MSB

awesome bream dude

Mission Point at sundown

Hi Luke Interested to read your post, I also catch my blue swimmers on lines, brickies string lines actually, gave away my crab pots as to many share farmers up here in South East Qld, would be interested to know your setup. Thought you may be interested to know my method. I thread a N0 4 ball sinker on the line, tie a 4/0 hook on to the terminal end of the string line, bait up with a strip of mullet about 10cm's long by 3cm's wide, drop the baited hook and sinker into a small mesh bag, say an onion bag, tie off the top of the bag so the bait does not come out and throw it in the water. Crabs generally get there main claws caught up in the mesh bag whilst feeding. I net them with an enviro net and drop them straight into an ice slurry in a large esky, puts them to sleep quickly and they cook up superb. I live 30 minutes from the Pumicestone Passage which runs between the mainland and Bribie Island and always crab the rising tide, regularly pull 10 a session working first 2 hours of the run in. Prefer this method to using crab pots and no problems with share farmers. Bonus is my Grandson just loves to crab this way and we have a lot of fun using this method. Thanks for your interesting post. MSB

Just read this whole thread from start to finish, lots of passion from for and against sides, I am mainly a saltwater fisherman so don't personally encounter them up here in Queensland much, although they are everywhere in the freshwater sections of the rivers in South East Qld where I live, also in most of the dams. The other environmental pest we have here is the Tilapia, not sure if you have them down south but they will become just as big an issue as carp believe me. I live 15 minutes from the best stocked bass fishery in Queensland, I have on occasion fished this dam with a an old gentleman that fishes it twice a week every week rain hail or shine and catches of 80 to 100 bass in a session is not uncommon (I kid you not) all caught on live shrimp using circle hooks and 99% of cases released safely. Catches of tilapia are becoming more and more common, and they are quite visible building there nests in the shallow water edges. On the issue of also getting rid of redfin and trout, I am not full bottle on the carp issue that guys like Ric , mattfin, big Neil and Fatbastard appear to be, however from what I understand the really big issue with carp is the destruction of the environment by the turbidity they cause in the rivers, lakes and streams, neither trout nor redfin appear to cause this problem, it appears the issue with them is more one of predation on native species, and as both fish are pretty fair eating, best to deal with the carp issue first I reckon. Clearly something has to be done to reduce carp numbers everywhere in Australia which is a big place compared to most European countries and places like Japan, so we have a different set of circumstances to evaluate how to best do this. We don't have much option but to trust that the relevant authorities will weigh up all the pros and cons and make the correct decision on our behalf. I reckon we should all get back to fishing now!! MSB

When I was a young kid, we used to holiday at Bribie Island, so thats going back 50 years for me, during the day me and the old man used to fish for winter whiting, the old man would mince up the whiting and make fish cakes, but keep the heads as bream bait when he went fishing at night, don't have any photos but he used to bring home some absolute horses, so now this post has reminded me of that I am going to keep my whiting heads this winter and use them as bream bait. Back up bait was always salted down mullet gut with the onion on, good stuff!! MSB

ok mate enjoy fishing out of it

Hi twoblues I am based in South East Queensland, place we keep the Origin trophy, I crab line all the time mate, set up is easy, grab yourself a small mesh bag, something like an onion bag, needs to have fine mesh, buy yourself a brickies string line, colour not important, tie a 4/0 hook on the end of the line using a locked blood knot of 5 turns, bait the hook with a slab of any type of fish, I use mullet generally, drop the baited hook in the mesh bag along with a small snapper sinker, tie the top of the mesh bag off so it doesn't fall down over the hook, cast it out and your in business. Crabs both sandies (blue swimmers) and muddies will get themselves caught up in the mesh trying to eat the bait, when you have one on, bring him in slowly and into the net, I have an old landing net that I have replaced the mesh with 25mm chicken wire fashioned into a scoop, works a treat and no tangles, just empty them straight into and ice slurry in the esky, they go to sleep real quick, and no need to tie them up. I pick a nice gutter with a weed bottom on an early morning run in tide, sandies come in with the tide and like a snack on the run, I find midweek is best to avoid boat traffic, weekends will work but go early. I use 3 lines and regularly catch up to twenty legal bucks in the first 2 hours of the run in tide. Totally legal in Queensland, suggest you check the regulations in NSW. I like to sit back with a cold beer on the weekend, fresh cooked home made bread and crab sandwiches and watch the replays of Queenslands decade + long golden run in the origin series, you just can't beat it. Good luck with it hope you catch plenty. MSB

looks like an old Clarke Cutter mate, do you know what it is

Yep stargazer, and a reasonable sized sucker to, they are excellent eating if you know how to fillet them correctly, hope you put her back though

Morning Captain Spanner, your info is appreciated, all seem pretty close to where I am going to stay so probably try em all

Hi Xerotao, thanks for the tip, has a look at Minnamurra River on satellite and yep looks very fishy

Hi Berleyguts, thanks for the information, your right the worms seem to like a gentler slope beach so I will give Seven Mile a go

Thanks James, all in fun mate, never been that far south before so looking forward to it.

That is magnificent country you are fishing in mate, well worth the 5 hour drive, good onya MSB

How many ways do you cook your squid Ric

Hi Everyone I can reply to myself after doing a search on this site, being in Queensland I didn't realise this is a predominately NSW site, so i did the smart thing and searched Kiama and found what I needed to know. Bit early to start on Origin, however, can you guys please lobby the selectors to pick Hayne, Pearce and Maloney again this year, Queensland may need a little help with the transition from Cooper and Jonno this year. MSB

Hi Everyone Going to visit Kiama in early May and hoping to do a bit of beach fishing for whiting, bream and flathead, have searched the net for info on beach fishing but very little to find, heaps on rock fishing, however as my wife is also a keen fisho (and we are in our sixties) rocks fishing is out for us. Also does anyone know if the beaches around Kiama hold beach worms. Wouldn't normally ask for info but as it is only a 4 day trip and we have a few other things to do, I thought I would throw it out there. Only after general information so any replies much appreciated. Thanks MSB

Hi Ric Had a heap of rain up here last 6 weeks so creeks running bit fresh, if we get no more between now and end of April, prawns & school jew will be running hot MSB

Good post Steve, enjoyed reading it, don't worry about the guy in the kayak hanging some onya, females normally don't spawn until they are over 55cm's and this time of the year would be pretty much the limit for spawning in NSW, not sure of the legal limits in NSW but up here in Qld, legal minimum limit for duskies is 40cm's with a maximum limit of 75cm's, I let them all go over 50cm's and only keep one each for the wife an me to enjoy. Good luck with christening that new outfit MSB

4wsboy That looks a great piece of water mate, thanks for posting MSB

Nice post Baz, enjoyed the read MSB

Hi Sam Yes mate they are excellent eating, technically called Javelin, two types up here, ones shown in the ice are small spotted javelin , minimum legal length of 30cm's and grow to upwards of 60 cm's , other type is called barred javelin, minimum legal length of 40cm's and grow to upwards of 80cm's, great fun to catch on light gear and quite plentiful where I live. Common name of grunter comes from the grunting sound they make when you catch them. MSB

Thanks Squidgy Bit more info for you in my reply to nbdshroom MSB

Thanks mate, only recently joined site so trying to make a worthwhile contribution, the creek I caught this girl in fishes really well in July and August when the big girls are having a bit of R&R after spawning up here, I have caught them to 46cm to fork of the tail and seen a few even longer over the years. MSB

Recently caught at the mouth of Elimbah Creek off the bank using blood worm, full of roe so let her go to do her thing. MSB