November is a cracking time of year to fish the Pin with a multitude of different species on offer to test your tackle and angling skills. The weather bureau has predicted a wild summer of weather to bring some much needed rain and fresh water to the estuarine system and we all know this will fire up the fishing!

Storms and strong winds can whip up very quickly in south east Queensland so be vigilante and keep an eye on the weather. Storm season is synonymous with active mangrove jacks and cod that start to feed more often. Fishing for these fish can sometimes prove difficult as they live in heavy snags and fight extremely hard which usually results in loss of gear for you. Using heavier line to prevent getting blown away is a good way to start. Large live baits and flesh baits usually takes away the pickers and allows your bait to stay in the strike zone longer. The Coomera and Pimpama rivers have lots of rock walls and sunken trees to fish on or give trolling lures a go, to cover more territory and find where the fish are. Flathead will still be around in good numbers as their breeding season comes to a close. What a great lizard season it has been – with nearly 6,000 flathead caught and released in the recent Flathead Classic over just two and a half days – it goes to show that the size and bag limits are working. If you’d like to find a few of these Flathead try around Kalinga Bank to the dead trees on the bottom of north Straddie in the deep water, the top of Crusoe Island, the sand flats near Slipping Sands, Fishermans Channel, Cabbage Tree Point and the mouth of the Logan River towards the Powerlines and Browns Bay.

Bream are always the main species caught around the Pin but the real trick is to try and find bigger fish. Berleying up with pilly bits, prawn scraps or pellets should attract the bigger fish into your berley stream then try to present them with bigger, juicier bait and that should give you a better chance at some quality fish. Try at the dead trees off the bottom of North Straddie, Pig Styes, Cobby Passage and the Powerlines near the top of the tide for best results.

Whiting have been present and fishing well in the Pimpama and Logan Rivers on blood and beach worms. November is a great time to fish for them as they move up the tide in search of a feed. Some of the fish that have been caught are over 40cm but you will find there will be plenty of quality fish around the 30cm mark. Using red tube and red beads with your worm bait is a great way to give your bait the appearance that there is more worm on your hook and temp the fish into a nibble. If you love a feed of whiting then get your hands on some worms or yabbies and head out to the sand flats near the Pig Styes, top of South Straddie, Tipplers Island, the sandy area in front of Slipping Sands, Fisherman’s Channel and the mouth of the Logan River. As the water temperature heats up pelagic species like tuna, mackeral, cobia, wahoo and marlin will start to show up in good numbers. They will be chasing schools of bait fish so look for surface action like birds diving and fish busting up as the fish feed. Try flicking metal lures into the schools or trolling around the edge of the school with diving hardbodied lures. My favourite lure is a +7m crazy deep diver with a white body and red head but I have a new contender for the role of favourite as the dolphin fish colour has been doing very well. The reefs close to the Pin like Sullys, Alfs and the Dragon are always full of live bait (slimeys, yakkas etc) at this time of year so concentrate on jigging at these spots, get yourself some livies and use them to catch these great fighting fish.

Thanks for all reports and if you have any questions on conditions or what’s biting drop us a line at Gem Bait & Tackle on 07 32873868 or email --e-mail address hidden--