Just like the weather, the fishing is heating up! September proved to be a successful month for fishing in the Southern Bay with some great reports rolling in. Perfect weather has also helped ease recently hibernating anglers out onto the water! Snapper and Jew are starting to appear which implies a great season ahead.

Spring has always been a favourite time of the year to fish for me. The weather is mild and makes for pleasant conditions and the fishing is usually really good too. I rarely find myself coming home without fish when venturing into the Southern Bay during these months!

Although not your typical Southern Bay species, the kingfish has been making an appearance. Kingfish are one of my favourite species to chase for their pure strength and endurance during the fight. They have incredible power. Luckily there are a few locations that can see these fish hooked – landing them is another story! The deep reef in the Rainbow Channel adjacent to the Myora Wreck is a good place to start. Fishing soft plastics worked fast off the bottom or micro jigs will see some results. Live squid are also a great option. The pylons around Dunwich are also known kingfish hideouts, but they can be very hard to land amongst all the structure. Be careful to stay clear of the ferries too.

During the spring months a lot of anglers will focus their attention to the Jewfish that School up, but the bigger Snapper are still there to be caught. The deeper artificial reefs are probably the pick of spots. Focus your time and effort on keeping close to the structure for a successful trip. If you don’t already have the artificial reef locations, they can be easily obtained by searching online. Try to position your boat as close to the marks as possible and keep an eye on your fish finder to look for fish. Getting your lures or bait down close to the structure is key and can take some practice when there is a bit of current around but it will help you get more bites. Soft plastics rigged on 3/8-1/2oz jigheads are my first option to throw. They are easy to fish and constantly produce results!

Most anglers at this time of the year will be changing their focus to chase these silver slabs, and rightly so. At times they can be very easy to catch and make for some truly memorable fishing sessions! The biggest tip for catching these guys in Moreton Bay is to know how to use your sounder. More often than not the jewies will move around and rarely stay in the one spot. So you will have to keep moving around yourself, to re-locate the schools. This is where using your depth sounder is paramount - even more important than lure selection. When you know where the schools are, all it takes is to get your lure or bait down in front of their face and in most cases they will eat it. The Peel Island and Harry Atkinson Reef are both great areas to target Jew.

If you are after something a little different, or if the weather is not ideal, the canals can be a great place to fish. There are plenty of different species on offer including mangrove jack, bream, estuary cod and the odd trevally thrown into the mix - to name a few! With the weather beginning to warm, we will start to see some more activity from the mangrove jacks. If you intend to chase them, make sure you are prepared and fish at least a 20lb line. Early mornings or late afternoons seem to be the more productive times.

That’s it for this month, if the weather plays nice we should be able to get into some great fishing through October! If you have a picture or a story you would like to share, send it through to me at --e-mail address hidden--