Moreton Bay fishing magic

I cannot believe this will be my last article. About 14 years ago, I walked into Bush ‘n Beach Fishing, then at Cleveland, to see Ben and his mum Sue to say thank you for putting a photo of my two-year-old son in the magazine… and that’s how it all began.

I didn’t even know how to write an article.

Yet here we are a fair few years later and I’ve written several.

 

To be honest, at the beginning I didn’t think anyone would even read my stories.

Luckily plenty of you did.

I hope that I was able to give you the information you wanted or needed.

A big thanks to all of you for reading my articles.

 

If you hadn’t have read them, I wouldn’t have been able to do this for so long.

I didn’t realise that when I started writing for this magazine that it would open up so many doors, with certain aspects on fishing products, talking at boat shows and also being able to go out on some very memorable fishing trips.

I also wouldn’t have been able to promote my fishing charter business as I’ve been able to in this publication.

 

I know that a lot of the success I’ve had with my business is down to BNB.

If I wasn’t able to showcase the type of fish we were catching each month in this mag, I don’t think my business would have been anywhere near as successful.

So for that I say a very big thank you to Ben, Sue and the team for the wonderful help given to put my articles together each month.

 

When it comes down to it, we’ve been able to showcase some outstanding catches over the years, with rather solid spanish mackerel in southern Moreton Bay, some fantastic stories of large jewfish that we were lucky enough to put onboard and solid snapper.

For the people who caught these fish, it was the catch of a lifetime.

And then to see their pictures in print afterwards was the icing on the cake.

 

I have a few diehard customers who have been with me for a long time.

They loved coming out, catching fish and then seeing themselves in BNB.

Unfortunately, a very tough decision was made as it’s simply not viable to print the magazine anymore – things are changing.

 

So, from my family to the BNB family, what you have accomplished has been nothing short of amazing.

Benny, you should be very proud of what you’ve achieved… I know your father, who started the mag so long ago, would be.

It is a fishing magazine, so I should probably finish off with a small fishing report.

 

At the time of writing, the water had started to clean up.

We’ve been catching plenty of southern bay snapper all around the islands, including Peel and Goat.

In the mix were some very nice grass sweetlip, solid bream and the occasional dusky and sand flathead.

 

Most of the fish were caught drifting rubble ground, then as the tide slowed, we moved to isolated wrecks or structure with bait and soft plastics.

If the water dirties up, either find cleaner water or, if you can’t, use a good berley trail with bait – fresh pillies, squid and mullet fillet have been working really well.

Drifting the rubble grounds, we’ve had a lot of luck on soft plastics, from a Zerek Live Flash Minnow Wriggly to Zerek Flat Shad Pros and anything with a paddle tail.

Remember if the water is dirty, use darker coloured plastics.

 

Also, because sharks are a problem, I’ve been using heavier gear – 3-6kg rods and a 3000 spin reel with 15lb braid – it helps to get those fish back to the boat quicker.

Well, that’s it from me, thank you so much for reading my articles over the years.

It’s been fantastic to meet so many people who have read them, like being in one big BNB family.

One day, I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren that I used to write for a fishing magazine.

It has definitely been one of the highlights of my life.

 

So, for the last time…

As we all know, with our jobs and lives we are time poor, so if you can learn more to optimise your time on the water, why not – remember knowledge is key.

Stay safe on the water and, if you’re interested in our fishing tuition or want to do a fishing charter, give me a call on 0432 386 307, send an email to seanconlonsfishing@hotmail.com or check out the Facebook page Seano’s Inshore Fishing Charters and Tuition.

And check out the new Fish Goop page on Facebook.