Whiting have been one of the main species on the bite this week.
The Nerang River is at its best, fishing just outside any channel marker nearly always puts you on a sand bank and in the right area. Moving often when there are no bites ensures you do not spend too much time where there is no fish.
At Jumpinpin, whiting have been caught at Jacobs Well straight around the mouth of Behms Creek and the deeper drain that run along Tabby Island. In the bay the best fish have come from the sandy foreshores off Manly, Wynnum and the mouth of Tingalpa Creek. Sand crab catches are improving every week. Reports this week came from Deanbilla Bay, Boat Passage and the banks on the northern side of the Brisbane River mouth.
No matter where you are on the bay it is worth having a few pots out. Not many mud crab catches have been reported. They have been a little hard to find in any numbers although there were some good reports from the Brisbane River around Fisherman’s Island.
In the bay it is all about snapper and mackerel, with some great catches. Harry Atkinson artificial reef is producing some good fish. It has become a hot spot for anglers since its extension. Other artificial reefs in the bay are also well worth while dropping a bait or lure on.
The mackerel are turning up just about anywhere although most anglers reported they were on the eastern side of the bay around the southern end of Moreton Island or top of North Straddie. There has been quite a few longtail tuna landed in the northern bay.
Offshore fishing has been excellent, with reports of mixed reef species and snapper to a few kilos. There has also been school mackerel in the shallows and around bar entrances, Spanish mackerel and wahoo around Hutchies, Flinders, the Cape and Flatrock. On the freshwater scene, all impoundments are fishing well for bass and yellowbelly.
There have been a small number of redclaw caught, especially in North Pine Dam. Best results have come at night just off rolling grassy flats in three to six metres of water.