Photos: Spero Kartanos.
BY SPERO KARTANOS
The year is at its end and there have been plenty of fish in the bay. Not much is going to change in December, just more traffic on the water, but if you can get out on the nice calm days, I’m pretty sure you can come home with a good feed.
Whiting will close by Chain Banks, Maroon, Amity, the Rous Channel, the Sand Hills and most of the western side of Moreton Island. Drifting with a paternoster rig with blood worms, beach worms, squid strips or peeled prawns (especially when there is a good run in the tide) will get you a feed.
School mackerel will be all through the bay, especially the southern side of Hope Banks, Peel Island, and Shark Spit, so a diving board and a 3-inch spoon trolled behind the boat at around 5 to 6 knots is the best way to catch these fish.
The water will be warm enough for the spotty mackerel to come in the bay – these are much bigger fish with the females in first, followed by the smaller males three to four weeks later – let’s hope it’s a better season than we’ve had in the past few years. The best way to catch these surface-feeding fish is a chrome slug (no wire) and cast and retrieve in the feeding schools. Water Tower Bait & Tackle carry a good non-expensive chrome slug that will work very well, and you don’t have to borrow money from the bank to buy a few.
Squire and snapper will also be in good numbers around the shallow reefs and all our artificial reefs, so big baits like whole whiting or garfish, or whiting heads or mullet fillets will do the trick on a running rig with just enough weight to get to the bottom.
The tiger squid season should also be starting, so a squid jig on a float wherever you are fishing for whiting should get you a feed.
I hope you all had as good a year as possible. Have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, stay safe on the water, and good fishing!
For weekly updates check out fishingmonthly.com.au. My Moreton Bay reports will keep you up to date.
PS: All you will need for the mackerel season ahead are chrome slugs, diving boards and Smith jigs and spoons, and squid jigs for your calamari.
