Ideal options to chase a variety of species

THE weather looks promising this weekend.

With the start of the school holidays, it's a great time to get out and on the water with the kids.

The Gold Coast provides plenty of options for all anglers.

If you have access to a boat or kayak, the canals are producing a smorgasbord of activity. Trevally, tarpon, bream and mangrove jacks are regular catches on bait and lures.

Casting larger lures like paddle tail plastics or diving lures near pontoons, bridge pylons or rock walls is popular for targeting jacks and trevally.

A steady retrieve is all that is needed.

If you are using suspending lures, a small pause can trigger a hit.

Run out tides early in the morning or late in the afternoon are best.

Tarpon and bream are more wary and will require you to downsize your leader length and use slightly smaller lures.

Soft plastics are great as they can be fished at different depths and can be changed easily to suit different areas.

Small white plastics have been very effective early in the morning for tarpon in the upper Coomera River.

If you are land based, focus your attention to the rock walls and bridges late in the afternoon and into the night.

Baits seem to work well for jacks, jewies and the odd trevally.

Mullet fillets or small live baits are the go but prawns and squid will work for bream at the same areas.

Further north, the Bribie Island Passage has been great for flathead and whiting.

Focus on the numerous drop-offs for the flathead and try soft plastics like the Keitech 3inch Swing Impacts and work the run out tides.

A few people have been targeting the whiting up there on small poppers over the flats at high tides and have been doing really well.

The Bassday Sugar Pen is a great starting lure but the Atomic poppers are also worth a try. Work your popper fairly quick and don't slow down if you see whiting chasing it.

The dams are fishing a little tough at the moment and the rivers might be a better choice if you want to go for a kayak or bank bash.

Small Spinnerbaits and diving lures have been fooling the bass but blades like the Ecogear ZX40 worked in the deeper stretches will see you hooked up to the odd yellowbelly in the Brisbane River. Baits of live worms are great for bass and catfish and will keep the bites coming it.

A few sharks are still moving around the rivers and they are responding well to baits of freshwater eel or live baits.

Tidal waters seem to be a little more reliable and the end on the run out is a hot time.

Remember to take care of the sharks if you do catch one and release it to help keep the rivers healthy.

Long-nosed pliers are a must when removing the hooks as sharks have very sharp teeth.

- Matt Osley (Charlton's Fishing at Redbank)