Monday

No time for anywhere but Bribie at the moment, but I decided to try a few different areas. These bright winter dawns are the best of the year and although the cooler weather makes it a bit tougher to get out of bed in the dark, it’s dark for much longer.

I started on the Bribie Island side at about 5.45 am, just north of the bridge. I would be fishing the low tide and the start of the run in. The water was still and the tide had slowed down. I started with a GULP 2” Shrimp soft plastic in the Banana Prawn colour and I have now swapped back down to fishing with a 10lb fluorocarbon leader. This definitely produces more hits than fishing with 12 lb leader or heavier. It is also a good strategy to try and catch a few bream.

There was not much going on under the lights below the bridge. A few prawns skittered around, which was why I chose the Shrimp patterned soft plastic. At about 6.00 am, I caught a couple of small Pike. I moved a bit further to the south and a few minutes later, I caught two 35cm flathead, which had been lying in the shadows on the edge of the weed beds.

The sun started to light things up and nothing much was happening, so I drove up to White Patch Beach, further north on Bribie Island. The drop off that lines the edge of the Pumicestone Passage, also runs along the shoreline here. I parked at the set of steps down to the beach and wandered down. The fishing can be tough here but the scenery is fantastic, so it’s worth a regular visit.

There are nearly always lots of pike here and whilst you do catch the odd snapper, queenfish, mulloway and trevally, it is the core estuary species of cod, bream, flathead and tailor that dominate. Predictably, I found a patch of pike straight away. It was now about 7.30 am. I swapped to a GULP 3” Minnow soft plastic in the Lime Tiger colour and the pike liked this as well.

I moved slowly to the south and swapped to the DUO Realis Shad 59 MR a suspending hard body that has caught a few bream for me. I put in some long casts further to the south and I slowly twitched the lure back along the edge of the drop off. I felt a few grabs and then, as I slowed things down a little I connected with a fish. It was a small bream – about 28cm long. A few casts later, I connected with another, but I had the drag set a little tight and I pulled the trebles out.

It was now 8.30 am, well after low tide but the water still appeared to be running in, on the surface. The water was quite, murky and stirred up, so I decided to swap to a big bright coloured soft plastic lure. I chose the GULP Crazylegs Jerkshad in the Curried Chicken colour. I was now close to Wrights Creek, casting ahead of me into the shallows.

I was now close to Wrights Creek, casting ahead of me into the shallows. I got plenty of grabs and small bites, as I worked the soft plastic along the edge of the drop off, but I had to wait another hour to find the next fish. It was another small flathead about 35cm.

At about 9.45 am I had to pack up. I had found a few small fish, which usually means the bigger ones are nearby, but there was nothing for dinner.