Tag Archives: weed beds

Caloundra – Bulcock Beach and the Power Boat Club flats – 5 August 2013

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Monday

As we were approaching the new moon I wanted to have a fish, pre- dawn. I was hoping to find some bream, which should, by now be schooling up to spawn, around the estuary mouths. I have not found many at Bribie, so I decided to try Caloundra.

I like to fish the rocky area, right at the mouth of the northern end of the Pumicestone Passage, off Bulcock Beach. There is always good tidal flow here and lots of structure. At night, the street lights bring the bait in and the predators follow.

I started about 5.30 am, in my waders on Bulcock Beach. I rigged up with the GULP 2” Shrimp in the Banana Prawn colour – which is gold with a black fleck. I put it on a 1/8th ounce, size 1 jighead. I was fishing with my 6’6” Loomis GL2 light spin rod. I opted for 8lb fluorocarbon leader as the water was very clear. High tide would be at 7.02 am, there was no real wind at this stage. It was forecast to pick up from the south west later in the morning. There would be a new moon in a couple of days’ time.

It was very dark and there were a few prawns skipping around on the surface. I cast the soft plastic into the fast moving water in the middle of the channel and let it sink. After about ten seconds, it was on the bottom, so I started hopping it back towards me. I paused for few seconds close to the shore line and when I picked up the rod tip I had a fish. My first customer of the day was a small pike.

I continued fishing, slowly moving towards the sea and soon picked up a bream about 28cm. I was hopeful I had found a patch of them, as my next few casts were all hit on the drop. I could not hook whatever was biting the soft plastic and so I moved on towards the mouth of the Passage.

A pike was first on the scene
A Caloundra pre-dawn bream
I found the flathead hiding by the weed
Caloundra flathead just over 40 cm
The second flathead was a little bigger
The flats to the north of the Power Boat Club
A little breezy but otherwise perfect

Now the sun was up and the tide was running in. I decided to swap locations and drove down to the Caloundra Power Boat Club to fish the flats and weed beds. I generally find flathead in this area, so I rigged up a larger GULP 5 “ Jerkshad in the Satay Chicken colour – which is a mix of pumpkinseed and yellow. I found the edge of the weed beds that line the edge of the main channel and focused on leaving the soft plastic on the bottom, just where the sandy slope drops away to deeper water.

I took a while but at about 7.45am, I felt a solid bite and after a pause, I lifted the rod tip and set the hook. After a brief tussle I subdued a just legal 40cm flathead. I took some pictures and let it go, hoping I would find a better one. I covered the same area in casts but I could not find another one, so waded further along the edge of the channel.

I had no luck for about an hour and the wind was really picking up and making casting difficult. At about 8.45 am I felt another solid bite. Again the fish was less than a meter from the edge of the weed and was waiting to ambush anything that came its way. It was another flathead, about the same size as the previous one, so I released it.

I had not secured a fish supper but I had connected with a few fish and enjoyed a beautiful morning.

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Bribie – full moon on the oyster jetty flats – 26 April 2013

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Friday

After another terrific fishing session on Wednesday, I had to get back out there, as soon as possible. I had time for a quick morning fish on Friday. Friday was full moon and the tide would be difficult. It would be a 2.2 metre high at 9.36 am. The bigger high (2.6m) is currently at night. We would start with a south westerly breeze, then, a northerly wind was forecast to blow in, in the late morning. Thursday was a great day, weather wise and it was also Anzac Day, so I would expect the area to have been thoroughly fished.

Full moon fishing can be difficult for a number of reasons. It is often the trigger, at spawning time for fish to school up. But the big tidal movement stirs up the weed and debris and can disperse the fish over a very wide area.

I arrived just before dawn and fish around under the bridge. I did not have much success so, as soon as the horizon started to glow, I moved south, past the oyster jetty to try the drain that runs round the corner from Sandstone Point. Unfortunately, there was not yet enough water running through the drain. So, I moved further out in the direction of the green channel marker.

I was fishing with a GULP Jerkshad in the Satay Chicken colour and just before dawn, I caught a small flathead. This one would have been a just under the legal size of 40cm. Once the sun came up, I could see it had been sitting in a sandy patch, amongst the weed beds. I continued in the area and after a few more casts and I soon had another fish on. After brief fight, this one spat the jighead out.

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I was now stuck in the incoming tide conundrum. The tide was coming up fast, pushing me away from the area I wanted to fish – which was the main edge of the weed and sandbanks. This was out of casting reach and there was not yet enough water on the flats for the fish to have moved up.

I swapped to a GULP 4” Minnow in the Watermelon Pearl colour to see if a more ‘natural’ colour would be more effective. I cast around at any area of sand amongst the weed and I caught one more flathead – about the same size as the others, over the next hour.

At about 9.00 am I had to give up. Perhaps the full moon tides had dispersed the fish or maybe they were just schooled up, out of reach. I would be back again soon.

Bribie – The oyster jetty flats – 14 March 2013

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Thursday

The wind had finally blown the rain away. It had turned round to a south-westerly and was quite cool on Thursday morning. It had been forecast to drop right off but was still pretty persistent in the trees as I drove up to the Pumicestone Passage. I arrived at the small car park, on the mainland side of the Bribie Bridge at about 4.30 am. The sky was clear for a change.
The tide was still running out but had slowed right down. Low tide would be at 4.52 am. I waded out under the bridge lights to find Colin (a local Bribie fishing expert) in position again – there are some big advantages to living 5 minutes away.

He was fishing to the north of the bridge so I took the south side. The water was murky and still and there was no sign of any bait. At this time, there is usually a fair amount jumping around, but there was not much water under the bridge lights and it was now almost still. The water was very dirty – as you would expect it to be on the bottom of the tide. I realised that I have not seen a dolphin in the area for a few weeks which may mean there is no bait for them to chase, but it could also be that the water is still a little too fresh for their liking.

I tried a white coloured GULP Jerkshad and then a more natural coloured smaller, 3” Smelt Minnow soft plastic. I rigged both on 1/8th, 1/0 jigheads and I was fishing with 10lb fluorocarbon leader down to 6lb Fireline in the luminous green colour. There are now a number of different colours available in Fireline but this green colour is the easiest to see in low light. I got snagged a couple of times and re-rigged with various soft plastics.

I did not get a touch from any fish but for the first time in weeks, I was treated to a magnificent sunrise. This is a great time of the day to be out and about. I waded south and fished along the edge of where I thought the weed beds would be. It was hard to see where I should put the lure with the sun low on the horizon and the water so murky. The tide started to run in and gradually picked up pace. As it did so it lifted bits of loose weed and debris so I could not swap to fishing with small hard bodies. I thought these might have a more success in the shallow dirty water.

Just after 7.00 am, I was half way between the end of the old oyster jetty and the green channel marker, in about waist deep water. Having tried a few brightly coloured plastics and few natural coloured plastics, I had swapped to a GULP Jerkshad in the Cajun Chicken colour. This is a black colour with a bright pink underside. The tide was running in so quickly that I had put on a heavier 1/6th oz, 1/0 jighead. This also helped me figure out quickly where the edge of the weed bed was. I carried on casting up, into the incoming tide and bouncing the lure along the bottom, with lots of long pauses. At about 7.20 am I felt a pretty solid hit and saw some bait fish go flying. I cast back in the same spot about 6 or seven times – nothing. On cast number eight, there was a surge and splash and the fish took the lure, almost on the surface. It was a small flathead – under 40cm. I was relieved to find it. I took a few pictures and released it.

The sun is definitely back – Bribie Island
A dark coloured lure was the answer
Black with a bit of pink did the trick
GULP Cajun Chicken Jerkshad – proved irresistable
Gulped – up close
The water is pretty brown
Pink and black seemed to be the colour in the murky water
They are well hidden in this water

I continued south and stuck with the same soft plastic. Perhaps the dark silhouette was the only thing that was working in the sediment filled water. It was a big tide and now it was a little short of half way in to the run in and the water was getting too deep to stay close to the edge of the weed. Just short of the green channel marker, there is an exposed sand bank and just to the north-west, there is a drain where water from the bay floods in. This must be why the fish congregate here. Without looking, I knew I had reached it because the water temperature dropped a few degrees and I instantly felt the change, through my waders. I turned back towards the oyster jetty and kept moving. After about another 15 minutes I found another flathead of about the same size. It did not put up much of a fight. I photographed and released it.

I waded slowly back to the bridge, casting as I went, but I did not catch any more fish. I arrived at the bridge at about 8.45 am and the wind had picked up again. A tough session – the fish may be reluctant, but they are there.