The flooding and devastation caused by ex-tropical cyclone Oswald has taken its toll on the land and at sea along the Fraser Coast.

With debris scattered in our waterways and on our beaches and hundreds of metres of coastline taken, these events change our lives and our environment forever.

The wider reefs such as the Gutters and Rooneys have been producing snapper, trout, cod, red emperor, jacks, parrot, sweetlip and scarlets on a mixture of live and dead baits and plastics.

Platypus Bay is worth trying with plenty of pelagic species to choose from. The February/March period can produce some of the best longtail fishing of the year and with mackerel, trevally, mac tuna and billfish also available it’s well worth the run up the island.

Trolling around the dirty water current lines is always worth a look as the temperature difference between the dirty and clear water acts like a wall to baitfish, which they won’t pass, and that’s where you find the predators. On many days trolling at this time of year the dirty current lines have turned a slow day around with numerous species being caught.

The local reefs are still fishing well through this post-flood period with cod, juvenile snapper, blackall, sweetlip and trout all responding to baitfishing and bouncing plastics. Expect to find river species like jack, grunter, mulloway and golden snapper fleeing the floodwaters.

The floodwaters pumping out the rivers and creeks is dirty, fresh and laden with debris and best avoided for a while until things get better.

Try fishing the mouths and surrounding estuaries for the likes of king threadfin salmon, grunter, mulloway and barra on live bait, hardbodies and plastics with prawn imitations always a good option after a flood.

The local fresh waterways found around Hervey Bay, including dams, retardation basins and lakes, are home to many species such as barra, bass, tarpon, spangled perch, mullet and giant eels. After the recent influx of water these waterways will be alive with aquatic life.

Be sure to check that fishing is permitted as some lakes are off limits; usually they have adequate signage to inform you of what is allowed. It’s another fishing option and a good way to introduce kids to the sport.