THE rain has refreshed the fishing and crabbing in Moreton Bay and along our shores there are reports of excellent hauls of crabs, prawns and fish for those who managed to get out.
The pelagic fish made a feast of the abundance of baitfish in the system, and the spotted mackerel were out in numbers.
Watching the activity of birds can lead anglers to the fish.
Paravanes were very successful in catching fish in the usual spots out off Amity Banks and the Rous and Rainbow channels.
Floating pilchards also accounted for many fish.
Plenty of mackerel tuna and longtail tuna also kept anglers busy.
The mulloway and threadfin salmon were also out in the discoloured water, and the Brisbane River started producing.
The bay Islands, Wellington Point and the artificial reef systems all saw snapper up to 60cm in length and sweetlip activity as well.
Squid made an appearance, and it is a sign for the beginning of the first run of big snapper in the bay and along our shores.
If possible, use freshly caught squid as bait, and you are halfway there catching a prize sized snapper.
At night, especially the hour before the first light, snapper will come very close to shore to feed on squid.
Some great fish have been caught from local jetties by dedicated anglers.
Redland Bay locals, Travis and Aleisha Rudkin and their two boys, Kai, 10, and Riley, 12, used fresh mullet bait for their crab catch.
They used fresh mullet bait and caught the crabs on an incoming tide.
They boil the crabs in saltwater from the bay and then drop them straight into iced water to prevent overcooking the meat.
Aleisha is excellent at creating delicious recipes for the crab. Favourites include crab pasta, crab curry and crab cakes.
They said that fresh is best, and choose not to freeze any of their crab meat.
Meantime, 31 Riviera motor yacht owners have enjoyed a long weekend anchored up at Deanilla Bay on North Stradbroke Island.
The mob is organised by R Marine Crawley of Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast. They report that they had a cracker of a weekend.
They met near Sovereign Islands before motoring north, line astern.
They ate plenty of delicious prawns but, as we understand it, they did not catch the little critters themselves.
If you have any fishing questions or photographs of your catch, please contact Michael at
desdavidmichael@gmail.com.
