Fishing tips Moreton Bay, October 2025

It’s October and the warmer weather is starting to roll around.

Sunday, October 19 is Gone Fishing Day, a national day for wetting a line, so get out there and have a go.

This annual event encourages people of all ages and experience levels to celebrate recreational fishing and the benefits of the activity. 

Another important upcoming event is the Women's Fishing Classic will take place from November 8-23. I encourage all female anglers regardless of skill or experience to check it out and sign up at: https://womensfishingclassic.c...;

Inshore reefs and bay waters

Snapper have been very good of late on the local inshore reefs with quite a few very good fish caught. Mixed in with them have been grass sweetlip, yellowfin bream and some solid barred javelin fish to 60cm. They have a minimum legal size of 40cm, so don’t mix them up with the spotted javelin fish (also called a silver javelin fish) which tends to be smaller and has a minimum legal size of 30m.

The reef ledges on the western side of Moreton Island and along Pearl Channel will yield snapper and grass sweetlip as well as estuary cod and black spotted tuskfish. The latter are commonly called “blue parrot” locally but are not a true parrot fish which have a fused jaw that resemble a parrot’s beak.

It tends to be the specialist anglers that catch them using very heavy gear and crabs for bait although fresh cuttlefish may also get the job done. There is no room for finesse fishing when it comes to consistently targeting and catching black spotted tuskfish. Blink and they will instantly bury you in a cave and it will be time to rig up again.

Estuary and land based

Both sand whiting and yellowfin (gold lined) whiting will be abundant during October. Probably the best locations to chase them this month are the beaches on Bribie Island from Skirmish Point to Red Beach.

Early morning tends to be the best time to catch them there around the full and the new moon. The local rock worm which can be dug at Scarborough is a great bait to use for them there.

These whiting will also be widely spread around the shallow foreshores of Deception and Bramble Bays, Margate Beach, Pine River, Hays Inlet and from Ted Smout Bridge. Boat anglers will also find them in the Caboolture River, Bribie Passage, Pine River and Hays Inlet.

Plenty of good-sized yellowfin bream and a few tarwhine and spotted javelin fish have been around the foreshores. Blood worms and yabbies are the best baits for them.

Dusky flathead have commenced their spawning period and will be moving around and aggregating around surf bars. They can be caught land based or from a boat using both hard and soft bodied lures, or live baits such as herring. Juvenile mulloway will also be taken by these methods.

Make sure you put in extra effort to release them safely as they do not handle capture stress as well as other species. This will help protect the stocks for the future.

Crabs

Both mud and blue swimmer crabs are becoming more active as the weather warms and can be targeted from boats or land based from jetties and fishing platforms. You can use up to four crab pots or dillies (or a combination) per person. Make sure your crab pot/dilly is heavy enough and has enough rope attached to the float, so it's not lost in strong tidal currents. Lost crabbing gear can harm animals and becomes litter. Do not interfere with another person's crabbing gear – this is a serious offence that carries heavy penalties.

Pelagic fish

Mac tuna and long tail tuna are around chasing baitfish in the northern part of Moreton Bay. It’s always a simple equation with these fish most days, find the bait and you will find the fish. Be prepared though to travel around to find them. Yellowtail kingfish have also been busy around the shipping beacons and the ledges along Moreton Island.

Surf beaches

Sand whiting and dusky flathead are a reliable target this month in the surf of Moreton Island. Look for very shallow gutters and fish in very close as this is where the fish will generally be. The last part of the ebb tide and the first part of the flood tide will generally be the best time to target them.

If you are heading to Moreton Island this month, it is best to target your efforts this month along the semi surf beaches between Combuyoro Point to North Point, the southern part of the island around Reeders Point, and the western beaches.

Sand whiting should be your number one target species closely followed by dusky flathead. Look for dusky flathead during the day and sand whiting in the late afternoon and early evening. Although it can depend on conditions, the early part of the flood in tide tend to be the best for sand whiting as the fish move up into the intertidal area with the tide. Dusky flathead can often be the best on ebb tide and look for places that bait fish are moving off the flat as the tide drops.

Offshore

Our usual offshore rocky reef fish have been in good abundance including snapper, pearl perch, Venus tuskfish, Moses perch and teraglin.