The winter species should be well and truly on the chew this month with bream and blackfish the main targets in the river. Tailor season is in full swing on the beaches and snapper have been consistent catches on the wider grounds.

I have been waiting for the bream season to get going in the Tweed. Catches were a bit sporadic up to mid-June but it seems that they have finally settled into the river system. Unfortunately the cold weather has been a bit of a deterrent but the quality of the fish has compensated for the early starts.

The tailor have been around in good numbers in the Tweed at night, with the area from the Blue Hole to the Jack Evans Harbour most consistent. There have also been a few throughout the system as a by-catch while fishing for bream and flathead.

A ganged pillie on the drift has been the best way to temp a few of these fish. An early start and the first of the run-in tide will be a good way to chase a few river tailor in August.

Bream will still be a good target this month. Along any of the rock walls or deeper holes in the river are good starting points and around any of the bridges is also a good bet.

I like to have a slow idle around the bridge pylons first and see if there are any fish showing on the sounder. I then drift the boat back and work my lures around the pylons, working them deeper in the water column and making sure I fish each section thoroughly before moving to the next one.

If you are using bait then anchor just up-current of the pylons and drift yabbies or live herrings back towards the bridge. This is a very successful technique but can result in some serious bust-offs around the pylons.

A welcome by catch when doing this is the odd school jew. August is an excellent month on the Tweed to start making an extra effort to target the prized jewies. They inhabit the same type of structure as the bream on the Tweed, one just needs to upgrade the size of lures or baits.

Blackfish will be around in large numbers around the Boyds Bay bridge and along many of the rocky walls. It’s common to see several anglers sitting shoulder to shoulder catching fish after fish this month.

If you do happen to pass a group of fishos targeting these fish, especially around the bridges, try to slow down. They normally have boats tied up to the bridge pylons and your reduced wash will be appreciated.

This is normally the month when I start to target the bigger class of flathead in the Tweed. We chase these fish in the deeper water, around 6m.

Big soft plastics are the go, rigged on large jigheads. My favourite softie for this is the Atomic 6” Shad.

If you prefer to use bait then a large livebait or whole ganged pillie should suffice. Work lures or baits close to the bottom around the deeper holes and hang on. Just remember that these big girls are the future of our flathead fishery. Handle them with care and release them unharmed.

The deeper reefs should still be fishing well with the usual pearl perch, snapper, trag and the Seriola family the target species. The shallower reefs around Fidos and the Nine Mile should produce some good catches of snapper with the odd cobia and jewie making an appearance as well. Point Reef will be worth a look for a few cobia.

The jigging season has been fairly consistent when the weather has allowed us to get out there. Some good catches of kingfish and amberjacks have been made on the 36-fathom reefs and out around the 40-fathom line. The standout jigs have been the Chaos and Knife jigs, both in 300g.

August is a bit of an in-between month on the Tweed but we can still manage a few good catches if we hit the river or outside grounds at the right time.