BASS numbers are increasing in the region's dams as the fish put on condition at the start of spawning season.
With school holidays coming up, Lake Macdonald near Cooroy is a pleasant spot to spend a few days for anglers.
Australian bass, golden and silver perch are stocked. The lake is restricted to electric-powered, sail and paddle craft. Facilities include barbeques, picnic tables and toilets.
On the northern bank of Lake Macdonald, accommodation at Camp Cooroora offers powered and unpowered sites.
In the salt water, anglers have been landing some excellent early season whiting.
The Pelican Banks, Banana Banks and Amity Banks in the 2.5m-4m contours are productive areas. Yabbies and squid are the most popular baits. The Broadwater is also firing up, as well as most surf beaches.
Thompsons Beach at Victoria Point is an excellent land-based option for catching a feed.
You can get worms from Bayside Bait and Tackle on Colburn Ave, which will significantly increase your chances of catching a fish.
The winter snapper fishing is full-on, with many fish in the 50-60cm slot size. There are a few about the 70 cm mark, while those fish in the 80cm range can be bit scarce.
The bigger fish often hang back from the school and are on the fringes, so they can pick their opportunity for a feed. Sometimes a bigger bait and a longer cast out from the back of a boat will attract better-sized fish.
Try the shallows around the Moreton Bay Islands, Potts Point, Wellington Point reef system, and snapper artificial reef systems. Drift fishing with artificial lures is effective.
The best baits are whiting heads, pike and squid. However, you cannot fault a fresh fillet of mullet. Even once the flesh has been stripped off, the skin can still attract a bite.
Friday at 4 pm, I ventured down to the beach with high hopes of catching a few tailor. The high tide was at 6pm, and I had reports of some quality tailor being landed on Thursday evening.
Fortunately, better luck was just around the corner. At first light on Sunday, I hoped to catch a snapper as I rowed out to my favourite spot. I put out a whiting head on one line for snapper and a floating pilchard on another for a tailor. Almost immediately, the pilchard took off, and a few minutes later, I netted a 55cm snapper. I was back on the beach within an hour and Redlands local Kay Wheeler kindly took a photo of the snapper.
If you have any fishing questions or photographs of your catch, please contact Michael at desdavidmichael@gmail.com
