As we leave another crisp winter we say good-bye to what has been a great season on the fishing front. With our wayward weather throughout the year it’s good to see the consistency come in the waterways as brave and eager anglers have been rewarded for their efforts both in estuaries and inshore waters.

In our last month of winter, the standout performer continued to be snapper/squire as numbers still continued reporting out of the hotspots throughout the northern bay. Even after having our trademark Ekka winds, which often push bait away from the land and out of rivers, squire are still being caught as water temps start their ascent into spring. Star performers for snapper last month and as throughout the season have been the eastern side of Mud Island, North Reef at Scarborough, Woody Point and the mouth of the Brisbane River. Be sure to remember these areas for next year as good numbers should be sure to return in the future keeping us anglers happy.

After their energetic spawning season in winter, bream have been on fire in all the northern waterways with anglers not having to venture far from their usual fishing holes to find good numbers. Bream have been aggressive at times with the rising tide being the pick of the times with baitos getting good fish on mullet, cooked prawns and raw chicken.

Lure obsessives have been showing the way to good sessions throwing small cranks around 35-45mm with outstanding performers being Cranka Deep Cranks, Atomic Shiner 45s, Ecogear CX40HS and the old faithfuls Atomic Crank 38 (Deep) and the Jackall Chubby (Shallow).

Pumicestone Passage has bream firing around the mouth of Ningi and Glasshouse Creeks with the weed flats around Donnybrook and Toorbul working well in the dawn hours. Redcliffe has been fishing well of late, with rising water temps even producing fish on the surface on calmer days with these ravenous feeders aggressively fighting other bream for a piece of lure at times. Hardbodies and soft plastics have worked well this month on the Peninsula with anglers reducing their leader size to 3lb-4lb to increase their catch rate.

Active numbers have been reported for flathead last month and this trend will continue through September as larger breeding females will occupy the rivers and estuaries bringing with them smaller males along for the ride. If you find you are catching a number of smaller flathead, be sure not to venture too far as a big girl shouldn’t be too far away.

Pilchards have been yielding good catches as anglers have encountered nice lizards as by-catch when chasing tailor.

Larger plastics like ZMan 4” Curly Tail StreakZ, 3” Atomic Plazo Prongs and Shads Lures 4” Paddletails have drawn good success in the mouths of our rivers and creeks, especially on the ebbing tide with anglers using a hop-hop-pause retrieve to good effect. Try bright contrasting colours for dirtier waterways and clearer plastics when fishing in cleaner waters.

With a slow start to the cooler months on the squid front, numbers have been coming into the fray of late around the Redcliffe and Scarborough Peninsula.

Land based anglers have been getting good numbers wading the shallows of the peninsula with these aggressive cephalopods ambushing baitfish in skinny waters. Keeping rod tips high or trimming jig weights has been the key as small schools of 3-5 squid are being encountered on a regular basis. Be sure to keep an eye out for fleeing baitfish as a squid won’t be too far from the action.

Try reefs around Woody Point, Redcliffe Jetty and Queens Beach during daylight hours and the main jetties at night as light attracts bait and therefore squid to these illuminated areas.

Good summeries are starting to be pulled throughout the Pumicestone Passage with anglers also getting numbers in the mouth of the Caboolture River.

Mentionable areas around Bribie include Red Beach, Coochin Creek and Mission Point to name a few with fishos still getting diver whiting around the Cockle Banks. The lower reaches to the mouth of the Pine River has also produced numbers with boaties anchoring up and fishing current lines to good success. Lightly weighted bloodworms and freshly pumped yabbies have worked a treat by all reports with the early mornings and late afternoons being the pick of the times.

Busting up baitfish of late have been those toothy speedsters we have come to expect around this time of year. Prevailing winds and abundance of bait have made these aggressive feeders pretty common throughout the northern bay with all corners experiencing their share of tailor reports.

Eastern Beaches of Bribie around Woorim, North Reef at Scarborough, Brisbane River rock wall, and the southern end of the green zone at Woody Point have been good hotspots with bait anglers doing well on pilchard halves and hardiheads and lure junkies getting good size tailor with shad or grub style plastics like Atomic 3” Fat Grubs, Gulp 3” minnows and Squidgy 80mm wrigglers.

Happy Fishing!