bait...

[wayno60]

guys,
just wondering what bait is available up the pointy end if your not a big lure fisherman...ie is it worth taking the herring jig ??

dont want to fill up the fridge with frozen prawns and mullet slabs....gotta keep room for the rumbo's


cheers

[batesy]

Wayno,

You can use a cast net anywhere up here (mind the crocs), definitely use a herring jig off the cooktown wharf. You'll still pick up the occasional barra by floating a live herring near the pylons.

Most punters use mullet, squid or prawns around Weipa - I think - but I'm sure there will be some real fishos around here that can't tell you for sure.

[campdog]

My favorite on the Cape is fresh squid and green prawns. Catch the prawns with a cast net under the Mission River bridge at Weipa. Pilchards are OK too,

[wayno60]

cool, thanks guys.

if im catching prawns i dont think ill be feedin the fish with em...lol

12L boiler..dont leave home with out it.

cheers

also my target fish is MJ's so im thinkin the herring are the go for them...

[geoffjy]

cool, thanks guys.

if im catching prawns i dont think ill be feedin the fish with em...lol

12L boiler..dont leave home with out it.

cheers

also my target fish is MJ's so im thinkin the herring are the go for them...


I have found that on the Northern part of the Cape that its not so much the bait as the spot you fish. Mangrove Jacks generally like a bit of a flow in the water and most times the faster the better as they really wake up. I anchor up current from a likely looking snag and put a bait out not far from the it. I generally use mullet strips with just enough lead so that in the current your bait sits just off the bottom. This works like magic in the creeks up here.

[plucker]

Jacks love whole pilchards on a gang hook. Herring work well as do small poddy mullet.

They also like flouro green lures more than others, and landed about 1 meter away but that is getting off the topic.

Most of the Jacks I manage to catch are in shallow water of say a few feet.

Some snags in water a bit deeper can have schools sitting on them also.

They can be pretty flighty so if the bait lands too close they will leave, but if the bait is not close enough to the snag they wont leave the snag either.

I had a memorable session in Port Stewart, where the tide was just coming in and the roof topper was just floating. Every snag with 6 inches of water on it had a Jack.
One hour later with a meter of water on it there were barra.

[geoffjy]

Always remember too that when you get a bag of pillies from the store immediately put coarse salt in it and mix them around so they are all coated. Ordinarily pilchards are soft once thawed and come off the hook easily but when salted they firm right up and will stay on the hook longer.

The same goes for any other soft flesh bait as well, even the fresh stuff you catch.

When we were out camping without fridges and such we used to catch our bait then put it in the fork of a tree and let the green ants at it. You will find that the green ants will preserve your bait for a lot longer.

[jackslayer]

Good day gents. You blokes have had plenty of experience with jacks @ barra aswell. I carn't comment on the fishin up the top end but have fished waters along the eastern seaboard between Bris @ Cairns, and one thing for sure you never let go of your fishin rod because you'll never see it again! I also always have two cast nets on board or in the 4by, easy bait. PS- jacks @ barra will sometimes choose a damaged bait over a clean live bait. Hope to exsperience the top soon. Jackslayer

[geoffjy]

Good day gents. You blokes have had plenty of experience with jacks @ barra aswell. I carn't comment on the fishin up the top end but have fished waters along the eastern seaboard between Bris @ Cairns, and one thing for sure you never let go of your fishin rod because you'll never see it again! I also always have two cast nets on board or in the 4by, easy bait. PS- jacks @ barra will sometimes choose a damaged bait over a clean live bait. Hope to exsperience the top soon. Jackslayer

I agree with the holding onto your rod too. Recently i went on a fishing trip up here and i gave a friend an early chrissy present. A Penn 975 loaded with bionic braid. Cost about $500. He had it 2 hours before he lost it over the side. Needless to say i am still pissed about it. He thought it was in free spool bu it wasnt and he didnt even have it in a holder. To top it all off, three days later he dropped another rod and reel over the side but this one he managed to grab before it sunk.

[Nedly]

I agree with the holding onto your rod too. Recently i went on a fishing trip up here and i gave a friend an early chrissy present. A Penn 975 loaded with bionic braid. Cost about $500. He had it 2 hours before he lost it over the side. Needless to say i am still pissed about it. He thought it was in free spool bu it wasnt and he didnt even have it in a holder. To top it all off, three days later he dropped another rod and reel over the side but this one he managed to grab before it sunk.

And he's still a friend :o

[jackslayer]

I agree with the holding onto your rod too. Recently i went on a fishing trip up here and i gave a friend an early chrissy present. A Penn 975 loaded with bionic braid. Cost about $500. He had it 2 hours before he lost it over the side. Needless to say i am still pissed about it. He thought it was in free spool bu it wasnt and he didnt even have it in a holder. To top it all off, three days later he dropped another rod and reel over the side but this one he managed to grab before it sunk.

Yes mate, i've been lucky with the rods getin jammed into the outboard. Friend of mine has lost 3 rod/reel combos and i still give him heaps. Ha Ha: That feelin you get when you know thier on and its draging you and your boat across the other side of the creek .

[geoffjy]

And he's still a friend :o

Only just, i am just starting to speak to him again. :D

[jackslayer]

It good when your carstnet fills with live prawn and just as much lands in the boat at the same time you flick the net. Only its hard to decide to cook or bait. Still warm strait out of the water. OK i'll stop now, bugger the fish.