Brisbane

BRISBANE Gordon Macdonald

masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

Warmer air and water temperatures have done wonders for the variety of fishing options, making those early morning starts a lot more enjoyable.

Warmer water temperatures heighten baitfish presence, which is fortunate for fishers because the metabolism of many species is also peaking, resulting in aggressive feeding behaviour. Throughout Moreton Bay and the waterways feeding it, a broad array of demersal and pelagic species will be on offer for anglers during October. Let’s get stuck into a few of these opulent October offerings! MACKEREL

For the last few months, school mackerel numbers have been exceptionally healthy throughout Moreton Bay. The channels (Rainbow, Pearl, Kianga and Rous) have held great numbers of fish at certain times. The larger tides often produce the better action, with mackerel really coming on the chew at the start of the falling tide in many areas.

Anglers can target them in these zones by spinning chrome slugs and slices, drifting pilchards or trolling lures. As the tide starts to fall, mackerel will troll the edges of these channels preying on food sources such as squid, baitfish and crustaceans forced off the flats with the receding water and strong current. Casting lures into this zone can offer some quality fishing action, resulting in aggressive strikes and screaming reels.

Drifting pilchards along the edges of these channels is a relaxing way to score a few and is ideal for the less experienced anglers. Anchoring in this zone will also pay and is probably the best ploy when numerous boats are in the same area.

Pilchards are commonly fished on ganged hook rigs. If the pilchard is rigged nice and straight with the hooks buried along the back of the bait and the leading hook placed centrally down through the head, it can be cast out, allowed to sink and then slowly retrieved. This will induce the most aggressive strikes and will often produce when other approaches don’t. Mackerel are clean fighters and can be caught on relatively light line with ease.

Trolling is a good a good technique when the mackerel are a little scattered and you need to cover ground to find fish. This can be done with deep diving minnow lures to around 120mm in length or with spoons behind paravanes.

Halco’s Barra Drones and Kimberly Spoons in 3 or 4” are available at decent tackle stores and will work a treat when trolled 4-5m behind the paravane and rigged with a ball-bearing snap swivel. During October, mackerel may even be found around the shipping channel beacons in the middle and northern part of the bay. These zones can be fished by drifting pilchards or vertically spinning chrome slugs and slices.

Having a pilchard deployed while fishing around the bay islands and artificial reefs or drifting the flats for whiting could also produce a mackerel or two. We will see decent numbers of school mackerel for the next six months or so, and you have plenty of time for some sportfishing fun or to secure some tasty white fillets. SNAPPER

The last few months have been awesome for anglers targeting snapper, with good numbers of quality fish to be caught. Scoring a full bag of snapper has been relatively easy for most, with quality fish coming from all corners of the bay.

The artificial reefs, bay wrecks and island surrounds offer some great areas for anglers to get amongst the snapper action. These areas hold baitfish, crustaceans and cephalopods, so snapper are usually in attendance.

While early morning and late afternoon sessions often produce a flurry of hot bites, snapper can be caught right throughout the day. I believe the biggest deterrent to catching fish is noise, especially in the shallow areas. Fishing when boat traffic is minimal will improve chances, regardless the time of day or tidal stage. The larger tides commonly provide the best action, especially for those using lures.

Lures can include soft vibes, soft plastics, minnow lures, blades, micro jigs and many more. Presenting the lure to likely areas and fishing it well is more important than the lure type, brand or colour most of the time. Casting vibration lures and soft plastics up current or across current and then working them back to the boat with a serious of lifts, hops or with intermittent pauses will generally work well. The biggest mistake many make when fishing plastics is that they work them too fast. While this can work on occasion, generally a slower retrieve is the best bet.

Quality baits will work exceptionally well, often producing best results around the change of the tide when current flow lessens and they present more naturally. Whole fish baits such as pilchards, yakkas, slimy mackerel, gar, pike, herring and mullet will all work well.

Live offerings of the same are even more likely to produce, especially when presented lightly weighted and drifted around the bay island margins, artificial reefs and wrecks. Anchoring in these areas is also worthwhile and a lot easier when the currents or wind are high. In this situation it is best to cast baits up current and out to the side of the boat, before letting them sink naturally as they travel back with the flow. Once aft they can be freespooled so they travel further back as they sink. Once they have settled to the bottom for 10-15 minutes, wind them back in, check the bait, replace if necessary and then repeat the process. With water quality gradually improving due to infrequent westerly winds, anglers are best to fish relatively finesse rigs. This will include minimal sinker weights, lighter fluorocarbon leaders and hooks well hidden in baits with just the point proud.

Good numbers of snapper will be around for several months yet, with October and November often producing some of the better quality specimens in Moreton Bay.

THREADFIN SALMON

Octobers offers anglers great opportunity to target threadfin salmon in the larger river systems such as Brisbane, Logan, Caboolture and Pine. The Brisbane River is always the most reliable and large numbers of threadfin salmon can be found in certain zones at times. The lower reaches often hold some exceptional specimens with 120cm plus threadies caught on occasion every year. Any fish up around the magic metre mark will give you a great fight however careful handling needs to be employed to increase survival rates in released fish. There is nothing wrong with keeping a threadfin for a feed however subsequent fish should be given the best chances for survival by not removing them from the water, removing hooks quickly and swimming them in the current until they are strong enough to swim away in an upright position. Some use release weights and vent the air bladder to get them back to the bottom.

The swing zone and other areas around the wharves and jetties on the southern bank plus the cruise ship terminal, oil pipeline and wharves on the northern side can all hold creditable numbers of threadfin salmon. They will often school in these areas especially once the prawns start moving down river as the water temperatures rise or rainfall lowers salinity further up. However, when the threadies are set on prawns they are often hard to tempt on other offerings. Repetitive casts with varied offerings will regularly go unrewarded. Sometimes a tidal change may get them to chew yet sometimes you may need to resort to live baits to get connected. Individual fish wide of the main school or in other isolated locations are often easier to tempt than those amongst a large congregation of fish. As the water temperatures warm, threadfin will become hungrier and more aggressive. They will commonly be found in the lower reaches of the river systems right throughout the warmer months. MANGROVE

JACK AND COD

As water temperatures rise, many fish’s metabolism will increase dramatically. This makes them hungrier and more aggressive. For us anglers, this is a good thing,

School mackerel numbers have been great in recent weeks and it has been easy to score a few of these tasty critters for the table.

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Chris Deeks with another quality snapper from a session casting lures around the bay islands.

as it is likely to increase our chances of getting a bite.

Mangrove jack are aggressive predators most of the time, however warm water temperatures will make them exceptionally aggressive and they will travel well away from the structure they call home to hit a lure or bait.

A rising barometer will increase your chances even more, with their aggressiveness rising another peg or two during these times. Lures cast close to prominent structure with nearby current to bring food is a recipe for success. Bridge pylons, pontoons, mangroves, rock walls, concrete canal walls, moored boats and all forms of other structures can hold mangrove jack, which are likely to hover just out of the main current flow and then dart out to engulf any food source when the opportunity arises.

The Brisbane River produces very few mangrove jacks, but virtually all other creeks, harbours and canal developments throughout the Moreton Bay area can be productive. Many choose to travel further afield to the Gold or Sunshine coasts to target jacks due to the broader array of structure and waterways.

However, those fishing their home waters around Moreton Bay can be pleasantly surprised to be able to score jacks of good quality. The canal developments probably offer the best opportunity, with Raby Bay, Sovereign Waters, Aquatic Paradise, Newport Waterways and several others producing the goods.

The closer you cast to potential structure, the greater the chance of getting hit. Minnow lures, soft plastics (paddle-tail shads, prawn profiles and T-Tails), baitfishprofiled flies, swimbaits, glide baits, topwater offerings and vibration baits can all work well.

Live baits of mullet, banana prawns, herring, pike and biddies will all work a treat when presented close to the structure. Many will fish around the bridges and rock walls with such baits. Many bridges are lit at night and this attracts baitfish to the area. Setting a live bait while you cast around a few lures is a good approach. But make sure your bait rod is well secured, as jacks hit exceptionally hard and run straight for structure.

As the tidal flow slows around the change of tide, jacks will move wide of the structure, and this is often when the live baits work exceptionally well. When the current is running hard, try and place your live baits in the eddies and adjacent to current-altering structure.

Estuary cod inhabit much the same locales as jacks and respond to many of the same techniques. However, they will reside in a lot more areas and can be caught around the bay island shallows, shipping channel beacons, artificial reefs, the rock walls at the mouth of the Brisbane River and the eastern side of Mud Island. They are a very underrated table fish, possessing tasty, white, chunky fillets. FLATHEAD

October is a great month for those chasing flathead. Plenty of large females are in the middle of, or just finished, their breeding cycle. These larger females are usually surrounded by numbers of smaller males, therefore working over successful spots with successive casts is highly advisable.

Working the tops of the flats on the high tide and the edges on the falling tide will generally produce the easiest opportunity for lure fishers. Soft plastics, minnow lures, swimbaits, soft vibes and many other offerings can be hopped, slow rolled or trolled along the edges of the flats. The largest fish commonly take up the best ambush locations.

Visiting areas at low tide will allow you to determine the lowest section of the flat. This will be where the last of the water will flow from the flat. These areas will often hold the larger fish, however every flat system can work a little different, depending on the terrain.

Bait fishers can also work these areas over. A good approach is to anchor on the edge of these flats and then cast your lightly weighted baits up onto the flats and let the tide wash them off and into the adjacent channel. Small whole fish baits (whitebait, hardiheads, frogmouth pilchards, bluebait, herring etc.) work exceptionally well, but worms, yabbies, mullet fillet and even thin strips of chicken fillet can produce. If your bait is wafting along and stops, count to three and strike.

Drifting baits on top of the flats on the high tide and in the channels on the low will likely reward.

Trolling minnow lures along the edges of flats and banks on a falling tide will allow you to cover a good area of productive ground in your search.

Flathead can be taken all year round but September and October are two of the better months to target them. CONCLUSION

In addition to the few prime October targets highlighted, there are some serious other species also on offer. Add into the mix species such as mulloway, sweetlip, tuskfish, tailor, sand crabs, longtail tuna, mud crabs, squid, bream and numerous others and you are really spoilt for choice. October weather is usually fairly good, with lovely warm days and evenings, so get out onto the water soon to chase some of October’s opulent offerings!

With warmer water temperatures, greater numbers of threadfin will be found in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River over the coming months.

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