July is a wonderful time of year to head out to the ‘Pin with cool, clear days and light westerly winds. This makes for top fishing conditions. The water temperature is down, which means bream should be on the bite with great catches to be expected all winter long.

Bream are one of the most prolific species throughout the ‘Pin system and are relatively easy to catch, which should put them high on most fishos’ lists. The best baits to score yourself a feed are live yabbies, worms, mullet fillets and gut, prawns, squid and white bait. Even bread balled up on your hook works well too.

When chasing 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, Stieglitz, Flat Rock, the Stockyards, the Powerlines, the north wall of the Seaway and the mouth of the Pimpama River.

These spots always produce good quality fish. There is even a pretty good chance that you could land a juvenile snapper there, as they tend to hang around similar areas to bream. Flathead are being caught on soft plastics from the Pandannus weed banks, Whalleys Gutter mouth, the bottom of Kangaroo Island, the sand flats at the top of South Straddle and Kalinga Bank.

The water quality has been good, so lures (both soft and hard) have been working well. This time of year is a great time for sight fishing for lizards. The water is so clear you can actually see the fish in about 4ft of water. The trick is to stand at the highest point of your boat with a good pair of polarized sunglasses. This way you can get a good angle to see through the water column.

Some flathead can be finicky. Even if you can see the fish, that doesn’t mean they are keen to take your lure or bait. For the bait fishos, pillies and big fresh prawns are the go and drifting seems to be the best method of tracking them down. Look for weed patches and drains – that’s where you’ll hopefully find the flatties. Winter whiting should be in good numbers this month and are great fun and easy to catch.

Fish a light whiting rig with just enough weight to get to the bottom and a no. 6 or 8 whiting hook with small bits of worm or yabbies’ and you’re all set to catch one of the best-eating fish the ‘Pin has to offer. Try around the sand flats of the Gold and Green banks, near Slipping Sands, the mouth of Cobby and the Banana banks up near Redland Bay.

It’s a great time of year for tailor fishing as the westerlies flatten out the bar where the tailor are usually holding. Mostly they are just out of reach and the bar can get quite hairy at times, but at this time of year they become more accessible. Use lures the same size as the bait they are feeding on. Usually 10-40g is the right size. Plastics get torn apart by tailor, so unless you have an endless supply, stick to metal slugs.

Other than that, try floating lightly-weighted pillies or whitebait in the current and a cruising tailor should find it irresistible. A few good-sized school mulloway have been coming from the Logan near Marks and Pitts Rocks, Giants Grave and the mulloway hole off Swan Bay.

Live mullet, gar and pike have been proving to be the pick of the baits when chasing a mulloway. A few sandies have been potted from Cabbage Tree Point to the Powerlines and in Canaipa and Cobby Passage as well.

Muddies have been a little harder to come by, so stick to the deeper drains on the high tide. Get right into the mangroves as well to give yourself a chance at a feed.

• Thanks for all your reports and keep those fish coming in. If you’d like any advice or up to date fishing information drop us a line at Gem Bait & Tackle on (07) 3287 3868 or email --e-mail address hidden--