The fishing has been absolutely magnificent lately and should be set to continue as the weather and water temps cool down.

Bream catches should improve and there should also be plenty of flathead and whiting available. Recent rains have helped flush out and liven up the system so get set for some top fishing right through March.

I’ve managed to get out a bit lately and let me tell you, the system is alive and well. There’s heaps of live bait in the water, which supports the bigger, better fish we all like to get out there and catch.

Flathead numbers are tremendous and bream are everywhere. The new size and bag limits for bream (25cm min, bag limit 30) whiting (25cm min, bag limit 30) and tailor (35cm min, bag limit 20) that come into effect 1 March should only further to help the system’s fish stocks for the future.

There have been plenty of good flathead around taking 3-7” soft plastics in whites, pinks and lime and trolled hardbodied lures in the sandy shallows. Pilchards, whitebait, prawns and live mullet have been the pick of the baits.

The sandy flats at the top of South Straddie is always a great spot to start, or you could try Cobby Passage, Kalinga Bank, Tipplers Island, the Stockyards or the mouth of the Logan.

The best time is the first of the run-out tide as the flatties sit and wait for food to wash past. They can be caught at any stage of the tide but they seem to feed more aggressively as the tide turns.

Bream are about in good numbers but there are not too many really big ones on offer, just mainly between 25-30cm long.

The bigger ones have been coming at night from the gutters off the beach of South Straddie across from the Bedrooms.

For a feed of bream you can try at the Pig Stys, the eastern point of Short Island, Tabby Tabby, Flatrock and the Powerlines.

The better baits have been live yabbies, worms, prawns, flesh baits, bread, squid and whitebait.

If you like to chase whiting then try around the Gold and Green Banks, Slipping Sands, Flatrock, Browns Bay and the Junction in the river. Worms are the best baits to tempt these excellent table fish or you could try some squid, pipis or small peeled prawns

There’s been a few mangrove jacks about and I managed to get one 47.5cm down along the bottom of Kangaroo Island along with a few good estuary cod, the biggest of which was 55cm.

Other jack spots are the Coomera and Pimpama rivers along the snaggy spots or rock walls, the Powerlines and Short Island in the mangroves.

Since the size limit for jew has changed from 45cm to 75cm and a bag limit introduced of just two fish, fewer jew are being weighed in which is great for future stocks. They are a magnificent fish to catch and fight hard and tough all the way in.

James Wheeler scored a great 50lb jew at night on the Cotton Reef off the ‘Pin using a pillie as bait. Inside smaller ones are being caught at Marks Rocks, in the deep water off Swan Bay and the Giants Grave.

Tailor are around with mainly choppers on offer although I did have a 3.7kg greenback from the bar which seems like it was just a huge rogue fish in a school of choppers.

They are hitting small 10-40g metal slugs either trolled or flicked about the same size as the whitebait schools that bring them through the bar.

There have been some good muddies caught from Redland Bay Channel, Lagoon Island and Mosquito Island. Sandies are being caught along the drop-offs of Main Channel, Canaipa Passage and Never Fail Islands.

Thanks for all your reports and fish weighed in.

Drop us a line at Gem Bait and Tackle if you’d like to order bait or get some up to date info on what’s biting on 07 3287 3868 or email --e-mail address hidden--