Southern Bay

SOUTHERN BAY

Nick

Whyte There’s been plenty of rain around the last month and the run off from the floods and continued storms has really messed up the southern bay. Once the dirty water starts to settle down we should see some really good fishing in the following months.

There’s not a lot to report from the last month but looking forward we should see a lot of movement with mud crabs. There may be an opportunity for prawns in the northern part of the bay in areas around Nudgee. Fishing should be concentrated on areas closer to bar entrances or the bay from Peel Island North to try and get some reasonable water quality.

It’s a great time to try and target mulloway around the Using vibration baits, like the Zerek Fish Trap, will help get the bites in the dirty water.

A McArthy paddle-tail was the undoing for this cod.

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Fishing for whiting can be quite productive in the dirty water. Using fresh blood.worms and being patient with your baits is the key. Once again try areas close to the Jumpinpin bar with a little cleaner water and around the powerlines and bottom end of Russell Island when the water clears a little.

Flathead fishing will be best close to the Jumpinpin bar area or the Amity banks up towards the south passage bar. Try to use noisier lures in the dirtier water with vibes and large paddle-tails or trolled lures, like the Zerek Tango shad, can be a little more productive in the 0-2m of water. Look for cleaner water areas with dirty water lines being areas to concentrate on. Fishing areas with good amounts of bait is also a big step in the right direction. Try using more bright colours to get the contrast in the dirtier Sam Hitzke with a nice Jumpinpin flatty.

water as well.

Tuna and mackerel will be looking for the cleaner water. Rainbow and Rous channels may hold a few fish on the last half of the run-in tide. Try from Harries north and along the eastern side of the bay. The birds will be their give away sign. Use smaller 20-30g slugs to match the hatch. There’s a lot of mac tuna in the bay that aren’t that good on the table but great sports fish. It may take a bit of time to locate some longtail but worth it if chasing a feed. Sometimes you’ll get these guys feeding on bigger stick baits but are usually quite finicky in the bay.

Once the dirty water clears a little, the bay islands shallows should really fire. Juvenile snapper, sweetlip and bream will have plenty of bait to feed on. Bird and Goat islands, South West Rocks and northern ends of Coochie and Macleay will make for some fun fishing. Fishing from two through to about 10-12ft along the reef edges will be productive for those pan-sized fish. Concentrate on areas with a reasonably sharp drop off the reef and exposed to a bit of current. Look for the jut outs in the reef.

Hopefully that will help you put a couple in the esky over the coming month. Tech it easy.