It’s great living in the south east at the moment as the days are getting longer, the cool mornings have warmed up by 9am and there’s some hot fishing action in the Bay.

October is a fantastic month as the summer pelagic species start to mix it up with the winter species. Early morning is an especially good time to undertake an onslaught on the Bay’s islands around the Brisbane River before heading further afield and targeting some surface species. If this doesn’t produce any action you can always head over to Straddie or Moreton and chase some delicious whiting on the shallow banks.

The shallow reefs around Mud Island, Green Island and Scarborough have been a good place to start if you’re looking for a feed. Squire and tailor are on the chew and have been taking a fancy to lightly weighted baits (flesh strips, pilchards and gar) and also the more popular soft plastics like Ecogear, Berkley and Zoom. When fishing these shallow reef areas, fish around first or last light as this is the time when most of the fish activity takes place. You can also use larger livebaits at this time of year if you want to be in with a chance at a cobia, mackerel or oversized estuary cod. The best livebaits have been large mullet or legal-sized squire set on a balloon about 3m from the bottom.

Flathead are still around in good numbers from the Broadwater to Bribie Island. Fishing around the creek mouths and the adjacent sand flats, most of the flathead have been falling to well-presented baits. For the lure and fly clan it’s a good time to wade the shallow flats on a falling tide for a chance at some really big fish.

The Brisbane River has produced great catches of squire and mulloway from the mouth right up to the city reaches using artificial lures. Soft plastics are taking the squire, while the reliable NilsMaster has been the lure of choice for the mulloway. Fished at night they have been fantastic!

If you want to bag a jew in the river at night, a good starting point is right in the city or around Breakfast Creek. Both areas have good tidal flow and, most importantly, lights shining on the water. The light at night attracts the bait and the jew follow closely.

Moreton bay and the estuaries around Brisbane really look good for October with plenty of bait at the creek mouths and even more bait stacked hard around the islands. Early catches of summer species such as mackerel and tuna have already been recorded so don’t die wondering. Get out there and enjoy the great weather and good fishing.

Gavin Dunne is a regular tournament angler who has made the transition from fishing for bream and bass to chasing bigger ooglies around Brisbane. He is acknowledged as one of the most consistent Brisbane lure and bait anglers and I look forward to hearing what he has to say about the Brisbane area fishing in the coming months. - Ed