Photos: Spero Kartanos.
BY SPERO KARTANOS
The weather in autumn should see fewer storms and winds, so let’s hope we have some nice crisp and calm autumn days with great fishing.
The water temperature will have cooled, but there might still be a few spotty schools in the northern bay, plus plenty of Watson Bonito this time of year, smashing bait fish all through the bay. If you want to chase these good eating and good bait fish, use a small chrome slug; they are fun to catch – good eating for some or great snapper bait for others.
The whiting will slow down a little after the initial run of very big fish at the end of summer. There’s been less of them in the usual whiting hot spots around the Rous Channel, Pelican Banks and the Small Boat Channel over the last few weeks. Remember, the Maroon Banks and some of Amity Banks are green zones.
I’m still waiting for the tiger squid to show up. It’s probably been the worst season for them around the southern and western parts of the bay. The only parts they’ve shown up in were the western side of Moreton and Amity. Let’s hope they venture closer to home with less rain and clean water.
There were some lovely snapper and squire and sweet lip in the bay in the last month of summer and with the start of March, it should improve around the shallow Bay Islands and artificial reefs.
As we get further into autumn, the weather should settle, and the fishing should be perfect. There’s nothing like dead calm days out in Moreton Bay. Good fishing!
