Fishing Report for 6 March 2026

Hervey Bay / Fraser Island

Weather has kept things quiet, with few boats out and limited shop feedback this week. The standout bite remains pelagics up north: longtail tuna and some spotted mackerel in Platypus Bay; the spotties are a late run and still mixing with tuna schools when conditions allow. Local beaches continue to produce good whiting and a few grunter. Urangan Pier has been a lucky‑dip of pelagics around the herring and pike: at least one large spanish mackerel earlier in the week, a few school mackerel, queenfish and GTs. Daytime queenies have been small, with bigger fish after dark.

Inshore reefs are status‑quo for when the weather breaks: coral trout, estuary cod, sweetlip and some blackall; grunter close inshore have been active around the full moon. Expect longtails to stay abundant from the 6 Mile through northern Platypus Bay, with sharks an occasional taxman. Rivers and straits are the safer bet while it’s wet. The Great Sandy Strait is fishing better than the rivers for lure anglers as water clarity holds up: barramundi, threadfin salmon, blue salmon, jewfish, grunter, plus plenty of cod. The Mary is running dirty; focus efforts well downstream for barra, threadies and grunter.

Crabbing and prawns are a bright spot. Muddies are on the march in the rivers and down the straits, with some thumpers around; further rain should keep pots busy. Small prawns are amassing in the systems now and could aggregate near river mouths after a flush, setting up a decent banana prawn run in the weeks ahead.

Regulation note: the second southern Spanish mackerel closure is in force until 21 March (Qld waters south of Stanage Bay). In the meantime, look to school mackerel or spotties where legal and available.

Fishos Tackleworld Ph (07) 4128 1022 | www.fishostackleworld.com.au

Tin Can Bay

With heavy rain predicted and a bit of wind it sounds like it’ll be a weekend for hiding up a creek for any of the diehards out there. There have been some nice mangrove jacks coming out of all our local creeks over the last week. Teebar, Carlo and Kauri Creeks have been fishing well, with both live & dead baits; work at the top of the tide. Lure fishos are doing better on the last couple of hours of the runout tide. 

We have seen some nice whiting coming from the flats out the front of Kauri Creek and some nice bi-catch of flathead also.  If getting wet isn’t your thing, get stuck into a bit of trailer maintenance or give the tackle box a clean out. 

The Chandlery Bait & Tackle Ph (07) 5486 4744 | www.tcbchandlery.com.au

Noosa

There have been plenty of mud crabs in the river this week, especially around the new moon. A lot are females and going back, but most sessions are still producing a few keepers. Along the river there have been queenfish, some good grunter (javelin fish), and the usual bream that keep things active.

Water clarity has dropped with the recent rain, and the system isn’t as clear as it was a couple of weeks ago. The fish are still there, but in the dirtier water they’re more likely to take bait than lures. It’s a good time to get the crab pots in and focus on bait fishing until conditions clear.

O Boat Hire & Bait Supply  Ph (07) 5449 7513 | www.oboathire.com

Some nice flathead and a really good mangrove jack taken in Noosa Woods, at the current line, on the corner. Large numbers of giant queenfish and barbwire queenfish. Lots of smaller grunter in various spots scattered throughout the Noosa River.

Noosa River Fishing Safaris Ph 0429 030 823 | www.noosariverfishing.com

Charters very limited due to conditions.

Noosa Bluewater Charters Ph (07) 5449 9355 | www.noosabluefishing.com.au

Limited fishing windows, and a lot of sharks when we did get out. Some nice reef fish on Sunshine Reef, however, including sweetlip, coral trout, and squire.

Deep Sea Fishing Co Noosa Ph 0411 222 749 | www.deepseafishingco.com.au

Maroochydore

Plenty of mud crabs still in the middle to upper reaches. Bream throughout and whiting at the Maroochy River mouth. Flathead at the mouth to Eudlo Creek.

Swan Boat Hire  Ph 0403 601 452 | www.swanboathire.com.au

Mooloolaba

Fishing has been challenging this week — the river mouths are your best bet, with the freshwater pushing through. It’s worth putting in a crab pot in the deeper holes, with some good specimens coming out of both the Mooloolah River and the Maroochy River. Along the beaches there are no real reports, and offshore has been quiet as well.

Around the river mouths, the usual species are about. There have been some good whiting around Picnic Point in the Maroochy, and a few flathead around the sandbags and just inside the Maroochy River mouth. There are also some flathead and a few bream at the mouth of the Mooloolah river, best targeted around the high tide when the cleaner water pushes in.

Tackleworld Kawana  Ph (07) 5444 0714 | www.tackleworldkawanafishingstore.com.au

Caloundra

Report pending.

Salty Fishing Charters Ph 0459 636 798  | https://saltyfishingcharters.com.au/

It has been another tough week on the water, with the shark issue now dominating almost every report. Anglers have been losing the majority of hooked fish offshore, with multiple encounters involving 6–7‑foot whalers sitting in just a couple of metres of water and taking nearly everything brought to the boat. Offshore crews are reporting it as essentially unfishable at times. With offshore conditions limited, some fishos have turned to the rocks, finding a few sweetlip, moses perch, morwong and the odd mixed reefie when the swell allows. Along the beaches there have been whiting, bream, dart and flathead, plus a run of small school jew—mostly undersized “soapies” typical for this time of year, requiring sorting to find a legal keeper. The Passage has seen a few mud crabs starting to move again after the recent rain, though overall catches are still well below what would normally be expected by this time of year. Weather remains unsettled and the forecast suggests further deterioration over the weekend.

Caloundra Fishing World  Ph (07) 5491 4566 | www.caloundrafishingworld.com.au

Northern Moreton Bay

The weather is looking very poor for the weekend, but there’s still been some decent fishing in the lead‑up. The mouth of the Brisbane River and the Mud Island area have been fishing well for snapper on lightly weighted plastics, with heavier soft plastics and vibes producing along the edges of the shipping terminals and around the rock walls. There have also been good school jew at the mouth of the Pine River, particularly at night around the Hornibrook Bridge. Summer whiting are active in the same areas on the incoming tide, and Hayes Inlet has been fishing well for whiting on the incoming and flathead on the outgoing tides.

At the mouth of the Caboolture River, the flathead bite has been good on the outgoing tide, and the creeks and Pumicestone Passage — including the mouth of Ningi Creek — are holding flathead and grunter on the draining tides. Mud crabs have been moving well after recent rain and should improve further after this weekend, particularly in the lower reaches of all systems. Prawns have been plentiful in both the Caboolture and Pine Rivers: in the Pine they’re sitting just up from the highway bridge near the mouth of the South Pine River, and in the Caboolture they’re holding in the mid‑reaches in deeper holes. Heavy rain may flush them down‑system.

Tackleworld Lawnton    Ph (07) 3205 7475 | www.facebook.com/tackleworldlawnton

Moreton Bay Offshore

No report this week.

High Calibre Charters   Ph 0421 922 713 | https://highcalibrefishingcharters.com.au/

No report this week.

Moreton Island Fishing Charters    Ph 0413 128 056 | https://moretonislandfishingcharters.com.au/

Redcliffe Peninsula

Bream, whiting, flathead and grunter in Hayes Inlet and the Pine River. Queenfish in Hayes, the Pine, and a few at Scarborough. Snapper and a few grassy sweetlip off the Eastern beaches, jetties & rocky points. Grunter and some school mackerel on the inshores. School jew and queenfish off Woody Point jetty, in Bramble Bay and on the inshore reefs. Mangrove Jack in the canals. Mud crabs, mangrove jacks and the odd threadfin salmon in the rivers and creeks as well as in Bramble Bay.

Hornibrook Bait & Tackle    Ph 0483 846 966 | www.facebook.com/HornibrookBT

Brisbane River

Mud crabs, jewfish and threadfin salmon at the Port of Brisbane. These will probably remain the targets with the imminent weather. Very few reports coming in with conditions in the Bay ordinary.

Mr Bait    Ph 0431 222 721 | www.facebook.com/Mr-Bait-182344678957765

North Stradbroke Island

Flathead, bream and tailor on the Manly foreshore. Mud crabs are going well in Tingalpa Creek.

Water Tower Bait & Tackle    Ph (07) 3396 1833 | https://watertowerbaitandtackle.com.au

Moreton Bay / Jumpinpin

The run of wind and rain continues to make things difficult, with the weekend pattern repeating: Friday through Monday blowing up, and only short mid‑week windows offering workable conditions. Despite the weather, the Bay has still been producing a steady flow of fish. The best results lately have come from the reef edges around Peel Island, especially the western side. There have been no big models, but good numbers of squire and snapper from 35–50 cm, plus plenty of sweetlip. Finding bait on side‑scan has been the key, with schools stacking up tight on the edges and producing fish cast after cast.

Further north around Mud Island and the river mouth, the charters have been finding tuskfish, sweetlip and more squire. The Brisbane River reefs have fished reasonably well too, with grunter and snapper showing, again heavily dependent on locating bait or schools on the sounder. Down in the southern bay, the big schools of jewfish and threadfin haven’t really fired this week, likely due to the larger tides. As conditions settle and the tides build again, they should return. The rain has started to move prawns around, with good numbers spotted down around the southern bay islands and Saltworks, and that should help pull jew, threadfin and tailor back into the river as they begin to feed on them.

Jumpinpin has been slow, with a few flathead and tailor coming from the Cavill Creek–James Mo area, but the jewfish seem to have moved on for now. It’s still too warm for the main winter jew season, and many fish appear to be holding further up‑river. The Logan has shown some better signs, with encouraging catches on the wind‑blown banks, including the odd mangrove jack. Flathead anglers should focus on the drains, drop‑offs and the mangrove edges around Stieglitz Point, Jacobs Well, Kangaroo Island and the middle banks. On the low tide, look for bait in the drains; on the incoming tide, fish push right up into the mangrove edges chasing bait.

Capn’s Charters Ph 0410 590 049 | Capns Charters – Lure & Soft Plastic Fishing Charter

Jumpinpin

Still getting banana prawns at the mouth of the Logan River and mud crabs remain prolific between the Logan River and down to just short of Jumpinpin. Whiting slower this week after a few good weeks. A few threadfin salmon around.

Gem Bait & Tackle    Ph (07) 3287 3868 | www.facebook.com/gembait

Threadfin have been making the rounds, with live baits and lures proving successful. Prawns are making their way around the Logan River areas and southern Moreton Bay Islands. A few giant trevally have been caught on lures. Mangrove jacks are starting to slow down, but there are flathead replacing them. Sharks have been a widespread issue, taking many fish. Some anglers are targeting sharks instead, with success.

Jacobs Well Boat Hire  Ph (07) 5546 2608  | www.jacobswellboathire.com.au

South Stradbroke Island

Report pending.

Gold Coast Boat Hire    Ph 0432 710 892 | www.goldcoastboathire.com.au

Gold Coast Broadwater

Saturday looking the best day with showers increasing over the weekend. Jacks have been on fire last week with numbers of them caught in the rivers. There were quite a few over the 50cm mark, which are great fish. The fresh water really stirred them up, and quite possibly the water clarity is better now being not so clear. Top water early morning and late afternoon has worked well with baits during the night the better option. A few trevally and cod have been caught as bycatch. Whiting are still going great guns with better catches up the rivers. Flathead are still around South Stradbroke, Crab Island, Rat Island, and the mouth of the Coomera near Paradise Point. Prawns are definitely on and worth the drive up. The usual spots of the Logan River and bottom of Macleay Island have produced. The other option is near Horizon Shores when the tides are big, as the tidal flow is less between tides. Mudcrabs were caught in great numbers over the big tides and will continue into the weekend. A handful of sand crabs were also found in the main channels in front of Runaway Bay.

David McDonald  Private Angler | Runaway Bay Marina

Southport

Not a whole lot to report as the weather has kept us in, however we did manage to get offshore on Monday and found a school of spotted mackerel, as well as some mixed reef fish like long nose trevally, Moses perch, tuskfish, goldspot and crimson banded wrasse. 

The creeks gave us some mud crabs, whiting, grunter, tarwhine & flathead. We’ll stick to the creeks in our estuary boat, and see what happens with these low pressure systems next few days, but it’s looking like we’ll get a few more days offshore next week 

BK’s Gold Coast Fishing Charters Ph 0414 293 034 | https://bksfishing.com.au/

Good snapper in close on the 24s. Earlier in the week there were a few wahoo and some Spanish mackerel about, limited marlin and there hasn’t been much else. The weekend weather is likely to limit offshore efforts this weekend. Inside there are still good catches of whiting . Mangrove jack have gone quiet but the rains might warm things up a bit for the last run before the winter. Prawns were up in the Bay last week, but have petered out somewhat also, with squid activity and crabbing reports thin. The expected rain will hopefully enliven things.

Gold Coast Fishing Tackle   Ph (07) 5679 0840 | www.goldcoastfishingtackle.com.au

Tweed Coast

Back from leave with charters over the next week.

Cushy Fishing Charters    Ph 0418 631 076 | www.cushyfishingcharters.com.au

Report pending.

Addict Tackle   Ph (07) 5523 3535 |  https://www.addicttackle.com.au/

Ballina

Report pending.

Ballina Bait and Tackle   Ph (02) 6686 2527 | https://www.facebook.com/p/Ballina-Bait-and-Tackle-100063582669959/

Evans Head

Try along Airforce Beach and Main Beach for bream, tailor and school jewfish. Around the rock walls at the mouth, anglers are finding bream, tailor and luderick. Inside the Evans River there are bream, flathead and whiting, and the odd mud crab is still being picked up in the upper reaches.

More boats have been heading offshore the last week. Along the close coast there have been some spotted and Spanish mackerel, with a few snapper and trag as well. The mackerel aren’t here in big numbers, but there are some good fish being caught.

Evans Head Sports & Marine  Ph (02) 6682 4536 | www.facebook.com/EvansheadSportsMarine

Brunswick Heads

The bar has been dangerous, limiting deep sea fishing to the larger boats and commercial operators. But those who have ventured out have been rewarded with some excellent mackerel fishing, with substantial fish in very large numbers. Beach fishing has included bream and whiting. The rock walls are holding mangrove jack, jewfish, trevally and tailor. The River is still firing with great catches of mangrove jack and trevally, plus lots of bream and blackfish. Mud crabs in good numbers.

Bruns Beach Bait and Tackle Ph 0432 394 869 |

Yamba

Spotted mackerel and Spanish mackerel are being caught, but are not thick. The spotties are mostly coming from Woody Bay, while the Spanish are further south off Brooms Head. Trolling live baits has been the go for the spanish mackerel, and live-baits and, skirts are doing the job on the spotties. Offshore has otherwise been a bit quieter, with not much else reported from outside.

In the Clarence river, bream, whiting and flathead are still present. There are big numbers of small tailor in the system — biting lines off and hammering jigs meant for herring. Most of the fish are very small, and hard to do much with. Some school jew around 60 to 70 cm present in the lower reaches. Up river, around Lawrence and Maclean, people are seeing catfish and toad fish, likely pushed up out by recent freshwater. The latest rainfall appears to have given the catchment a good flush, which should help Yamba fishing. A few mud crabs have been reported, but blue swimmers have hardly been seen all summer.

Yamba Bait and Tackle Ph (02) 6646 1514 | https://www.facebook.com/yambabaitandtackle/

FRESHWATER FISHING

Maroon Dam

Maroon has been fishing well. A bit of rain over the last couple of weeks has moved fish around slightly. TN60s, the lipless crankbaits, have been working effectively when rolled off the edges. Early mornings are still prime for topwater and small spinnerbaits just under the surface for bass, and the same applies late in the afternoon. During the middle of the day it’s best to head up the creek and fish chatterbaits and crankbaits along the edges. There’s plenty of structure up there and bass are sitting off those trees.

Charltons Fishing    Ph (07) 3818 1677 | www.charltonsfishing.com.au

Moogerah Dam

Not much has changed here since last week. A customer on the water today has been catching bass on spinnerbaits in the trees heading up the main creek. Light‑coloured half‑ounce spinnerbaits cast tight around the trees are working well, with plenty of bass in that area. For those wanting to target yellowbelly, there are some big fish around the dam at the moment. The bay closest to the main entrance has a lot of yellowbelly sitting off the weed beds, and chatterbaits, small crankbaits and little metal blades will all catch them. Darker colours have been best, especially black blades with a touch of orange. For more bass, the opposite side of the dam near the ski‑hut houses is worth a look. There’s a point there holding fish, and metal spoons, small blades or a soft plastic rolled along the bottom will find them.

Charltons Fishing    Ph (07) 3818 1677 | www.charltonsfishing.com.au

Hinze Dam

There are good reports coming out of Hinze at the moment. The bass are moving around a fair bit, and are up the branches of both the eastern and western arms, as well as in the backs of the bays. They’re feeding in the trees now, so crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, chatterbaits and spinnerbaits rolled deep into those trees will find fish. There are plenty of bass around in those areas. Saratoga are also worth chasing at the moment. With the warm weather and a bit of rain, the toga get very active in Hinze. Some of the best toga sessions there have been on windy, rainy days. Topwater lures and small spinnerbaits just under the surface are ideal.

Charltons Fishing    Ph (07) 3818 1677 | www.charltonsfishing.com.au

No report this week.

Gold Coast Fishing Tackle   Ph (07) 5679 0840 | www.goldcoastfishingtackle.com.au

Lake Samsonvale / North Pine Dam 

North Pine is also fishing well for Saratoga, again mainly on surface lures, which have been the most reliable option in the warm, humid conditions. There haven’t been strong bass reports from North Pine this week — only that the bass have been a bit quieter than Kurwongbah — but the system is still producing the occasional fish from the banks and timbered edges. With more rain on the way, the lower‑light windows around dawn and dusk may improve activity, particularly if bait pushes into the shallows. Overall, North Pine remains worth fishing for toga, with bass catches possible but less consistent than Kurwongbah.

Tackleworld Lawnton    Ph (07) 3205 7475 | www.facebook.com/tackleworldlawnton

Lake Samsonvale (North Pine), is fishing better off the bank this week. If the weekend turns windy, the kayak fishing will be tougher, but bank‑fishing should improve. Find a bank with the wind blowing onto it and the fish should be sitting there. Spinnerbaits, metal spoons and soft plastics cast from the bank and slow‑rolled back are the best approach.

Charltons Fishing    Ph (07) 3818 1677 | www.charltonsfishing.com.au

Lake Kurwongbah

Kurwongbah has been fishing quite well, with Saratoga active on surface lures, particularly during the low‑light periods. The edges have also been producing good numbers of bass, with chatterbaits the standout lure along the weed lines and small controlled‑depth hardbodies also getting bites. There isn’t a lot of deep schooling activity mentioned this week, so the most consistent approach is to work the edges, weed pockets and any bank with visible bait movement. Despite the unsettled weather, Kurwongbah has remained one of the steadier performers in the north‑Brisbane freshwater scene.

Tackleworld Lawnton    Ph (07) 3205 7475 | www.facebook.com/tackleworldlawnton

Kurwongbah, the smaller of the two dams on the north side, continues to fish well with some good fish coming out this week. Metal blades in the main basin are still the go‑to, though anglers should be mindful of ski‑boat traffic. Up in the arms, the weed edges are holding fish, and chatterbaits, small crankbaits and metal blades are all working. The fish are quite active, and once you find a few you can usually pick up several more.

Charltons Fishing    Ph (07) 3818 1677 | www.charltonsfishing.com.au