What a cracking summer we’ve had! Finally we have experienced the weather patterns synonymous of our summers in the South East. With humid high temperature days fuelled by moderate to high south easterly winds, these patterns are a recipe for only one thing in the northern bay, and that’s good fishing.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s silly to go out when it is blowing 20-25 knots, but as always our southerly winds blow themselves out, bringing calm lower wind days, making it an ideal time to go fishing and believe me, the fish aren’t shy either!

Let’s see what is scouting and biting in the northern bay!

This is one good area to visit when the wind is up. Most areas are sheltered in the wilder weather throughout Bribie, with the gaggle of creeks running off the main passage making it easy to hide during blusterous weather. The Passage has been fishing well for the bread and butter species of bream, flathead and whiting with good reports flowing constantly out of the area.

Bream have been the mainstay of the recent catches with fresh baits working well and artificials doing the damage when it comes to numbers, especially during the higher tide times. Larger high tides around the full and new moon phases has been a prime time to chase bream tight up amongst the mangrove edges, which line many of the banks of the Pumicestone.

Areas that have been working well at the moment are Cooks Rocks, Tiger Rocks, Donnybrook flats, Hussey Creek and Bells Creek, but be sure not to be caught out by the tide as big highs are followed by big lows.

There’s plenty of places to anchor up find the deeper, high current areas around creek mouths and drains. This is a prime area for fish to use for moving from place to place. This also increases your chances of a flathead, as they commonly share these areas and pick up what bream don’t want.

Sand whiting are still being caught on the southern beaches, with anglers retreating to the calmer waters when the weather gets too much. Many areas around Bongaree and Sylvan Beach have produced good whiting over this summer, with many anglers being happy with the size of the fish being caught. As always, blood worms are the favourite, with fresh squid being a close second.

This area has it all. Whether chasing whiting off the beaches of the lower end of the peninsula or joining the hordes of anglers at the infamous North Reef all vying for a slice of the juvenile snapper fishing pie, the action is thick! This last month has been no exception.

Juvenile snapper numbers have been steady over the summer with the humidity keeping water temperatures up and therefore keeping the bait in our end of the bay. Granted, we have had a little help from the southeasters! This has helped produce the best juvenile snapper catches we have seen on the peninsula since the Brisbane floods in 2011.

North Reef and Woody Point have been the choice areas with good catches coming all through the day. Anchoring up has been the best option at these two areas with some anglers finding long drifts fruitful on other bommies through the peninsula.

Bream numbers have been hit and miss over the last month with no set pattern to answer the question of why. Both low and high tide have been working well with windy days producing better fish if you are brave enough to challenge the conditions.

Hardbody lures have been the good oil over the last month with Atomic Crank 38s, Cranka Cranks, Jackall Chubbys and Daiwa Presso Cranks DR working to good effect. Good whiting are still being caught at the bottom end of the peninsula with Margate Beach and Hays Inlet still producing the goods, especially on the ebbing tide. With our annual prawn run occurring over these last two months, I believe fishing should stay reasonably good until the cooler months begin.

Imagine not brushing your teeth for one month. That’s how your fishing reel feels when you don’t rinse it out after each use. Salt grime and build up leads to corrosion, so give them a gentle spray of fresh water followed by a wipe down after each trip and you will get maximum longevity out of your gear!