Last week, the weather was perfect for fishing, with many anglers taking advantage to head out offshore. The snapper caught first light and then disappeared at sunrise.
Due to the danger whales pose to offshore boating in the dark, boaties are advised to keep their speed down for safety.
The snapper season has been poor, and there are not many quality snapper in the bay. Snapper is abundant in the 30-34cm mark, so hopefully that will translate into better fishing in the next few years.
The water temperature is hovering around the 18 degree mark, and we should see the squid and cuttlefish, but they have been sparse so far. While we do not see the yellow tail pike and squid, the snapper will not be moving into the shallow reef areas in big schools. The odd fish in the 80cm range has shown up in the Redcliffe reefs.
Bream fishing is a shining light for local anglers. They feed very close to shores at first light and we have some great bream fishing spots locally. The Raby Bay Marina is a prime bream fishery.
An unweighted bait or soft plastic cast-up current allowed to drift towards a rock wall can be very successful. Large flathead are also lurking around, and always taking a landing net when fishing from shore is advisable.
As soon as the head of a flathead is lifted clear of the water, the flathead will swiftly move its head from side to side. This action will cause leaders under 30 pounds to rub through.
Raymond Kennedy and a mate fished the western arm of Lake Hinze and caught 48 bass. They tagged and released all the bass.
They found a small school off the tip of Ian’s Island. Then the fishing shut down, they went exploring for a couple of hours and could only find a few isolated bass, so they returned to their original spot.
If you have any fishing questions or photographs of your catch or would like a fishing session, please get in touch with Michael at desdavidmichael@gmail.com