Weed, weed, weed and more weed! The passage is full of the stuff at the moment and it’s shocking to say the least. It’s making it nearly impossible to catch crabs and very difficult to catch fish.

You’ll need to use your thinker if you want any chance of a day out fishing without weed frustrations. I’ve been chasing water with minimal weed and fishing that area hard, because these areas are few and far between. It’s a lot easier to fish an area with less fish and less weed than fish an area where you know the fish are, but can’t present anything to them due to the sheer volume of slimy green annoyance that is present.

Be careful where you place your crab pots, as they are filling up with weed in an instant causing them to drift with the tide. There are lots of lost pots in the passage at the moment and the main reason for that is the weed problem. If I can give you one hot tip on the crabbing front it would be to hang your pots in the shed and forget about it until the weed clears out. It can get expensive if your pots drift away and you can’t find them, nothing will stop them from drifting once they’re full of weed.

On the fishing front; they can be caught it’s just much harder than I would like it to be. The tailor have been thick and thin and the hot bite sessions have had me doing some miles on the water in the hunt for a few hook ups. Look for the birds feeding and water boiling with bait. When you see this, it’s game on!

Go in with your electric or drift in ensuring you make no noise; that is the key to catching your quota. These fish seem to be spook easily and are hard to keep on the bite, but patience can bring good results. These fish are not huge but they are smart so fish light. They will be all but gone by the middle of this month so make the most of it.

All the snapper caught under the Bribie Island Bridge are small to medium size; no real cracking fish to speak of.

Try the Bribie canals for a change of scenery and a little less weed. Snapper, bream, flathead and grassys are a few fish to readily take a swipe at your lure if presented properly. There are tailor present but again keep the noise to a minimum for best results. An electric motor is worth its weight in gold in these areas.

By the end of this month I predict and hope the weed will be all but gone and with that I hope to see some queenfish pulling drag and jumping sky high. Not a lot of people know this, but late August through September is the best time to wrestle with the queenfish in the passage. I like the water temp to be between 19-23degrees and still on top to best pinpoint the surface feeding. Hopefully with a slight rise in water temp this month we will see a lot less weed and some very nice fish.

Don’t forget the flathead are at their biggest and best this month. With that in mind, I’ve seen some flathead frames at the boat ramp recently that had way too much flesh left on them. Please learn how to fillet your fish properly; make the most of them, not a mess of them! It’s not hard, almost any keen angler will be more than happy to teach you if you ask nicely. A precious fish should not be wasted; this is a criminal sight to see.

Just a reminder that the Superior Custom Cabinets Whiting tournament is being held at Toorbul Caravan Park from 2pm on Friday November 4 to 11am on Sunday November 6. For more information call Ian on 0417 727 172. Early entry is a must. I look forward to seeing you there.