23/10/2026
🌦️Fishing Report Friday 23 October 2026🌦️
As often happens, we prayed for rain and got more than we needed 😅 While Wednesday and Thursday’s downpour brought flash flooding – with the Redlands and North Moreton Bay/Caboolture area receiving the worst of it – things should return to normal fairly quickly. That’s if the next few days stay dry 🙃
The other likelihood is more rain over the weekend, flash flooding continues, and streams and estuaries take longer to recover. And with many creeks already bursting their banks, there’s a chance that flooding in some places may worsen 😕
Either way, there will be no shortage of fishing options this weekend; you might just need to put up with wind and rain, and find somewhere with cleaner water 😁
🌬️OFFSHORE🌊
Reports have dropped off a little due to fewer crews getting out, but we have heard from some anglers ducking out for quick sessions here and there.
On the calmer days, those fishing the Banks and outer reefs are getting stuck into all sorts, with Maori cod, amberjack and big pearlies the main prizes out this way.
In closer, the snapper are firing over most hard bottom, and biting well in the mornings before the wind and swell picks up each day. Floatlining has been a productive way to target the bigger fish, with whole pillies, squid, cuttlefish head, or other fleshy bait the way to go. Spangled and grass emperor, various cod, mackerel, cobia and kingfish are also willing takers of a floatlined bait, so while this is predominantly a snapper technique, you should still be prepared for anything.
Trolling with both lures and baits has turned up a few pelagics, particularly in the Noosa region and further north, however things are pretty quiet across the board. Kingfish and cobia are the main predators over a lot of inshore reefs and wrecks at the moment, however by mid-November to early December, we should start seeing early signs of seasonal Spanish, wahoo, mahimahi and longtails.
🚙BEACHES AND ROCKS🏖️
Rain and big seas are never bad thing on the beaches, rocks and breakwalls, particularly if you’re after jewies, big tailor and other pelagics. If you’re after whiting, dart, flathead and bream, on the other hand, it can make things a little tricky in the short-term.
The ocean sides of Fraser, Moreton, Bribie, North Straddie and South Straddie, as well as Teewah, Noosa National Park, Mudjimba, and the Gold Coast all have decent swells pumping through. At times, this has brought jewies into the larger gutters, with dusk and early evening the best time to have a bait out.
Along the coast, tailor numbers have been thinning out, but the fish getting caught tend to be in a better size class, with 60cm fish common. While Fraser is the most consistent at the moment, Moreton and the Straddies are also fishing quite well; you might just need to spend some time driving and scouting out good gutters.
As for bread-and-butter fish, most beaches are fairly whipped up and dirty, but Red Beach on Bribie and parts of Sunshine Beach have managed to avoid the worst in terms of white water, w**d and erosion. Beaches like these and others that have stayed sheltered are your best chance of a decent whiting off the beach this weekend.
🪼MORETON BAY🐬
After the deluge, we can expect bay fish to have moved around with the influx of freshwater. River mouths will be holding more bait than usual, so it’s safe to assume these areas will be good places to target larger predators.
The entrances of the Caboolture, Pine, Brisbane and Logan rivers will be alive with activity in the coming days, with jewies, grunter, threadies, barramundi, flathead and a mixture of pelagics in there getting their fill.
Out in the bay proper, it’s difficult to know whether fish holding over deep structure will have moved in for the smorgasbord or stayed put during the commotion, or a mixture of both.
Bay pelagics might be easier to find this weekend, as large tides, dull conditions and some fresh in the system are all factors that tip the odds in the anglers’ favour. Small tides, clear water and bright sunny days are generally the hardest days to tempt bay pelagics, and we have the exact opposite of that right now! Conditions out on the bay might not be super comfortable for boaties, but if you’re willing to brave the wet, you might come up trumps!
The shallow reef around Scarborough, Woody Point and in the southern bay could go either way at the moment, either shutting down for a few days while fish adjust, or going off its tree as fish take advantage of the turbidity.
🦐RIVERS AND ESTUARIES🦀
Pretty much all systems between Noosa and the QLD/NSW border have received a decent amount of rain, and fishing wise the Logan River and Caboolture River (excluding their mouths) and most of the Pumicestone Passage creeks are off the cards at the moment. While the Pine, Brisbane and Maroochy rivers got off a little lighter, their estuaries are still chocolate brown and probably only fishable in certain places and during certain stages of the tide.
The canals may offer some sanctuary for anglers this weekend. While some canals are fed by creeks (such as Pelican Waters) and can be just as blown out as the creeks themselves, others that aren’t creek-fed or are fed by small, insignificant trickles, can avoid becoming murky during heavy rain. Raby Bay, Pacific Harbour on Bribie, and Newport Waterway will be good places to check out if you’re after cleaner water to chase bream, jacks, pelagics and more this weekend.
The mud crabs are on the move, and right now is the time to get the pots out. Is there a better way to wait out the surging, brown waters than soaking a few pots? With the amount of rain received, it’s likely the best crabs will be found in deeper water (5m+). Main channels will be the places to set pots, but please make sure your pots are marked clearly so boats don’t accidentally drive over them and get tangled up. If you need to update your name plates or floats, make sure you drop by the shop – we’ll have what you need!
🐢FRESHWATER🐸
We expected a small rise for most of our dams, what we got was several dams spilling and causing localised flooding! Kurwongbah, Ewen Maddock, Maroon, Enoggera and Baroon Pocket are all spilling, while Borumba, Hinze and Wyaralong are sitting just under their ungated spillways. With the majority of rivers and streams out of action currently, the dams will serve as a refuge for both fish and anglers. Sudden rises in water level often flood bankside vegetation and the critters that live in it, so it’s common for predators like bass, saratoga, barramundi and yellowbelly to feed amongst the salad for a few days after a rise.
Borumba, Kurwongbah, Ewen Maddock, Hinze and Maroon are all known for this phenomenon, and I can recall quite a few memorable sessions following rain in all these lakes. Weedless soft plastics and topwater lures are the way to go when you need to fish right up amongst the w**d, lilies and grass, with the Z-Man Finesse FrogZ and BaitJunkie Kikker Curly my two favourites for this stuff.
Depending on rainfalls over the weekend, we should see water levels in the streams coming back down within only a few days. Small systems tend to push their floodwaters out fairly quickly, and soon they’ll be in prime condition and looking fantastic. Streams like Sideling Creek at Petrie below Kurwongbah and Addlington Creek below Ewen Maddock have the added bonus of escapee fish from the dams. In fact, the stretches of creek below any stocked dam often fish well during or just after spilling. Bear in mind, many dams have exclusion zones immediately below their spillways for safety reasons, so please adhere to any local regulations.
😎WRAP-UP😎
Shout out to , .f1sh1ng, .flickzseq, .fishin, , , .b.f.i.s.h.i.n.g, , , , and for this week’s photos, plus everyone else who sent us messages and gave us info through the week 👊
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Good luck to anyone fishing this weekend, stay safe around floodwaters and drive carefully on the roads.
Tight lines! 🤓
