Fishing tips for Moreton Bay in August

August is typically a month dominated by westerly winds but with plenty of fishing options available.

Inshore reefs and bay waters

Expect snapper on the inshore reefs and they can be targeted after the completion of the snapper spawning closure on August 15. Good sized fish were caught on the local reefs before the closure, so expect that to continue. The clear waters during the day coupled with the amount of fishing and boating activity can make catching good fish during the day difficult. Around dawn and dusk and nighttime is when you should be fishing for them.

Tailor will be busy around the inshore reefs and open water. Floating around a pilchard or using various metal lures should see you have some fun and get a feed.

Diver whiting will still be around for small boat fishers in Deception and Bramble Bay. Popular baits are bloodworms or strips of squid, and a good method is to drift until you find them. There is an in-possession limit of 50 fish per person but no minimum legal size. For those wanting to a pot a feed of crabs, a few blue swimmer crabs will also be around the diver whiting grounds, but this is not the best month to target them.

Pelagic fish

August can be a good month locally for school mackerel on baits such as pilchards, and metal and hard-bodied lures. You should also expect to encounter some schools of mac tuna and longtail tuna. They will move around from day to day but look for any signs of bait and bird activity to get you closer to the action.

Estuary and land based

It pays to be flexible in your targeting approaches in the estuaries and particularly land based in the bay depending on prevailing winds. Particularly later in the month, if there are periods of onshore winds from south-east or north-east it can also signal that it’s time to dust off the gear for sand and yellowfin whiting. These onshore winds can stir up the bottom in the shallow parts of Bramble and Deception Bays and Margate Beach and the whiting can be actively feeding during the day as they build up condition for their Spring spawning period. A few will also be caught by anglers targeting them at night in the clearer water. Locally dug rock worms are always a great bait for them with the foreshore of Scarborough being a favoured place for digging them.

On the calmer days, or when there are offshore winds from the west, look for tailor and flathead with some bream mixed in with them. Expect good catches around the fishing platforms of the Ted Smout bridge and Woody Point Jetty – particularly at night. Some anglers make the mistake of fishing too heavy for tailor locally. If you are bait fishing, 9 to 12lb monofilament line is all you will need for fun and a feed and don’t go too heavy on the sinker. Avoid using wire traces as it is not necessary when using ganged hooks. In fact, unweighted baits will often be the way to go. During the daylight hours, school mackerel and a few mac tuna may also turn up from time to time.

Yellowtail pike will also still be around at Woody Point and Redcliffe Jetties in particular. Live pike have also been used as bait under a float to account for tailor and school mackerel. Tiger squid are also a great target species at night this month when the water stays clear around the Peninsula and including within Scarborough Harbour.

In the estuaries themselves, mulloway have been caught in the Pine and Caboolture Rivers with some threadfin mixed in. Life baits are a great option for these species, but large paddle tail or vibe-style soft plastic lures have also been accounting for good fish. A few javelin fish will also be present well upriver, and trevally (bigeye and giant) have been bouncing around these river systems as well. Dusky flathead have been widely distributed across the shallow banks and the edges of the channels.

Surf beaches

August is always my favourite month to fish the surf beach of Moreton Island. Tailor are generally at their best there this month and can be caught early morning, late afternoon and through the night. Some moonlight is always the best and a westerly wind is preferred. While you can catch plenty of fish on pilchards and metal lures during the day, most of the larger fish will be caught at night on baits such as bonito fillets and garfish. If using pilchards, I prefer the larger ones and if conditions are right, they can be fished unweighted.

Bream, tarwhine, and swallowtail dart are likely to be abundant on the surf beach of Moreton Island as well. For swallowtail dart, yabbies are the number one bait, although eugaries (pippies), beach worms, blood worms or peeled prawns will produce some fish as well. It can also be a great month for really big sand whiting as well. In fact, August is often the best month for consistently large fish on Moreton Island. Look for very shallow gutters and drains and be prepared to use a fairly light sinker and drift the bait around to nab a feed. The semi-surf areas at the southern end of Moreton Island will also produce consistently big whiting this time of year. Worms are by far and away the best bait for them.

I know I have said it before, but for surf fishing, the Alvey reel is still king!

Offshore

The annual closed season on snapper and pearl perch to protect spawning fish comes to an end on August 15. Until then, offshore anglers will need to target other species. Other reef species that you should expect to encounter are Venus tuskfish, silver trevally, gold spot wrasse and teraglin. While for those chasing pelagics, cobia and yellowtail kingfish will certainly be in the mix.

If you do venture offshore, keep an eye out for the humpback whales as they migrate along our coast.