might hook up to ten fish and possibly only land 2 to 4 fish. The other half a dozen get nailed by the sharks.
Brett Millard with a nice bay grassy sweeties
They can generally show up in most areas and sometimes will make you have to move to another area. When I’m fishing real sharky areas I usually run a lot heavier tackle to really try and get the fish to the boat as quick as possible. Downrigging livies or slow trolling livies is a deadly way to target most pelagics.
Sometimes when the schools are feeding deep, downrigging your baits down to the depth they are feeding will produce great results. Reefies will certainly hit a live bait slowly trolled a few meters from the structure also. Downriggers vary in costs and models, Cannon or the Scotty brand are the ones to go for. When using hardbodys or skirts, change colours throughout the day, or run 2 or 3 different colours to see what is working on the day.
The same rule pretty much works the same for any style of lure or plastics fishing. That change of colour can and usually will make a big difference. When you know what colours are working best then switch other lures to similar colours. In the passage and creeks expect the summer whiting, flathead, cod, jacks and muddies to start really firing over the next few months. The whiting and flattys are already on the chew around the surf beach and pretty much widespread throughout the entire passage. Live worms, yabbies and peeled prawns for the whiting.
Pilchards,livies,plastics and hardbodys for the flattys. Theres also been some cracker snapper coming from the passage. Although they are more prolific in the passage than most think, these fish can be quite challenging to target and catch. Using live baits, fresh baits and plastics is the best way to target them. Some great jew still coming from the bridge area, once again persistence and patience the key. Live baits, cuttlefish heads and fresh tailor or bonito fillets working well. Also, some great fish coming from the stop sign area up on the ocean beach.
Summer days with the kids
There’s still quite a few tailor turning up around the passage and the ocean beach, try pilchards and metal lures. The tuna have finally shown up, and there have been some pretty solid schools of fish around. The tuna move and feed super quickly and can shut down very quickly if you approach them downwind or to fast . knowing how to read the gulls and the water movement on the surface can get you to the next feeding frenzy on the surface. Depending on the size of fish, I usually carry a 20 and 30lb combo.
When the fish are 10 kg or less I’ll use the lighter 3-6kg rod 4000 size reel and 20lb braid 30lb leader setup. When the fish are over the 10kg mark I’ll opt for a 5-8kg rod,5000 size reel,30lb braid 50lb leader setup. High speed spinning the top with slugs and topwater is an exciting way to target these fish, especially when that 15-20kg longtail crashes the lure metres within the boat. Usually, the first run is an absolute cracker as the hooked fish follows the school of fast moving fish.
The second and third runs are usually the same, but generally, you will turn the fish away from the school and he will go deep. Then the fish generally will circle the boat quite a while before doing a few more runs, then coming to the surface. Yellowfin tuna, longtail or northern bluefin tuna and mackerel tuna are the 3 most common species caught throughout the area. The mackerel should be starting to show up soon also. So as the weather warms up get out and enjoy the great outdoors and “don’t destroy what you come to enjoy ” and tight lines.
Tide Times
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https://thebribieislander.com.au/fishing-report-tide-times-bribie-island-sept-2018/
This year, I was hoping I would be able to report that this goal had been achieved and am very sad to instead have to write about this setback in PNG. However, the PNG cases highlight the importance of continuing the vaccination program. Smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated. Let’s make polio the second. Join the fight on World Polio Day 24 October 2018. Join the Rotary Club of Bribie Island who has registered their webinar as a World’s Greatest Meal to help End Polio and know that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will add $2 to every dollar that you raise towards Rotary’s End Polio Campaign.
