WE ARE well and truly into winter now, and all the fish that prefer the cold weather are streaming in.

Tailor, tailor and more tailor! Huge schools of these active fish are everywhere, with terrific catches being made from Inskip Point to well south of the Cherry Venture shipwreck on Teewah Beach.

Middle Rock at Rainbow Beach has been a real hot spot, with fishermen getting into chopper tailor hand over fist. Just remember that bag and size limits do apply. Tailor don’t freeze well anyway; they taste far better when eaten fresh.

Bream are also well worth fishing for on the beach as they are also in good numbers. Live yabbies on dusk have been working a treat.

Surprise, surprise, lots of tailor. They’re everywhere! Big Mick, Teebar Ledge and the mouth of the Wide Bay Bar have been the pick of the spots, with the best quality fish coming on dusk just before the full tide. Most fish are being caught on pilchards and trolling soft plastics.

Kauri Creek has been producing some quality bream lately, along with good catches of whiting. Spotted mackerel and the odd Spanish mackerel are still being caught around Big Mick beacon.

Mud crabs are still present around the Carlo Point area and, not unlike fish, the best catches are made around the new and full moon.

Another one of my favourite aquatic pastimes is squidding. They are in good numbers around Tin Can Bay Inlet, Carlo leads and Teebar Ledge. Orange prawn jigs work the best in these areas, so take the kids and the jigs to these locations and I'm sure you'll get a good feed of calamari.

The fishing offshore continues to be very productive, with prevailing west and southwest winds, and good beach conditions have allowed even small tinnies to launch off the beach at Double Island Point. Most of these small craft have been fishing around the Pinnacles and getting great feeds of squire, sweetlip, parrot and Moses perch.

If you have a small craft and plan to fish offshore, remember to check that all your safety gear is onboard and in good working order. Have some sort of communication – VHS, 27MEG radio or mobile phone – and tell someone exactly where you’re going.

Most reefs in close are working quite well, with all species coming onboard. Out wider there are big schools of snapper and pearl perch on fairly flat cobble bottom, and when you land on these schools it's red hot fishing. I have noticed that the big schools are on the move, so a good quality sounder is essential. I use a Furuno colour 600L with through-hull mounting. With the aid of a faring block, to compensate for the deadrise of the hull and to disperse turbulent water, I get perfect clarity at speeds in excess of 25 knots. I've seen many transducer set-ups on boats, and most have been transom mounted. I would use this method only as a last resort, as very few are successful. If you want more information on sounders and set-ups, just have a chat to someone in the know. John Palermo, at John Palermo Marine Electronics, is one expert who’s always happy to give advice (ph. (07) 3821 7900).

Overall, fishing in August is generally very good, although it has a reputation for being fairly windy. Hopefully, we'll get some large highs over the top of us to make for more pleasant fishing conditions.

Ed Falconer’s charter business, Keely Rose Reef Fishing Charters, makes regular trips to the reefs off Rainbow Beach. If you’d like to go on a trip with Ed you can contact him on 0407 146 151.

1) Rainbow Beach visitor Don, from Surat, with a catch of Carlo Point squid caught on an orange squid lure.

2) A feed of pearl perch, sweetlip and snapper caught by Tasmanians Ron and Wendy Kelly. These two southern visitors reckon the fishing in Queensland is pretty hot compared to their part of the country!