Fishing back better than ever with mackerel to take over the bay in coming months

After a recent cold snap put a freeze on fishing, action is starting to heat up in Moreton Bay with one species set to take over the area in coming months, writes a local expert.

The fishing is as good as it gets in Moreton Bay with action on the water heating up following a recent cold snap.

However, nothing beats some of the sunsets in the past week and if you were lucky to be out on the bay looking back at Wynnum Manly, it looked like the sky was on fire.

The school mackerel have come back a little closer and the babies have turned up as well, I don’t know where they have been hiding as last week there were no small ones.

But in the last few days, over towards Peel Island, we picked up 18 in a row all around the 35-45cm mark.

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The good news is they will not take long to get to 50cm plus, so there are going to be plenty of school mackerel in the bay over the next few months.

Mackerel caught in Moreton Bay. Picture: Spero Kartanos

The whiting around the Rous Channel are a little slow until the tide has some real run in it but don’t give up until the tide starts.

We were at the Amity Banks last week and caught six fish in an hour and, in the same area, 45 in the next hour as the tide started to roll.

Squire and sweetlip were around at Peel Island on the northern side but no fish to talk about around the 40cm mark.

Squire and sweetlip caught in Moreton Bay. Picture: Spero Kartanos

Cuttlefish and arrow squid are in very good numbers in the 25-30 foot marks of the close in islands but remember cuttlefish make a real mess on the boat.

Here’s a tip; get an old stainless pot to keep them in and also clean them in the pot.

Stainless does not mark and you can save hours of scrubbing ink off your pride and joy.

Until next week, good fishing.