Flathead will be all the rage this month with heaps of lizards being caught as they feed up after their spawning season.

There are plenty of them out there so for your best chance to catch one of these big flatties try drifting from Kalinga Bank to Swan Bay in the deep water, the sand flats at the top of South Straddie, Little Rocky Point, the Stockyards, Willis Island and Cobby Passage.

Your chances will definitely improve if you move around. All the best flathead anglers I see never anchor up to catch flatties. Most will use their electric outboards to hold them in place while they work that spot with plastics or bait and if they find no fish they quickly move on to the next spot. When you find fish, a few tend to be in the same area so it’s worth working the same patch.

Big baits mean big fish when lizard hunting so don’t be shy to throw on a large mullet, big pilly, gar or big 6-8” soft plastic as they are very aggressive fish and will have a go at almost anything. If you stick with small lures and baits you will find that you’ll catch a lot more undersized fish.

The whiting have been picking up in size and in numbers from the Broadwater, Wave Break Island, Couran Cove, the Green Bank, Slipping Sands and the western side of the Never Fail Islands. A few good fish have come from the Pimpama and Logan rivers in the deeper holes and also from the sand flats between Kalinga Bank to the Pig Styes and the top of Crusoe Island. Sticking with either sand or blood worms and using red tube and beads will increase your chances of a feed.

If you’re trying for your big bream, then most of them are caught at night near the top of the tide near rock walls or areas which are covered heavily in snags. Using a little heavier line is recommended as they can snag you up real quick. Berleying up is definitely beneficial and larger baits such as half pillies, heaped mullet or chook gut or large flesh baits will definitely entice the bigger fish in. For a big bream try around Kalinga Bank, the dead trees at the bottom of North Straddie, the point of Short Island, the Stockyards and as I said any rock wall or deep snag you can find.

Dust off the crab pots as the muddies usually fire up about now so if you love a feed of crab start at the lower reaches of the Logan River and head outwards towards Long island, Redland Bay Channel and further to Cobby Passage and out from Jacobs Well sticking along the mangrove-covered shoreline and holes.

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. Picking the run-in tide in time with a late afternoon/early evening fishing session 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.

The best thing about tailor is they are constantly on the move and can turn up anywhere from the Bar to the Logan so using a pilly or whitebait in mid water can produce some great fish.

There are some really big mulloway in these waters up to and over 30kg which puts them at about 1.4m long and very hard to land. Targeting fish like these is a very specialised form of fishing and not for the faint-hearted. Patience is the key as you can sit out in the boat all night and possibly not even get a hit.

Live baits once again are a must and a large mulloway will take a 30cm+ mullet and larger, flesh baits of course are second best be it either mullet, bonito or tailor flesh. A reel with free spool is helpful as they can run up to a 100m before actually eating the bait so be patient before striking, which is hard to do when you’re onto a big fish.

Most of the really big mulloway come from the deep water near the Pin Bar or try the point of Short Island, Fishermans Channel, Giants Grave or Marks Rocks and the Gazebo in the Logan River.

• Thanks for all your reports and if you need any advice or want to find out what’s biting drop us a line at Gem Bait & Tackle on 07 3287 3868 or email --e-mail address hidden--