Shute Harbour

THERE are still good numbers of queenfish and trevally keen to take live baits, plastics and surface lures.

Small plastics and vibes at night are producing tarpon.

Barramundi and mangrove jack are still a possibility for those wanting to use live baits at night.

With squid still hanging around, they are a great way to fill in time between bites.

Rock walls

ALL rock walls are a good chance of producing quality barramundi at the moment.

While these fish can be caught on large plastics or deep diving lures, the best technique is certainly live baiting for them.

Small queenfish and trevally have been taken on both baits and smaller plastics and surface lures.

These small plastics have also provided entertainment during the evenings on energetic tarpon.

Islands

WITH building tides this week, fishing the deep water is going to be difficult.

There are great reports of coral trout and sweetlip about.

Fishing the fringing reefs and points which break up and slow the current should see good catches of reef fish.

Giant trevally love big tides and if any of these points or reefs are holing bait, throwing big poppers or stickbaits could result in awesome surface strikes and a hard battle.

Flicking plastics, surface lures and shallow divers over the shallows is an entertaining and visual way of catching reef fish with the bigger tides.

Keep a squid jig rigged and ready as they will often follow your lures to the boat while fishing this way.

Peter Faust Dam

LEADING up to the full moon this weekend should see the barramundi in the dam feeding well.

It's perfect time to escape the heat as the brighter evenings means the best time to target these fish will be during the darker hours.

Trolling deep divers five metres-plus at night can deliver some truly heart stopping surface explosions.

Rivers

BUILDING tides will mean more care will need to be taken with pot placements for those hoping for a feed of crabs. Look for spots that will situate your pots out of the main current to prevent them getting washed away and lost.

Focusing on drains, feeder creeks and back eddies with both plastics and hard body lures would be a good start for finding fish as these spots are where the bait will be seeking refuge from the main tidal flow. Trolling lures, casting vibes or live baits around the holes and deeper banks during the slack of the tide should see slightly better barramundi being hooked.

Ryan Fuller, Whitsunday Fishing World

Reef report

GREAT conditions over the past week had some quality fishing at the reef.

This week sees much of the same although the tides are building to the full moon.

Ash Matthews, Sea Fever Sportfishing

Weekend weather

ON Saturday anglers can expect a sunny morning with a slight (30%) chance of a shower in the afternoon and evening and the chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening.

On Sunday winds will ease from the east north-east.