1 February 2024

The southern Spanish mackerel closed seasons for east coast waters south of latitude 22˚S (located slightly north of Stanage Bay, between Mackay and Yeppoon) to the NSW border are from 1^st to 21^st of February and 1^st to 21^st of March.

Recent heavy rain caused flash flooding in the catchments of the rivers and creeks in SE Qld and as the floodwater drains off, the water in the rivers and creeks is very discoloured and there’s a lot of debris in it.

Hervey Bay

Coral trout, grassy sweetlip, cod and nannygai on the deep inshore reefs, coral trout, grunter bream and sweetlip on the shallow reefs, flathead, trevally and grunter bream off the Urangan jetty, threadfin salmon, barramundi and mulloway at River Heads, threadfin salmon in Sandy Straits, dart, whiting and grunter bream along the town beaches, flathead at the creek mouths, grunter bream at Burrum Heads and mangrove jack and barramundi in the Burrum River.

Tin Can Bay

Flathead along the deep ledges in Tin Can Inlet, mangrove jack, estuary cod, barramundi and mud crabs in the creeks and trevally around the moorings.

Noosa

Grunter bream and whiting in the lower reaches of the Noosa River, trevally in Lake Cooroibah and mud crabs in the middle reaches.

Flathead and whiting at the Noosa River mouth, trevally and school jew in Woods Bay and flathead in Lake Cooroibah.

Snapper, pearl perch and cobia at Sunshine Reef.

Snapper, pearl perch, tuskfish, amberjack and gold band snapper in about 70 to 100 metres and pearl perch, cobia and mackerel at North and Sunshine Reefs.

Maroochydore

Sand whiting and grunter bream on the making tide in the lower reaches of the Maroochy River, trevally around the Motorway Bridge pylons and mud crabs in the mid to lower reaches.

Mooloolaba

Grassy sweetlip at Murphys Reef, cobia near the Mooloolaba blinker, mahi mahi around the FADs, sand whiting on the making tide in the lower reaches of the Mooloolah River, trevally near the trawler moorings and mud crabs in the deep holes.

Grassy sweetlip, snapper and tuskfish at Caloundra 5 Mile.

Black marlin, sailfish, wahoo, tuskfish and hussar on the Barwon Banks and amberjack at the Hards.

Caloundra

Spotty and school mackerel at Caloundra 5 Mile, grassy sweetlip at Currimundi Reef, grunter bream near the new bar entrance, mangrove jack and whiting in Currimundi Lake and mangrove jack in the canals.

Donnybrook

The water in Pumicestone Passage and the creeks that run off it is very fresh and fishing has been average and it could be worth trying for mud crabs in the next couple of days.  There could be debris coming down the creeks, keep extra alert if you are boating in those areas.

Northern Moreton Bay

Black marlin and wahoo in 100 metres east of Moreton Island, snapper and sweetlip along Cowan and Bulwer ledges, mahi mahi around the FADs and longtail and mack tuna in the northern bay. There’s a huge amount of freshwater runoff coming out of the rivers and creeks.

Redcliffe Peninsula

Snapper, bream, sweetlip and grunter bream around the inshores, rocky points and jetties, mangrove jack, cod and grunter bream in Newport canals and mud crabs in the rivers and creeks.

Brisbane River – Northern Moreton Bay

Grassy sweetlip and snapper around Green and Mud Islands, school mackerel off Wellington Point, Cleveland, the eastern side of Mud and Green Islands, threadfin salmon in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and mud crabs in the creeks.

Wynnum Manly

Sweetlip and snapper around Green Island and along the drop off at Wellington Point, diver whiting on the Chain Banks and in Small Ships Gutter, school mackerel on the Hope Banks and near the Huybers Light and mud crabs in the creeks.

Nth Stradbroke Island

Fish all beaches for dart, whiting, bream and chopper tailor.

Redland Bay

Snapper and sweetlip at West Peel, Harry Atkinson and Curtin artificial reefs, diver whiting in the Rous Channel and Fishermans Gutter and mud crabs at the mouth of the creeks.

Snapper around Goat and Peel Islands; best on the flood tide as the water gets dirty as the tide ebbs.

Jumpinpin

Tailor inside the Pin Bar, flathead and whiting along Kalinga Bank and the southern end of North Straddie and bream at the Five Ways, Rocky Point and Cobby rocks.

Black marlin on the 36s east of the Pin, mulloway on the inshore reefs, bream and mud crabs in Jacobs Well Channel and tailor on the making tide inside the Pin Bar.

Southport

Blue and striped marlin on the Continental Shelf, black marlin, wahoo, mahi mahi, snapper and pearl perch on the 42s and 50s, pearl perch, snapper and trag jew on the 24s and 36s, spotty mackerel on the close reefs, dart, whiting and tarwhine along the beaches, mangrove jack, trevally and school jew in Southport Seaway, flathead, whiting and sand crabs in Southport Broadwater and mangrove jack and mud crabs in the rivers and creeks.

Black marlin and mahi mahi in 70 to 90 metres east of Southport and whiting and sand crabs in Southport Broadwater.

Currumbin

Cobia and spotty mackerel at Palm Beach Reef, a few tailor along the beaches, flathead, whiting and bream in the lower reaches of Currumbin and Tallebudgera Creeks, mangrove jack around the pontoons and snaggy banks and mud crabs in the upper reaches.

Tweed Coast

Flathead, bream, grunter bream and mangrove jack in the lower reaches of the Tweed River.

Snapper, pearl perch and tuskfish on the 30s east of the Tweed.

Evans Head

Snapper and trag jew at Kahors Reef and North Ground, bream and school jew along Main and Airforce Beaches, bream and luderick along the rock walls at the Evans River mouth, flathead, bream and whiting in the lower reaches and mud crabs in the upper reaches.

FRESHWATER FISHING

Hinze Dam

Recent rain will have bass moving up into the shallows to feed where the water is running. 

Wivenhoe Dam

Bass on lures trolled to 20 feet along the old river bed towards Platypus Cliffs, golden perch on vibration lures in the shallow bays and bass on trolled lures along the steep cliffs in the upper reaches.  Please note Billies Bay boat ramp is closed; use Logan Inlet boat ramp to access the dam.