SLOWER neap tides last weekend resulted in good numbers of mulloway.
Top spots were inside the Jumpinpin Bar, in the Southport Seaway and the Brisbane River.
Plenty of small bream and the odd threadfin were caught in the Logan River and it is worth putting a few pots in for a feed of mud crabs as well.
There were also mangrove jack catches reported from Jumpinpin, the northern Gold Coast canals and along the Seaway south rock wall.
Prawns have been hard to pin down. Top spots have been Russell Island, the Power Lines to Rudi Maas. Prawns have been hard to find on the north side but there were good catches from the Deep Hole in the Pine River this week but no numbers reported off Nudgee.
There’s been excellent numbers of sand crabs over the past few weeks. No specific area has been a hot spot. There’s been reports from the western Bayside foreshores as well as the western side of North Stradbroke Island from Deanbilla Bay to Macleay.
Offshore there’s been good quality dolphinfish at the Point Lookout Wave Rider Buoy but they spook quickly after a few are hooked.
Current has made fishing the wider grounds almost impossible but there has been good mixed bags of tuskfish, pearl perch and snapper in 40 to 60 meters of water. Targeting pelagics is a good option when the current is up, trolling The Group, Sevens or any of the headlands has turned up a few mackerel and wahoo although most strikes have been from small tuna and bonito.
There’s been spotty mackerel on the bait grounds off the Seaway and Palm Beach Reef, but as it always is with spotties, they are there one day, gone the next.
On the freshwater scene, redclaw catches are as good as they are going to get for the year. Plenty of rain sees most dams rising, allowing them to feed on newly flooded grass, less than two meters of water is where the better catches are.
All local impoundments are at the best for bass and yellowbelly with big numbers for those using live shrimp.