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Shallows activity full to the bream
  |  First Published: November 2017



If you haven’t been fishing this month, you better have a really good excuse. With the warm weather and increased water temperatures, the northern bay is aging like a good red wine.

Fishing activity is always aplenty during the warmer months in our much-loved bay, which is attributed to the warm currents from up north flowing down into the many rivers and creeks that border the area. Also, the increased frequency of northerly winds around this time of the year greatly assists the water temperature change, making fish more active in their feeding.

FLATHEAD

This month has been great for the flathead anglers, with good numbers being found in the Pumicestone Passage, Caboolture River and the lower reaches of the Pine River. Sandgate foreshore has also produced some good catches, along with little-known sleeping giant Cabbage Tree Creek, keeping locals entertained on the ebbing tides.

Large shad style and paddle-tailed soft plastics have been the choice of most anglers, with bright colours being the standout, especially sessions after an afternoon storm. ZMan Jerk ShadZ, Squidgy Flick baits, Berkley Jerk Shads and the new ZMan Trick SwimZ have been the popular choice over the last month and should work as the water temperatures climb.

Land-based flathead fishing has been really trendy with many motivated anglers of late, and soft plastics are the perfect choice for this technique, especially when fishing waters of varied depths. When on a boat, drifting has been the most popular technique with a hop-hop-pause retrieve getting the numbers in the boat.

BREAM

This is one of my favourite times of year to chase bream, as the warmer weather makes bream very active feeders at all times of the day. Tide times really play a vital part in finding bream at this time of year, as due to the increased water temperatures, bream aren’t afraid to chase food in the shallows as the tide rises. This plays right into the hands of land-based and small boat anglers, or those choosing estuaries as their arena for the day. This would explain why areas like Ningi flats, Donnybrook flats, Cooks and Tiger rocks have been firing latey, with good bream on the making tides.

The Pumicestone Passage has been a good fishery for those wanting to chase bream over the last month with the increased northerly winds making it a perfect place to refuge on the really rough days. Redcliffe Peninsula has also been a good breaming option of late, due to the diversity that the area provides. North Reef has been fishing well, along with the Newport canals, especially on the top of the tide.

The Wells, mouth of Bald Hills Creek and the highway bridge up the Pine River have been firing on the bream with lightly-weighted fresh baits like mullet, cooked prawns and raw chicken along with stick minnow type lures proving to be the winners.

Further south, Cabbage Tree Creek has not only been a good flathead fishery in the lower reaches, but also a good bream fishery, and bream have been caught between the yacht club around to the trawler moorings up river. Land-based anglers have been reporting good bream at the start of the run-out tide with baits rigged on a simple sinker-swivel- hook rig with a trace length of 30cm minimum.

SAND WHITING

Sand whiting are everybody’s favourite delectable table fish, and this is a great time to chase them! Scavengers by nature, this species really has a love for the warmer weather, with their preference in the shallows making it easy for land-based anglers to get amongst the action.

Live yabbies, bloodworms and fresh squid have been the choice baits with areas of interest being at Lime Pocket, the mouth of Coochin Creek, Elimbah Creek and the southern beaches around Woorim. Margate foreshore has had a slow start over the last few weeks, but the increase in angler population lined up along the sand has been a dead give away that things are firing up, especially in the lower light hours.

Hays Inlet has also been working well for sand whiting, with the run-in tide working well especially for the jetty-based anglers.

TIP OF THE MONTH

Australia has among the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. Statistics show that two in three Australians will be diagnosed with some form of skin cancer before they reach the age of 70. With this said, don’t become a statistic and be smart when enjoying our waterways, so sunscreen up, cover up and stay hydrated!

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