# QLD: Raby Bay Canals. help.



## sebbett (Dec 18, 2012)

i live very local to the raby bay canals in queensland but i cant seem to have any luck there.
i've tried a wide variety of *hard bodies*, *slugs* at the entrances, *baits* (live worms, fresh squid, pillies and gar) and *soft plastics* (grubs, stick baits, paddle tails- all between 1/6 and 1/20 jig heads). i've fished mostly early mornings, but a few afternoons and into evenings. i run a pretty light rig. 2500 shimano symetre with 8lb braid, 2-4kg rod and either 4.5lb flurocarb or 10lb mono leader.
i'm not talking one or two sessions either. i've had probably close to 15 trips total over the past 8 months.

but i cant seem to pull a single fish yakside. i would really love to be able to catch fish without having to load my car up and drive, but thats exactly what i'm having to resort to after failing time and time again at my local.
it's as if this place has some sort of voodoo spell on me.

what am i doing wrong? and how can i catch fish here?
help me AKFF, you're my only hope.


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## krisvander (Aug 3, 2011)

There are fish there. What I've mostly found are bream & flathead with the odd trevally. Sadly I've also caught tilapia here too.

If you go just outside the canals there are sandy beaches, this is where you might find some flathead.

For the bream which would be more of a consistent catch inside I've found small grubz 2 to 2 1/2 inch thrown almost on top of people's jetties and boats. If you can't get basically on top of it, you won't catch much. There is a reason people get mad when people fish by their boats, too many accidental casts hit their hulls.

At the main entrance I've even pulled out small grassy sweetlip and I've heard of snapper too.

I've found better spots so I don't frequent the canals that much as it takes 35-40 minutes for me to get there. I never catch anything of size there so I would fish smaller baits, etc. for the smaller fish that seem to be there, prawns & yabbies etc.

-Kris


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## sebbett (Dec 18, 2012)

cheers for the info kris. a nice sweetlip would be very sweet indeed! 
i'll definitely be out there having a go soon. 
sam.


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## grinner (May 15, 2008)

hay buddy, i'd try to find a very high tide at about dusk.
if you can fish the run up to this, some reasonable fish poke in at the top of the tide. i'd fish around the main entrance.
there are actually a few squid around there sometimes, so unweighted squid at the top of the tide and just give them a little twitch.
maybe even use a few little green luminous beads.
i did get a couple of legal snapper there once. near the first red marker as you go out thru the leads.

cheers


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Raby Bay is a ridiculously fickle little fishery. I've pulled big bream and some pretty sizeable flatties and trevally there and been blown away by huge jacks, but more often come back with a donut. The area along the foreshore a from the VMR to the canal entrances is a good spot to try for bream on small clear poppers. Mix up the speed of your retrieve and the length of your pauses. This works around the pontoons inside the canals too when the bream are in the mood. 
Inside the canals I always had most of my success with plastics cast tight against structure and twitched back. There always seemed to be huge tracts of water that were dead and then small patches of action so I often trolled around until I found active fish and then focused on those areas with the plastics. Try to cover as much water as you can and fish both moving current spots in the main arms and calm water at the end of the side canals. 
It's going back a while now but I used squidgie fish and wrigglers, Berkley bass minnows and pumpkinseed gulp minnows, ecogear sx-40 and lucky craft bevy shad hardbodies. For the Jacks I threw lots of prawnstar juniours in pink and natural colours. 
Perseverance and observation are the key mate. Keep at it and you'll crack the code. I've seen some ridiculous fish come from those canals including a spotty mackerel! It can be a frustrating bastard of a place on its day but can also be awesome.


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## systemtester (May 11, 2013)

Possibly relevant: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=52193


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## systemtester (May 11, 2013)

Possibly relevant: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=52193


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