With the westerly winds expected at this time of year there are going to be great opportunities to slip outside the Pin Bar as long as the swell is small.

The Pin Bar is notorious for being one of the most dangerous to cross as pressure waves can pop up on an outgoing tide so be sure to be as safe as possible, wear your life jackets (mandatory these days) and secure all the items on your boat. There are a few reefs located about 10 minutes from the Bar like Alfs, Sullys and the Dragon. All hold schools of bait which is great as it allows you to pick up some live slimies and yakkas and this attracts the larger predators and in July you can expect to catch mulloway, snapper, pearlies and the odd pelagic.

I was lucky enough to head out and score my biggest mulloway of 15kg out of a 4.5m tinnie, so I can recommend these reefs to all. Winter whiting should be on the chew and heavily targeted on the sand flats north of Cabbage Tree Point, Tiger Mullet Channel, the Bedrooms, Neverfail Islands and Diner Island. Easily distinguishable by the black splotches along their flanks, use small yabbies and pieces of worm on small 6, 8 or 10 long shank hooks along a berley trail and you should have no trouble getting a feed of these sweet tasting fish.

There have been heaps of small to medium school mulloway around as there tends to be this time of year with some fishos telling me they are catching up to 10 in a session but none of them over the legal 75cm in length. This is a great indication that the mulloway fishery is extremely healthy and there’ll be plenty of them about in the future. If you happen to score a few small ones then you are in the right place so just keep persisting and the bigger fish will come. A few good haunts to find a mulloway are Marks and Pitts rocks, off the Gazebo and the Junction in the River. Or try Giants Grave, Flatrock or the deep water off the bottom of North Straddie.

Flathead too are around in good numbers and you can expect them to be caught right throughout July. I find that lizards can be caught at any time of the tide but have found that they will bite better as the tide first starts to run out and the last hour before low tide. I have been going really well using large banana prawns, pilchards and whitebait bouncing them along the bottom as I drift over the mud and sand banks. You cover more territory when you drift and take the bait to the flathead as they lay in wait to ambush there pray. Using plastics and soft vibes on the drift or using an electric motor to hold you in place has been proving a great way to target them as well. Try along the southern entrance to Cobby Passage, the sandy patches of the Pandannus Banks, the mud flats north of Cabbage Tree boat ramp, Kalinga Bank, behind Tabby Tabby and along the Neverfail Islands.

Chopper tailor have finally shown up off the beach of South Straddie across from the bedrooms and at the top of the Island across from the Lagoon with some good sized greenbacks amongst them up to 3kg. The westerlies will help to flatten out the surf and aid in a longer cast which will give you a great shot at the bigger fish. They should be sticking around for a while taking pillies, bonito and even tailor flesh. They cover a tremendous amount of area and have been caught as far in as the mouth of the Logan. Try floating pillies around the yellow cross beacon at the top of Crusoe Island on an incoming tide or trolling metal slugs around the Bar as the Tailor cruise near the surface looking for an easy meal.

Thanks for all your reports and fish weighed in. Drop us a line at Gem Bait and Tackle if you’d like to order bait or get some up to date info on what’s biting on 07 3287 3868 or email --e-mail address hidden-- I’ll catch you next month.