Another bagful of Bribie Island Flathead - 7 May 2011

Tuesday

With the wind forecast to kick up to a 15 knot south-westerly around 7.00 am on Tuesday, I had no real choice but to fish in the Pumicestone Passage again. When I arrived at Bribie at around 5.00 am the wind was nowhere near that level, so I decided to fish on the island side of the Passage.

Low tide would be at about 7.30 am. I started under the bridge with a GULP 4” Turtleback worm in the BBQ Chicken colour on a 1/6^th 2/0 jighead. As I waded, quietly in the shadows, there was no surface action and everything was very quiet. I realised why, when two dolphins popped up less than 5 metres away.  They usually do a good job of eating or scaring the fish.  They were wallowing around in less than a metre of water, they must have known I was there but it did not seem to put them off.  A third one joined them and they headed over to the other side of the bridge. I moved to the south and caught a few Pike.  After about twenty minutes I moved back north of the bridge and caught a few small Tailor. Then the dolphins came back again so I decided to move on.

It was now just after first light – about 6.15 am. I drove down to the car park beside the saltwater lagoon that sits just in front of Buckley’s Hole. This lagoon and the drain at its mouth, has been completely transformed by the wild weather of the last year or so. The mouth has gradually moved much further north, towards the main Bribie Island Jetty. The drop off into the main channel of the Passage is only a few metres from the shore at low tide. I walked out of the car park and onto the sand.

I started by casting just over the drop off and walking along it, heading south. As the current slowed there was weed everywhere, this made things difficult. I was hoping for a few Bream, as they like to school up by this drop off, when they are spawning. Initially, all I caught were a few Pike.

I waded all the way down to the corner of Red Beach. On the way I landed a couple of Flounder and I kept the biggest of them. By now I was fishing with a GULP 4” Minnow in the Pearl Watermelon colour. I waded and cast for about 3 hours without much success. I walked back towards the car park and carried on north towards the Bribie Island main jetty.

 I had now switched to a GULP 3” Minnow in the Peppered Prawn colour. I had also swapped to a lighter jighead – a 1/8^th 1 hook. I was using 10lb leader. About 100 metres short of the jetty I caught a small bream - around 27cm. Then I found the Flathead.  The tide was running in, solidly and the weed had cleared up. Just after 10.00 am, I caught the first one - around 30cm long. It was quickly followed by a couple of 40cm + fish. I switched to a Gulp Crazylegs Jerkshad in the Curry Chicken colour. I caught a couple more undersize fish and then two good ones – at 48cm and 54cm. All the fish were caught on the same 30 metre stretch of sand and by 11.30 am, I had a full bag limit of five.

It had been a cold and blustery morning and I had put in a lot of hours before I found the good fish, but eventually I located them. It may have been the tide change that encouraged them to feed. Once I had my five I decided to head for home and thaw out.

A couple more Bribie Flathead in the wind - 2 June 2011

Thursday

The weather forecast was not great, but a fishing day should never be given up on! I started on the island side of the Bribie Bridge just after 5.00 am. It was cold but the south westerly breeze was light and the tide was about half way out. There were prawns jumping everywhere. They were under the bridge lights, in close to the pylons, but the first couple of soft plastic lures I tried – the GULP 2” Shrimp in the Banana Prawn colour and the 4” Minnow in the Vader colour -  did not get any bites.

I switched to a 2” Shrimp in the Peppered Prawn colour. I was fishing it on a 1/6^th 1/0 jighead and using a metre of 12lb fluorocarbon leader, tied on to 10lb Fireline mainline. It was almost first light now and I am not sure if it was the light or the colour change, but I immediately started catching fish. The first was a monster Pike – around 40 cm, then an undersized Flathead and then a small Chopper Tailor, then more Pike. After a fish a cast for about 20 minutes, I finally found a 42cm Flathead that I could keep for dinner.

As the sun came up I waded north, towards the boat hire spot and after plenty of casts and plenty of Pike, finally got another Flathead that was just over 40 cm. By 8.30am the wind was a solid south-westerly and I had had enough.

For more reports, photographs and fishy yarns - read the blog at http://landangler.wordpress.com/

A bagful of Bribie Island Flathead

Thursday

Back up to Bribie Island, in search of Flathead. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived around 5.00 am. It really was not too cold and the south westerly wind was far lighter than the predicted 15 knots. High tide had been at about 4.00 am so there was still plenty of water around the bridge pylons. I decide to start on the island side and as soon as arrived I could see and hear the Pike and Chopper Tailor breaking the surface as they grabbed smaller baitfish/ shrimps.

I started with the GULP 4” Minnow soft plastic in the Pearl Watermelon colour, rigged on a 1/6^th 1/0 jighead. I was using a 12lb leader and fishing with my Loomis GL2 light spin rod matched with a Shimano Stradic 3000 reel. After a couple of casts I caught a small Flathead – just about 40cm. It must have been lying in the shadows beside the first pylon, in no more than 40cm of water. I released it. The next cast gave me a Pike that was bigger than the Flathead and then, a few casts later, a 25cm Chopper Tailor.

Before the tide got too low I decided to go back over to the mainland side and fish around the pylons under the bridge lights. I stuck with the same soft plastic and jighead and worked my way around the pylons. I waded quietly, stopping frequently to pepper the spots where I have caught fish before. This soon paid off and just south of the bridge, about 6 metres from the mangrove line, I caught another Flathead. It was around 50cm long so it went in the keeper bag.

There was the glow of dawn on the horizon but the sun was still not up. It was cold now,  but this area is shielded from the westerly breeze. The water looked fairly clear so I switched to a bigger GULP Crazylegs Jerkshad in the Curry Chicken colour – basically a flecked combination of pink and yellow with a forked curly tail. After a couple more casts I caught another fish – despite the bigger lure it was a much smaller Flathead at around 42cm – Keeper No.2.

The sun came up and I continued wading south, past the old oyster farm jetty. I walked right along the big sand bar – that is exposed at low tide, casting on either side. I reached the pole that warns boats about the remains of the old oyster racks and then turned north again and started wading back, alongside the sandbar, in waist deep water. I swapped back to the Pearl Watermelon Minnow.  I was casting back at the sand bar and after about 50 metres I hooked another fish. It was another Flathead, about 48cm long –Keeper No.3. I dragged it up onto the sand and then resumed my course towards the oyster jetty. Over the next half an hour I got two more slightly bigger Flathead (Keepers 4 & 5) and a monster Pike - well over 45cm – which I kept for the cat.

I now had my bagful of fish and so I decided to call it quits. The forecast wind was really arrived and was starting to blow so I headed back to the car and then the gutting table. It had been another good fishing session in the Pumicestone Passage.

For more reports, photographs and fishy yarns - read the blog at http://landangler.wordpress.com/

Bribie Stonefish Encounter - 5 May 2011

Thursday

The weather forecast looked windy but not until about 8.00 am, so I set out early to fish on Bribie Island. I crossed over the bridge around 4.30 am and decided to fish around the base of pylons on the island side. I met another keen fisherman there, flicking soft plastics. It’s always nice to know that there is someone just as mad as me out there!

The bridge lights had attracted the prawns, and they had attracted the Pike and a few small chopper Tailor. We cast either side of the bridge for about 45 minutes. I hooked up with a few Pike, but could not find anything bigger. The other fisherman had found a couple of Flathead earlier and then been busted off.

At first light I moved down to fish the drop off in front of Buckley’s Hole. The wind was starting to pick up and it had stirred up the water. The tide was running in. I waded south, in about waist deep water and cast around in the area just before the coffee rock forms a ledge at the main channel. I was using the GULP 3” Crazy Legs Grub on a 1/6^th 1/0 hook.  After ten minutes or so I hooked up with a Flathead that was just under 50cm. I released it and cast back in the same area. I hooked another fish immediately, but then somehow it wriggled off the lure.

I moved further south, parallel with the shore. Then disaster struck. I felt a sharp needle under my wader boot and instinctively hopped away. Something had pierced the gumboot sole and gone into the sole of my foot. I thought things through and concluded it was probably a Stonefish. It did not hurt initially but after about ten minutes all that changed and it really went off! I limped back to the car and fortunately for me, the ambulance station was only a few hundred yards away. It was around 6.30 am, so I rang on the bell. A paramedic sat me down and had a look at the puncture mark. She then put my foot in a bowl of hot water.  The relief was pretty much instant. Apparently the heat neutralises the toxin. After 15 minutes the pain was far more manageable and I hobbled off to the car and drove home. A few hours later the pain was just a tingle.

I was lucky. I was wearing my Horne waders which have a very thick soled, Blundstone boot. This meant that only one spike actually got to my foot. I was also able to find a qualified paramedic only a few hundred yards away. The paramedic explained that without the boots on it would have been very messy! If you are ever fishing in that area,  I would certainly advise protecting your feet with some form of shoe and being very careful where you tread. I will certainly be a little more cautious in future.

Nice Flathead from the Pumicestone Passage - Labour Day

Monday - Labour Day

10 to 12 knots forecast and even though there would be a big swell offshore the estuaries would be good for fishing. Back up to Bribie, to the Sandstone Point flats where I have been getting some good Flathead.

At about 5.00 am I waded out under the bridge – on the mainland side, to cast around under the lights. The tide was running in, so I was casting from the north side of the bridge, under the bridge, into the shadows and hopping my lure across the bottom, along with the current, back towards me.  Theoretically, the Flathead will be lying facing the current flow, waiting for their prey to be washed towards them. After a couple of casts with the GULP 4” Pearl Watermelon soft plastic, I had a fish. This area can be tricky as there are loads of prominent rocks to trip over and lose the fish on. Unfortunately just as I got a look at a decent 50cm + Flathead, it lunged down behind one,  bumped the jighead out of its mouth and slowly swam away.

As the horizon started to glow I walked south and then around the corner onto the Sandstone Point flats. On my way, I caught a small Flathead in the weed beds about 20 metres from the shore. It was only just about 40cm long, so I released it.

I moved past the jetty to the point where the shoreline turns right, casting as I went. I waded over the big sandbar that runs roughly north to south; onto the area I call the Sandstone Point flats.  This area is very rocky initially and then softens to sandy weed beds with some central channels and drains. It holds plenty of fish, especially at the top of the tide. The Flathead lie between the rubble and the weed beds waiting to pounce, while the Bream cruise over the top.

I was still fishing with the same soft plastic, but as the water was less than a metre deep, I was only using a 1/8^th 1/0 jighead. The tide was still running in and this meant I was casting directly in front of me, as I waded across the flats. Because I had missed a fish on the rocks earlier I had switched up from a 10lb to a 16lb leader. I was retrieving the lure fairly quickly with very short pauses to avoid getting snagged. I felt a bit of resistance and thought I was snagged. I jerked the jighead up and what felt like a rock, rolled towards me a little and then felt like it was free. I wound in my line and as I was about to lift the plastic from the water, the line went tight again and the ‘rock’, which I now realise was a fish, swam straight past me. Line started peeling at a steady pace and then as the fish realised it had eaten something sharp, it took off on a powerful initial run with the current.

My Loomis GL2 6’6 Light spin rod is very sensitive and amazingly flexible but it is not designed for power. If you get a big fish on, patience is the key. I let it run. Then I recovered some line and let it run again. It was obviously nicely hooked, but at the beginning of each run, it would put in a series of angry headshakes. I realised now it was a very big Flathead. I identified a break in the Mangroves and started to steer the fish in that direction. It must have made five or six long determined runs for freedom and after each one I had tightened the drag slightly with little effect. Even 16lb leader will not last forever and the longer the fight goes on, the more likely the fish is to find a conveniently placed rock or snag. I tightened the drag and got the fish into the slacker water close to the shore. There was another short run but it was tired now and had no current to help it. With one long last heave I pulled it up onto the sand. The leader snapped as soon as its weight hit the sand but it was clear of the water.

It was a monster female Flathead – well over 75cm. I measured it as best I could with my tape, took a few pictures and released it. I am settling on 75cm for the length, which makes it this year’s ‘personal best ‘Flathead for me.

Ironically, I still had no fish to eat, so I waded on. I caught a few undersize bream cruising over the weed and then in a small sandy depression, I finally picked up a 42cm Flathead. It was a good end to a great mornings fishing.

For more reports, photographs and fishy yarns - read the blog at http://landangler.wordpress.com/

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