May is a great month for boating. There are plenty of options for species and usually with some better weather forecast. After the mass amounts of rain we had we should see some great fishing. Snapper, tuna, mulloway, bream, squid, crabs and winter whiting will all be on the plate this month.

With the water cooling snapper should start showing up in decent numbers. The shallows around the southwest rocks, Goat Island and Pots Point will be great places to throw 4-6ft diving lures on the low tide. Work the lures down to depth and then fish them quite slow. Don’t be afraid to add a few pauses and leave the lure sitting in their faces. Expect to lose the odd lure doing this, as you will get a few goldspot cod and grassy sweetlip that will put you back into the bottom.

The Peel and Harry Atkinson Artificial reefs will fish better for larger snapper. Fish the early mornings while everyone else is still tucked up in bed. Use your sounder to locate the bait and fish. The best way to target these fish is with soft plastics. A lure with a lot of movement and natural action will always attract a hungry snapper.

When targeting bigger model fish in deeper water, run a heavier braid of 16-20lb and 20lb leader. It’s not that these fish will do you in structure too often, but a prolonged fight on light gear will most likely end with no fish or half of one surfacing. The sharks have been quite bad in the bay. If you do get sharked it pays to leave the area. Even if you are on fish you will keep getting sharked, as they will set up camp under your boat and wait for you to bring the fish to them.

Longtail tuna have been prolific through the northern part of the bay. There were even a few reports of the fish moving down more towards Mud and Harrys before the floods. Once the water clears, expect them to follow the bait back down. Then they should push all the way down to the back of Peel.

Look for the birds on bait schools and wait for the fish to bust up. It pays to use some heavier lures, so you can get good casting distance. A 5” straight-tail plastic with a 3/4oz jighead will do the job.

With all the dirty water around the southern bay it’s a great time to target some big mulloway. Try the Pin bar area around Swan Bay and Kalinga Bank. Sound out the large schools of bait and fish the edges. Large plastics will be the order of the day and a paddle-tail presentation will give you the advantage. Jighead size will vary depending on the run of the tide. Expect to run 3/4 or 1oz heads with 6-8” plastics.

The Logan, Southern Bay Islands and Jumpinpin should produce some good mud crabs over the next few weeks and definitely worth throwing the pots in.

It will be interesting to see if the prawns are still around or if they have been flushed out. Just remember that prawns, crabs and worms need to be cooked before they’re taken out of the white spot movement control zone.

If you have a great capture from the southern bay you would like to share, email them through to --e-mail address hidden-- Until next month, tech it easy.

• If you would like some on water sounder or fishing tuition please call Nick on 0422213669 to customise a session to suit your needs or check out the Tech Fishing Facebook page. Your Boat-My Knowledge-More Fish!news, photos and specials at Facebook Compleat Angler Gladstone.