April will see our water temps dropping considerably. This makes it a little harder to target your summer species but will slowly bring on your winter feeders like bream, winter whiting, and flathead, so all is not lost.

The good humble old bream have been going great guns with good hauls coming from the mouth of Pelican Waters and Pacific Harbour, along with the mouth of most of the creeks that flow into the passage. These guys have been most active on the in-coming tides as the water pushes up into the mangrove lines where they seek cover and food. With all the usual lures bringing them undone, they don’t seem at all fussy at the moment. It’s just a matter of getting your line in and ‘Bobs your uncle!’ Take your brag mat as some of these bream are XXL in size.

The whiting have been, and will continue to be, a great target species throughout April and May as falling water temps don’t affect them greatly. However, I do find they can get a bit finicky with their feeding habits as the water gets clearer in the winter months.

There are still some good duskies coming in at the moment with a size slot of 45-65cm, which is not too shabby as they are the perfect table size. If iced, prepped and cooked to perfection they are very hard to beat. They can be a real crowd pleaser if you have friends or family coming over. Soft plastics have been doing the damage. The inside of the Caloundra Bar is a great reliable spot to target them along with the mouth of Ningi, Elimbah and Glassy creeks.

If you want some line burning action and to give your gear a good workout, the passage is holding some really large stingrays and some decent size bull sharks. The last ray I landed was approximately 4ft across the back and wasn’t entirely happy to come to the surface, but we got him up in the end. It was a great way to spend a half hour on the water.

There have been a good handful of muddies around if you work for them. You need to watch your pots and to protect them from the low lives that continue to raid others pots and ensure you re-bait them as needed. Mullet is by far the best bait, but all fish frames will work. Some people swear by chook frames.

Get out there and happy hunting.