October’s bay bounty: mackerel, whiting and snapper are on! - The Community Leader and Real Estate New and Views

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October’s bay bounty: mackerel, whiting and snapper are on!

Fishing

Photos by Spero Kartanos.

BY SPERO KARTANOS

You won’t find better weather for a fish in the bay than right now – and with the fish biting in good numbers, it’s easy to put something fresh on the dinner table this month.

So, where are they? The school mackerel have come back on the bite, and the whiting will be in good numbers in the Rous Channel, the Sand Hills, and close in to the Wynnum foreshore and Darcy Light, all the way to St Helena. If October is anything like September, the snapper fishing should continue to be excellent.

School mackerel will be all over the bay, especially on the western side of the bay from St Helena to Ormiston, and some in the Rous and the Rainbow Channel. Using diving boards with 3-inch Halco spoons is the way to go. And once you find the mackerel, floating out pillies on 3-ganged hooks will get you plenty as well.

The whiting are caught best with a good run in the tide, and I use a paternoster rig. Bloodworms are the best bait by far, and frozen beach worms would be my second choice. Peeled prawns and strips of squid work, but not as well, unless the fish are thick on the bite.

The whale sightings in August and some of September in the bay have been very disappointing compared to previous years. Let’s hope they come in for a little rest in October.

So get out there when the conditions are good and get a fresh fish or two for dinner!

Good fishing!

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