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Whip up a warm water whiting
  |  First Published: December 2013



Welcome to yet another year of fishing the Jumpinpin area. Its protected waters are filled with our favourite species of fish that we all love to catch. Bream, whiting and flathead will make up the bulk of catches this month, but there is always a chance of mulloway, tailor, jacks, cod, trevally and any number of other species that find their home in these waters.

January is a great time for those who love to chase large whiting. I’ve had some great reports of a few topping the 700g mark in December and I would expect this trend to continue throughout January. A little berley often, a lot of patience, live worms or yabbies and fish as light as the conditions will allow, will give you a real chance at nailing an elbow slapper.

The bigger whiting don’t seem to mind if there is a strong current as they forage the bottom in search of a feed, so by feeding your line your chances of success should surely improve. Try around the Gold bank, Jacobs Well Channel near Diner Island, where Squire Island used to be, south of Russell Island near the green beacons, the Logan River on Ageston sands, near Marks Rocks or at the Junction.

At the moment we’ve only had choppers and small greenbacks to around 2kg coming through the Pin bar so fingers-crossed some bigger stuff is on its way. We usually get a few better fish at this time of year as they chase the bait schools up the coast.

There are other pelagics chasing these bait schools as well, like mackerel, tuna, cobia and the odd marlin, which are great fun if the weather comes good and you can slip outside. Look for birds diving into the water to locate the fish and try trolling skirts or diving lures, around the bait schools or try along the dirty waterline beyond the bar and then hold on as these fish can really test your gear.

Flathead have been consistently caught all summer long with reports of plenty of small- to medium-sized fish on offer, and I’ve heard of a few of 75cm+ fish being safely released to ensure our flathead stocks for the future. The larger ones seem to love live bait at the moment. Live mullet, small gar and prawns are proving irresistible, with whitebait, pilchards and froggies also going well. Try Little Rocky Point, across from Cabbage Tree Point boat ramp, just off the south eastern side of Kangaroo Island, Kalinga Bank, the mouth of Behms Creek and Canaipa Passage near Willis Island.

A couple of small mulloway, estuary cod and mangrove jack are being landed from the Logan near Marks and Pitts Rocks. The Pimpama and Coomera rivers too are starting to shine as they are heavily littered with structure (snags, rockwalls, jetties) and by using livies or trolling lures along these structures then a quality fish can’t be far off.

Muddies have been going strong this season after the storms have flushed the system out and they are mostly being caught out of the rivers and more along the mangrove-lined banks of Eden Island, Tabby Tabby, Mosquito Island, Redland Bay Channel and Long Island.

Thanks for all reports and if you have any questions on conditions or what’s biting drop us a line at Gem Bait & Tackle or email --e-mail address hidden--

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