July through to August should see some of the best conditions we can get on the passage with glassed out mornings and very calm afternoons.

These are the best times to get your kids out on the water for a fish, but you’ll need to rug up. When the westerly breeze kicks in it can get quite chilly and brisk.

One of the best and easiest ways to catch fish with the kids is to troll small hardbodied lures. Choose two or three hardbodies like Lively Lures’ Micro Mullet and Mini Micro Mullet, small Stump Jumpers, Attack Lures and small Gold Bombers in golds, greys and pinks.

These lures have a great tight action allowing you to free most weed from the lure with one or two hard twitches of the rod, rather than pulling your lure in and removing it by hand. They are also a couple of the best in my tackle box, maybe not the dearest or flashest, but they perform out of sight with flathead, bream, tailor and trevally all inhaling them this time of year.

While trolling, let the kids hold the rod, twitch it and move it around as much as they want as this can aggravate the fish into a bite and kill the boredom. Keep a close eye on your leader as it can become weak or damaged from the flathead, tailor and trevally.

You will loose a couple of lures from time to time, so make sure you have a few extra on hand. The dreaded yellowtail pike are very good lure thieves, but on the other hand they can be good for the kids and they also make outstanding bait, either dead or alive.

Fishing with pike bait can be one of the most relaxing ways to catch a quick feed or have a bit of fun. Just remember to take your landing net as you will need it more than once throughout your session.

The flathead are around in numbers but are lacking a bit in size at the moment, but this will turn around quickly come mid July and early August, making them a great target species. Just remember the minimum size is 40cm and the maximum is 75cm, with a bag limit of 5 per person.

Tailor have been the target for a lot of anglers at the moment, with mixed results. Most anglers have brought in one or two fish while others have been lucky enough to get into double figures. Remember the size limit is 35cm and bag limit is 20 per person. Tailor should be schooled up in the usual locations as well as spots like White Patch, Bribie Island and under the Bribie bridge.

There have been a few snapper around, but be careful with your size limit as they are just around the legal limit of 35cm (the bag limit is 5 per person). Remember they will shrink on the ice so practice your catch and release skills on them, releasing them is a lot more rewarding in the long run.