Over the last month there have been limited opportunities to get out on the bay, thanks to the southeasterly winds which kicked in around New Years. When the weather is like that it’s a good option to get into the creeks and dams and target the likes of bass and jacks. They hit hard and pull hard also.

I’ve been on holidays for 3 weeks so I haven't been out in the bay for a while, but I have heard reports of scattered schools of spotties getting around. These speedsters are a lot of fun if you can find a school to yourself or only 1 or 2 boats around you.

The important thing to remember when approaching a school of mackerel is to do so in idle; there is no race to get in amongst the school. There are no prizes for getting your boat into the middle of the school, either. You only need to get within casting distance, and if your boat drifts into the school then that is a bonus.

On the snapper front there have been some reasonable squire caught along the drop-offs around Peel and Coochie. The good fish that I have heard of have been taken on hardbodies worked along the reef edges. More fish are being taken on surface lures, and rigging your plastics unweighted will allow you to work them on the surface. This way of targeting squire has been a viable option on every trip of late.

Like anyone who has taken up fishing with surface lures, it’s definitely be one of my favourite techniques on any species. There is no better feeling than working a lure back along the top and sighting a fish stalking your lure, waiting for the opportune moment to attack. There are numerous species in the bay that you are can target on the surface during the warmer months. These include bream, flathead, kingfish, whiting and mackerel.

When it comes to tackle, my choice really comes down to the species I’m targeting. Obviously if I'm targeting some of the bigger species I’ll use bigger lures around 80-100mm and slightly heavier tackle.

Moreton bay is well known in SEQ as one of the best big bream fisheries around. It is not uncommon to get numerous bream over 30cm in a session. Most of the islands in the bay have some areas of shallow rocks or reef, and on the incoming tide the bream love to push up onto the flats and feed on crabs, baitfish and so forth. In these areas there’s only 1-2ft of water, so the option of throwing a surface lure around is high on my list of lure options.

There are many good bream topwater lures on the market, but I have my favourites that I always go to. Lucky Craft has a great range of small bream topwaters with both small poppers and stickbaits to choose from. Models like the Sammy which is a 65mm stickbait, the NW Pencil which is a 55mm stickbait and the Bevy Pop which is a 55mm popper. The reason I like these lures so much is because of the action you can impart on the lure with minimal effort.

If you have never targeted bream with this technique I highly recommend that you try it out for yourself. I hope that you get out over the next month and catch a few fish.