Colder weather and a drop in estuary water temperatures has marked a change in seasons resulting in more winter species including bream, mulloway and tailor on the bite. This transition period is a great time to go fishing because we are still catching the summer species of whiting, flathead and a few pelagics, as well as the early winter species. Prawns have been a disappointment however there are still good numbers of crabs around, the small creeks and waterways are producing the best muddies and the sandies are still best along North Stradbroke Island in the bay.
There are whiting in the most rivers and creeks, but lots of small bream and dinner plate size stingrays is making the fishing tough.
The Logan River has improved, even cleaned up a fair bit and now producing fish as far as the Junction on the top of the tide, mainly bream, flathead and mulloway. It has been a similar at Jumpinpin with small flathead in good numbers on the edge of sandbanks, lots of small bream around and a few mulloway. Brisbane River is well worth fishing with threadfin and school mulloway the main species on the bite.
There is also increasing numbers of diver whiting on the banks north of the Brisbane River leads, Amity Banks, Reeder's Point and the Cockle Banks. Snapper catches in the bay are improving, the shallows off Scarborough have turned up good catches as has the rubble grounds off Cleveland Point and the artificial reefs.
The better quality have been caught in the shallows at first light, during the day they have been caught from deeper water on the artificial reefs.
This is a great time of year to fish the freshwater. West of The Range cod are on the bite in rivers, most impoundments are very low and not fishing as well.
We are seeing great catches of bass in eastern Impoundments, North Pine Dam is producing some great catches and Wivenhoe has turned up less fish but quality, some fish over 50cm.
On the offshore scene there has been lots of pan size tuskfish in 40m of water and plenty of pan size snapper on all reefs. Pearl perch are in good numbers, particularly in 100 plus metres of water, the shallower you get the small they get.