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Fishing hot as cold sets in
  |  First Published: June 2016



It’s been a great start to winter with most of our favourite species of fish on the bite. Flathead and bream have been around in good numbers with the odd good whiting, mulloway and tailor also being caught.

What a fantastic year it has been on flathead! Anglers have been catching quality lizards all year long. Normally at this time of year they go off the bite as the water cools down, but there are just so many flatties out there that the season has continued into winter. The pick spots to try this month are the sand and weed banks and mud flats between Cabbage Tree and the Powerlines around the three green beacons, along with Slipping Sands, Kalinga Bank, the drains on the Western side of Short Island, Cobby Passage and Tipplers Island. Fish good quality prawns, small pillies, yabbies or whitebait on the first of the run-out tide, and hopefully you’ll have flathead for dinner. Lure fishers should try using small 2”-5” soft plastics around the edges of the weed banks and sand flats as the outgoing tide drains off the banks.

TAILOR

The run-in tide is the best time to chase some tailor this month, although most caught lately have been chopper size; it’s been pretty quiet so far this year on the greenbacks. If you’re using metal lures try to use smaller 10-40g ones as the bigger ones aren’t getting the hits.

The tailor should be schooling up so keep an eye out for the birds working and move with the schools. If not, try floating a pillie or dropping one to the bottom in the deep water off Kalinga Bank or Crusoe Island. Anglers have been picking up the odd tailor around Tabby Tabby to the mouth of the Logan River as well.

BREAM

For bream you can’t go past the old favourite spots like Kalinga Bank, the dead trees off the bottom of North Straddie, the eastern tip of Crusoe Island, Short Island, the beach off South Straddie in the deeper gutters, the Powerlines, the north wall of the Seaway and the mouth of the Pimpama River. These spots always produce good quality fish, and there is a pretty good chance you could even land a juvenile snapper as well. These fish usually congregate in the same areas in deeper water around decent structure and eat the same sorts of baits, so it’s not an uncommon by-catch.

The best baits to score yourself a feed are live yabbies, worms, mullet fillets and gut, prawns, squid and whitebait. Even bread balled up on your hook will do.

WHITING

Winter whiting should be around in good numbers and great fun for the kids as they are easy to catch and handle. Identifiable by the dark spots along their flanks they have no size limit but a bag limit of 50. The best spots to try for some winter whiting are the Banana Banks across from Redland Bay, Slipping Sands, Tiger Mullet Channel and the Never Fail Islands.

• If you have any reports of fish, any questions, need to order bait or just want to have a yarn, give me a call on 07 3287 3868. Alternatively you can come in and see me at Gem Bait & Tackle on the way to the ‘Pin, or e-mail --e-mail address hidden-- I’ll catch you next month.

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