THE SCHOOL holidays are upon us and the ‘Pin will come alive with families day tripping and trying to score themselves a feed of fish, even though the kids will be full of Easter eggs anyway! For the rest of us the long weekend provides an excellent opportunity to escape with the mates, down a few ales, have some good clean fishin’ fun, and if you actually catch a couple of big ‘uns you can rub your mates’ faces in it until the next trip.

To obtain bragging rights it helps to catch a large fish that isn’t so common. No one is allowed to brag about a 200g bream when they beat the rest of their fishing party by 50g, it’s just not cricket. Targeting species like mangrove jack, jew, flathead, tailor, and large whiting and bream is a good start although if only small ones are on offer be sure to be humble in your victory (only rub it in every second day). A little friendly competition is healthy and fun and adds something extra to your fishing experience!

Chasing trophy fish is a tricky proposition nowadays, with most hard to track around the ‘Pin area. You must match the moon, tides and have a bit of old-fashioned luck to stand above your fishing mates. Mangrove jack are showing up in good numbers thanks to the water temperature around Marks and Pitts Rocks in the Logan River, especially on livebaits – but I’m told that mullet fillets, prawns and a few deeper diving lures are working well. School jew have been landed at the same spots and out towards the bar, mainly when the tailor are on.

Speaking of tailor, there have been plenty of choppers around with the odd greenback and trevally in the mix. When they are going off it pays to either livebait or lure deeper as there are some big fish waiting in the depths such as jew, trevally, sharks and the odd tuna.

Flathead are always on fire at the ‘Pin if you know where to look, with both soft plastics and hard-bodied lures working well. You can’t go past livebait, with prawns and poddy mullet at the top of the list. Flatties don’t mind fresh baits either, with many lizards landed on prawns, whitebait and pilchards. Try around Kalinga Bank near the Pig Sties, the sand flats between North and South Straddie, and in Jacobs Well Channel near the southern side of Kangaroo Island.

Bream have been on the chew throughout the day with the larger ones appearing at night near the top of the tide. A lot of fishos are getting into luring for bream at the ‘Pin with small soft plastics, which is producing some big fish to near 1kg. Small squire are occasionally being caught too. The pick spots have been near Kalinga Bank, Tabby Tabby and Cobby passage.

Quality whiting close to half a kilo have been weighed in from the Logan River around Marks Rocks, the Junction and the Elbow. Live sand and blood worms are usually the bait of choice, with yabbies, pipis and squid not too far behind.

Casting for prawns at the moment is producing some big bananas and tigers from the rivers and a little further out because of the rain. We’ve been waiting for a while and it looks like they’ve finally decided to show up. It’s about time.

Muddies are the same – having held off for a while they seem to be coming on stronger now that the fresh has died down a bit, with all reports from the locals that they’ve been more towards the mouth and beyond. Once again, keep a keen eye on your pots.

Have fun out there and be safe over the holidays. If you have any questions or would like to order some bait give us a call at Gem Bait & tackle on (07) 3287 3868 or email --e-mail address hidden-- I’ll catch you next month.