Terrific family locations to enjoy great holiday action

Within a short drive of Ipswich, there are a lot of great children friendly fishing and camping options.

WITH the start of the school holidays and Christmas upon us, it's worth looking further afield.

Within a short drive of Ipswich, there are a lot of great children friendly fishing and camping options.

North of Brisbane is Borumba Dam that is fishing really well for bass and saratoga.

Most of the anglers are chasing the saratoga early and late in the day, fishing the structure around the edges of the bays using shallow divers or surface lures.

These "toga'' are spectacular fish, often jumping numerous times to try throw the lure from their mouth once hooked. They are not regarded as a table fish and are often released to fight another day.

The bass are schooling off the points and feeding throughout the day.

Drew Sharpe with a decent Gold Coast mangrove jack.

Blades and heavily weighted soft plastics are the go at the moment but Jackall Tn60s and Masks are getting the bites when they slow down.

The Gold Coast is producing quality mixed bags of estuary species.

Bread and butter species like bream, flathead and whiting can be caught from the bank around the Spit and Budds Beach near the Council Chambers.

The humble prawn or sea worm are productive when fishing with kids.

If you want to try using lures, small top water lures like the Zipbait Skinny Pop or Bass Day Sugar Minnow are great for targeting whiting, bream and trevally on the surface.

Using lures, an incoming tide seems to be better. A quick retrieve will get the fish chasing it down.

If you have access to a kayak or boat, mangrove jacks are on the chew.

The jacks are renowned for playing dirty and love to live near structure.

For this reason, they are often encountered while fishing pontoons, rock walls and around bridge pylons.

Paddle-tailed plastics and deep diving lures like the Jackall Squirrel 79 are go-to lures but jacks will often hit anything if cast into the right spot.

Hold on and tighten your drag as they hit hard and will take advantage of any structure close by.

Jack Wilkinson with his biggest mud crab.

Mud crabs are also on the move after the recent rain.

That is perfect timing if you can catch a feed for Christmas lunch.

Take the pots with you while fishing and drop them near creek or river mouths for better results.

Remember to mark your pots with your name, address and phone number, and write you name and phone number on your float.

Charlton's Bait and Tackle is at Redbank.

Originally published as Terrific family locations to enjoy great holiday action