The prawns are on. Like someone turning on a switch they turned up in big numbers last weekend and have kept cast netters busy all week.
Some of the hot spots have been around the red beacon opposite the mouth of the Logan River, the western side of Russell Island up to the Saltworks and off Weinam Creek.
At low tide they are schooled up, but on the top of the tide they are often spread wide and difficult to get in any numbers.
Whiting catches have been consistent. Heavy rain over the weekend has pushed them out of the upper reaches towards the mouth of rivers and creeks.
The top spots this week have been anywhere around Slipping Sands at Jumpinpin, Ageston Sands in the Logan River and in the Broadwater at the mouth of feeder creeks.
There have been a few school mulloway and flathead caught in deeper holes around the prawn schools, and using prawns for bait has been the best way to catch them.
Mud crab catches improved in the past 24 hours as a result of heavy rain. The best catches have been around the mouths of rivers and creeks, especially the Logan River and smaller mangrove creeks spread throughout Jumpinpin.
In the bay snapper catches have improved in the shallows since the weekend rain. There have also been school and spotty mackerel down the western side of Moreton Island, the eastern end of the Rous Channel and top end of the Rainbow Channel.
Offshore fishing has been at an all time high over the past week with plenty of dolphinfish around wave rider buoys and FADs. Shallow reefs have turned up good numbers of snapper, tuskfish and Moses perch on the bottom and lots of trevally taking baits mid water on the drop.
Some big Spanish mackerel have been caught around headlands, exposed reefs and bait grounds. The Sunshine Coast has produced plenty of fish up to 20kg and a few over 40kg on slow trolled live baits.
There have also been cobia, kingfish and amberjack taking live baits around any reef or wreck areas.
