Fishing Jumpinpin in April should produce the usual mixed bag of fish that the Pin is famous for. The weather should start to calm down and bring us a few less windy days (fingers crossed) and allow us to sneak outside the bar and chase a few pelagics that are still hanging about or a few reefies on the close reefs like Alf and Sullys.

Some tailor should start to show up along the beaches and just inside the bar as they chase schools of baitfish up the coast. Metal slugs and plastics mimicking these baitfish are the go, but remember those tailor will make a mess of your plastics with their razor sharp teeth.

Flathead should be around in good numbers along the weed banks near Pandanus Island and at the bottom of Kangaroo Island, Cobby Passage, Kalinga Bank and near the Powerlines. Small pillies, whitebait and 3-5” soft plastics are working well with white, green and pink the pick of the colours. Natural baitfish looking lures are also catching a few.

Being an ambush predator, flathead can be caught in as little as 1ft of water so don’t be afraid to get the lure right up onto the bank. Trolling hard bodied lures across the shallows and weed patches is also proving successful.

There are good quality whiting in the sand banks near Crusoe Island’s Gold bank, Slipping Sands, Fishermans Channel and the Broadwater towards the Gold Coast. Stick with live worms if you can get them, if not peeled prawns, squid or cured worms are worth a try.

There are plenty of small to medium bream about which is nothing new, so be sure to release the little ones safely so that they can grow into the larger kind that are a heap of fun to catch. Small soft plastics, poppers, blades and sinking hardbodies are all working well up against mangroves, pylons and rock walls where the bream congregate.

A few small squire are also beginning to show up. The pick spots have been near Kalinga Bank, Tabby Tabby, the Powerlines, Five Ways, Steiglitz and Cobby Passage rocks.

The Logan River has produced a few mangrove jacks and threadfin salmon on live banana prawns and herring around Marks Rocks. There have also been a few good lizards, whiting, morwong, sharks and plenty of catfish in the river.

Small school jew are about, but now that the minimum size for mulloway is 75cm most have to go back. Using live mullet, herring, gar or pike and larger 6-9” soft plastics is the way to go.

Bigger mulloway should start to come on during April out towards the Pin Bar, the deep water off Swan Bay and Short Island. I’ve had reports that there have been a couple of real monster jew over 20kg coming from the Logan at night so if you can put the time in you might just catch a fish of a lifetime.

The banana prawns showed up early last month and since then have been hit and miss. However, they should start to school up and be easier to find and catch during April. The deep water off Karragarra is a popular spot or you can usually find them out the front of Browns Bay, Rudy Maas or down towards Jacobs Well.

Muddies have had a bumper season and the freshwater being added to the system should keep them firing all through the month. Sandies have been quiet considering they were everywhere at the start of crabbing season. Try along the deeper drop-offs in near the Powerlines, Canaipa Passage and Tiger Mullet Channel. Once again keep a keen eye on your pots.

Thanks for all your reports and feedback, if you’d like any advice or info drop us a line at Gem Bait & Tackle on 07 3287 3868 or email --e-mail address hidden-- . I’ll catch you next month.