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Bay bait lures predators
  |  First Published: May 2013



The weather has played havoc with anglers’ lifestyle on the Fraser Coast. The howling winds and rain have hindered boating options and the recovery of our estuaries post flood.

Sharks are a major problem on our local reefs and, at the very least, a pain at most other places. Just like the nuisance catfish, they are a problem we will have to learn to live with.

Nevertheless, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The water is slowly clearing and there are masses of bait everywhere, ranging from tiny jelly prawns and hardiheads to huge schools of herring, mullet and yakkas.

A walk along any of the beaches on a calm day at low tide will reveal the magnitude of how important floods are to our bays and estuaries with signs of life everywhere from the sand and pump holes on the beach, to the sand crabs, whiting, sharks and rays working the edges of the bank.

There are baitfish busting up everywhere you look – the bay is teeming with life at the moment!

DOWN THE STRAITS

Whiting catches have been patchy and good fish are hard to find, but things should improve as the water clears.

The flats have had big flathead, threadfin, shovel-nosed shark and quality bream on a mixture of live/dead baits and plastics and barra are actively feeding around the jetties, rock bars and creeks along the inside of Fraser Island.

Out deeper the ledges are producing cod, blackal, jack, mulloway, golden snapper, grunter and snapper on squid, prawns and livebaiting.

LOCAL REEFS

The local reefs have had similar success. Trout, coral bream and scarlets have added to the species list on the bottom, and mackerel, trevally and queenfish are taking livebaits fished mid water.

PLATYPUS BAY

The bay has had vast schools of bait from Arch Cliffs to Rooneys Point. Predatory species, including trevally, queenfish, Spanish, school and broadbar mackerel, mac tuna and longtails, are all giving the bait a touch up. Burn lead slugs back to the boat and fish the plastics slower and deeper.

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