November is here already, meaning it’s all about to go crazy with Christmas around the corner. It’s a good time to get on the water between the pelagic, reef and estuary species on offer – there are plenty of options this month. Flathead are going nuts in the warmer water in the bay with good numbers of 50-70cm fish around.

Look for bait schools of herring, mullet and hardiheads in the shallows. There’s bound to be a few lizards working the area. Summer whiting are continuing to improve in size and numbers. Quality baits like live yabbies and worms are catching the better fish. Golden trevally are worthwhile on the flats over the summer months and can be targeted on lures, flies and bait along our mainland beaches, and of course, Fraser Island.

Threadfin salmon have been in epic numbers in the past and the next few months are the best time to chase them. Fish over 130cms are a real possibility and they’re prolific in the Mary and Susan river systems, making them a worthwhile option regardless of the wind.

For trolling anglers, the water temperature has cracked the 23°C mark in Platypus Bay. We’ve been waiting for it to really kick the Hervey Bay black marlin into gear. I’ve had a couple of trips up to Rooneys in late September and early October to see what’s going on and had plenty of strikes from school mackerel and bonito, but couldn’t find a bill. On the days we were up there, the surface action was non-existent with not a bird was in the sky.

Hopefully we see increased surface bust ups from longtails, mac tuna, spotted mackerel and the little black marlin moving in to feed inside Rooneys Point. Across the bar, big numbers of black marlin are actively feeding and there are good fish amongst them. We know they’re on the way, if not already here.

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A nice longtail caught by Craig McCrea at Wathumba.