Thank goodness the silly season is behind us. My predictions were not far wrong; the angling did get a little tough at times. Although we still have a lot of holidaymakers around in January, which brings hustle and bustle on the water, at least it will be on the decline and not incline.

The ever-popular elbow slappers have been the go-to target species for most anglers wanting good consistent results, although the results have varied from location to location and day to day. Nine times out of ten you will get the results you are chasing with the Passage being an awesome feeding and breeding ground for these guys. From the mouth of Bells Creek in the north all the way down to the south at Red Beach.

Red Beach can hold a lot of fish at times and this month is no exception. Good numbers are being reported, and the size jumps up when you hit the creeks that feed the Passage.

Glassy Creek through to Coochin Creek are without doubt the best piece of the Passage to target; the bigger the tide the better the results. Combine this with some self-dug worms or yabbies and you should have a whale of a time. Just remember the kids love this style of angling as there is a lot action from digging the bait to landing the fish. You will almost always encounter some great by-catch as well from flathead, grunter and estuary cod, just to name a few.

There have been a few decent duskies taken over the silly season period from small just-legal stuff right up to the size people dream about – 70cm+. I consider these guys a target species all year round as you can nearly always pull a few out and you will never really know what the size will be. These too are a great fish for the kids to target. Soft plastics are the best way to create the desired numbers and catch results.

There have been a couple of decent snapper being pulled from Donnybrook to the Bribie Bridge stretch of the Passage. Not in any numbers, but there’s been a couple of young fellas showing the old fellas how it should be done. They have been pulling some great fish out long after the olds guys have given up and gone home.

The old muddies have been a little tough to target so you’re way better off turning your efforts into targeting the blue swimmers for more consistent hauls. The water south of the bridge is the go-to area for most chasing these guys with numbers and size being great and consistant. Always keep one eye on your crabbing gear as we have a few undesirable people on the water who think we should supply them with crabs and crab pots. This kind of activity is not great, to say the least. The world would be a much better place without these people in it. Please remember to slip, slop, slap and slurp and always be safe and have fun.