It’s going off in Hervey Bay at the moment. The water chock a block full of baitfish and prawns which are attracting all manner of predators.

The local reefs are still producing good numbers of cod, blackall, coral bream and small snapper on baits and plastics. The Arti has been hit and miss but there have still been some quality snapper, jew and cod taken on live baits.

Sharks have maintained their presence taxing plenty of fish and there have also been a few big GT smashing fish near the surface.

The shallows are teeming with life mainly due to the abundance of prawns, which range from tiny jelly prawns up to the kind we prefer for the plate. There are many different species that feed on prawns including whiting, bream and flathead, salmon, tailor and sharks.

Shovelnosed sharks from 20cm to 2m can be seen beaching themselves in order to get the prawns boiling in water only a few centimeters deep. Fishing these areas as the tide increases with small poppers is working well for whiting, bream, flathead and tailor.

Anyone and everyone with a cast net has been out chucking getting in on the abundance of quality prawns that are around at the moment.

Mud crabs are also on the move and while there are a lot of jennys about, there’s also enough bucks to make it worthwhile. Barramundi, jacks and salmon are working the many prawn and bait schools taking livies and lures. Flathead, bream and whiting are also taking plastics, yabbies and worms.

River Heads is one of those places that just screams fish. With the Susan and Mary rivers merging together and spilling in to the Sandy Straits the volume of water that moves in and out of this spot is more reminiscent of the Kimberlies than the Fraser Coast.

Recently Warwick Knapton the president of the River Heads fishing club fished a live mullet at dusk and had a barra burst out of the water in front of him. Moments later his rod buckled and he realised it was on his line! It just shows the potential for the land-based angler at River Heads.