Flathead fishing has been exceptional lately and September is the best time to go chasing a few. At this time of year, the migrating fish travel through the ‘Pin to breed. This means lots of big females and the chance to catch the elusive monsters over a metre.

Since the introduction of the maximum size limit of 70cm, which means all lizards over the 70cm mark have to be released, the big ones just keep getting bigger and will be feeding up all month. The best time to throw a line should be the few days leading up to the full moon towards the end of the month.

If you have never tried soft plastics then now will be the time to give it a go. The flatties will be thick and there’s nothing quite like the feeling of getting a hit and hooking up a big lizard. If you prefer bait then live prawns and poddy mullet are extremely effective in enticing this cunning predator. However, if you left the cast net in the shed, the local bait shop is sure to have a wide selection of baits to tempt any lizard into feeding. Pilchards, whitebait, prawns, mullet flesh, froggies or whole mullet are all proven to get results.

Flatties can be found anywhere around the ‘Pin during this time. They have been sitting in water as shallow as 1ft and as deep as 40ft. The pick spots have been along Kalinga Bank, the beaches and sandy flats off North and South Straddie, Gold Bank, the weed banks off pandanus, upper reaches of the Logan River, Rocky point and the muddy flats between Woogoompah and Kangaroo Islands.

At Cotton Reef and Sully’s reef there have been some big hauls of snapper, cobia and trag jew. Corum Sabry got a monster snapper of 11kg in the area. Regular Dave Hubner and the boys also got a good haul, the best a decent 5.7kg snapper and a whopping 26kg cobia.

September is also a great time for tailor and are mainly caught out near the bar but they have been landed as far in as the Alberton boat ramp in the Logan River. Most are hitting floated pilchards, mullet flesh, garfish or small metal slugs around Crusoe Island, the point of eastern Short Island, Canaipa Passage and Kalinga Bank.

The best reports for the bream anglers are from Tiger Mullet Channel, the Powerlines, the Pig Styes, Whalleys Gutter and the Southern end of Russell Island. There are still some big sea bream coming off the beach of South Straddie. Mullet flesh, chook and mullet gut seem to be attracting the larger fish over 1kg but, as you know, bream will eat pretty much anything.

Sand crabs should start to turn up in numbers along the drop-offs and deeper holes of most passages and channels of the ‘Pin. Whiting up to half a kilo have been taken around Canaipa Passage, Tipplers Island and Little Rocky Point on bloodworms and sandworms. Although quality fish like these will be few and far between for the moment, as soon as the water temp rises they will become more abundant.

It all looks rosy for fishin’ the ‘Pin in September and we look forward to seeing you at GEM BAIT & TACKLE on your way out to fish. If you would like any local advice or would like to order any live bait give us a call on 32873868 or email --e-mail address hidden-- . I’ll catch you next month.