Jumpinpin

Catches are still varied around Jumpinpin

JUMPINPIN Bo Sawyer

I hope everyone’s been keeping well and catching lots of fish. At the time of writing there’s been limited chances to get out for a fish, in comfortable conditions anyway. However, the shocking summer and wet start to autumn will pave the way to some really good fishing over the coming months.

The water temp has been slowly dropping and has hopefully cleared up nicely in time for May.

The tailor have been biting really well around Andy and Sean got this great feed in the Jacobs Well area.

Ryan caught this monster flatty in the Pin. You can check out his page on Facebook ‘Bream Hub’.

the Pin bar and along Kalinga Bank. There are some monsters around the smaller fish and I’ve been getting dusted by some big ones. Small Halco spinners and pillies work a treat.

Anyone trying for flathead out in the deep can expect to lose a few soft plastics to the choppers. I prefer fishing for them on the incoming and higher tide when the water is the cleanest. You really want to see plenty of bait working around, and diving birds is also a great sign.

Flathead catches are still strong, you will get days when they shut down and days they are feeding aggressively. Low wind makes a big difference as well as a higher barometer (just google Gold Coast barometer forecast) and if you can get out on the days with a reading of around 1020 or more you should be looking at a good day’s fishing. I love flicking paddle-tail plastics at them with 3/0-5/0 jigheads. I use 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2oz weights depending on the depth I’m fishing, as well as the current.

If you’re a bait fisho, I would either be using live mullet, gar, prawns or the blue pillies Brett sells at Jacobs Well Bait & Tackle. Try fishing for them along Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Pandanus Island, Whalleys Gutter and the Logan River. They will start firing up on the flats in the cooler weather. If you’d like to learn how to really target these fish in our area check out Capn’s Charters, I’ve seen that bloke pull in five 80cm in under 30 minutes before. He’s a great guy with a lot of knowledge.

Whiting will slow down as the water cools but I’m a big believer that you can target any fish in any season. Live worms and yabbies are my go-to bait. Using 4lb leader and a light sinker. Shallow sand banks that hold yabbies are great in lower light, and then deeper water during the day. Gold Bank, the shallows around Crusoe and the deeper water on

the bottom left of North Stradbroke Island usually hold fish.

The quality of the bream around the Jumpinpin area should really improve as the weather cools down. Lightly weighted prawns, dead herring or flesh baits work really well. You can sound up large schools if you have a sounder, otherwise fish along the deeper water inside South Straddie, Kalinga Bank and the deeper edges off Crusoe Island.

We should hopefully see some big mulloway making their way into our system as everything cools. Try fishing for them along the drop off in the Pin bar, the deeper water off Swan Bay and also in deep holes in the Logan. Nice big live baits are my favourite and I like to fish for them around tide changes. You can also follow these tide changes into the upper reaches if you really want to extend your bite period for them. If you do the work and continually chase the tide you will reap the rewards.

Don’t forget to check out the King of the Pin comp running at the end of this month as well. There are some great prizes and it’s a lot of fun.

Well that’s it from me this month guys. Don’t forget to say G’day to Brett from Jacobs Well Bait & Tackle if you need to grab some bait or tackle.

Until next month, tight lines. • To see more of my fishing adventures on Instagram, follow The Bobo Boat (@ thebobo_boat)

Ryan from Capn’s Charters with a stonker flatty.

Suzanne and Martin had a great session with three snapper, three flathead and a load of whiting and bream.