The great fishing is set to continue as September is one of the best times of the year to head out for a fish. If the weather is agreeable you can slip through the bar and chase a few mackerel or tuna trolling a few lures or hit the close in reefs like Alfs or Sullys for the odd snapper, pearl perch or mulloway.

Inside, the change of the season sees flathead starting to run through the ‘Pin on their annual breeding migration. This time of year we get a lot of big females who are full of roe and capable of producing millions of eggs. Flathead over 75cm must be released; if you do get one of these big lizards, handle them with care so that they can be returned unharmed to continue to breed and increase the stocks of these great sport fish.

It is not uncommon for a breeding female to have a harem of males trying to breed with her. So if you catch a large female then chances are there will be medium-sized males in the same spot too. I’ve actually had males follow the female to the surface and then scurry off when they get close to the boat.

The best thing is that flathead will be everywhere all throughout the estuary system looking for a feed, so look for likely spots where a flathead can ambush its prey. The pick of the spots will be the top bank of Crusoe Island, the Stockyards, Slipping sands, Fishermans channel, the mouth of the Logan River, Ageston Sands and along the bottom of Kangaroo Island.

Bream will be still about in plentiful numbers in the usual bream spots like Short Island, Kalinga Bank, Five Ways, the Powerlines and Little Rocky Point. Stick with prawns, gut, yabbies, worms and flesh baits to score yourself a good feed of bream. Worms are still the best bait, but small worm-like soft plastics fed along the current seem to be working well too.

Using the red tube and beads with worms will work well. Using a light sinker with a very long trace you’ll also find the whiting will pick the bait up, feel no line pressure, swim away with the bait and basically hook themselves. Try Alberton Sands in the Logan, the Junction, Marks Rocks, the Pimpama, Tipplers and the Never Fail Islands, Pandannus weed banks and the Gold and Green banks. Make sure to berley up to bring the fish to you; you will notice you’ll get more fish as well.

School mulloway have been showing up in the River near Marks Rocks and Lone Pine. A few larger ones have come from the Bar and Kalinga Bank. Be sure to set the hooks on a mulloway as they cunningly mouth the bait, playing with it and holding it in their teeth, and as soon as they feel you strike will simply just let go and you’ll miss a quality fish. Livies are the best baits or you good try large slabs of mullet fillets, tailor fillets or bonito.

Traditionally months with an ‘R’ in them are the go for crabs, so dust off the crab pots and head out to the rivers, creeks and drains for a muddie, or the deeper sandy channels in the northern part of the Pin area for a feed of sandies.

The tailor have finally shown up with good sized 2-3kg fish on offer along the beaches of North and South Straddie just be sure to look for the deeper gutters with an entrance and exit and you’ll be sure to get some fish. You’ll mainly get choppers inside the Bar with the odd better fish 50-60cm amongst them. They have been caught as far in as the Logan River mouth so they too can show up anywhere. Look for them chopping on the surface or birds circling above.

Thanks for all your reports and keep those fish coming in. If you’d like any advice or up to date fishing information drop us a line at Gem Bait & Tackle on 3287 3868 or email --e-mail address hidden--