In sheltered estuary waters, whiting and flathead are dominating catches for those using bait. Anglers trolling or casting lures have caught a variety of species, including mangrove jack, trevally and chopper tailor. There has been quite a few smaller pan size snapper caught in the southern bay islands on small lures, worked just off the bottom in deeper holes.
Banana prawns have not been in great numbers. Those putting in the effort have managed a few kilos each from the Pine River, Kedron Brook Floodway and deeper holes in the Logan River. Mud crabs have been in excellent numbers at Jumpinpin and the Broadwater,with most caught at night on the run in tide. There were good catches of bull sharks from the Albert, Logan and Brisbane rivers this week. The Brisbane River also turned up threadfin salmon and mulloway in reasonable numbers around the Rivercat Jetties at night and the drop offs into the main river around creek mouths.
In Moreton Bay, snapper and the occasional sweetlip have been caught in the shallows of the bay islands. Those fishing a bit deeper with larger baits have landed legal mulloway and the occasional better quality snapper. The Harry Atkinson Artificial Reef continues to produce good numbers of pan size snapper and a few surprises. Spotty mackerel numbers in Moreton Bay have been good. Anglers fishing inside South Passage Bar around the Rous channel, Rainbow Channel and Shark Spit area reported good catches, and there were also reports from the shallow coffee rock along the eastern side of Moreton Island.
Beaches to our south around Ballina and Iluka are producing better numbers and quality tailor than Noosa and the surf further north, although northern beaches win when it comes to dart and bream. On the offshore scene there are still dolphinfish around anything floating in the water and FADs and buoys. There are also lots of trag around, especially at night although most are only just legal. In the freshwater, Wivenhoe Dam is fishing better than it has for a long time with some anglers reporting 50 plus bass a day.
