THERE were good catches of prawns this week, with top spots being southern Moreton Bay along the bottom of Macleay Island, the western side of Russell Island and around the moored boats between Rudi Maas and Jacobs Well.
There’s still a few scattered reports of prawn catches from the Pine River, Caboolture River and Nudgee.
There’s also been a few prawn reports from the Brisbane River.
Whiting continue to be the main catch in estuary waters. Top spots include the Nerang River, Coomera River and Broadwater. There’s also been a few around Ageston Sand in the Logan River.
Flathead are another species worth targeting. There’s not as many as there were before Christmas, but this week has seen quite a few bigger fish caught, possibly as a result of some showers pushing bait out of the shallows. The way to capitalise on this is to target the entrance to small creeks and drains, even draining sandbank channels, on the run out tide. They will also be on the bottom anywhere there are prawns as well.
The Brisbane River continues to be a hot spot for mulloway and threadfin although most are being caught at night around the tide changes. There’s been a summer run of snapper in the bay. They are not in big numbers and not on artificial reefs. The best catches have been early morning by those throwing unweighted baits into the shallows around Mud and Peel islands.
Offshore there’s been plenty of tuskfish on the 29’s and 33s. It’s the time of year for pelagic activity and there’s been a few wahoo, mackerel and tuna caught by anglers trolling the Sevens and The Group area, but not many hooked up. There’s also been small marlin caught, most out on the 100m line or current and temperature lines. On the freshwater scene, the little rain we have had has improved fishing and redclaw numbers. Most impoundments are producing good numbers of bass although you may have to use a sounder to find schools. Catches in western rivers and creeks have slowed because they are letting water out of storages which has dropped water temperatures.