Fishing Moreton Island
Tidal flows are exceptionally powerful around Cape Moreton, with strong ocean currents generating massive pressure eddies on the down-current side of the rocks. Seasonal shifts are highly pronounced, with winter welcoming outstanding spawning runs of yellowfin bream, tailor, and surf Mulloway, while summer sees the arrival of giant trevally, queenfish, and Spanish mackerel. Understanding how to read the beach gutters is critical, as fish will shift their positions constantly to follow the baitfish schools.
Land-based anglers can target this pristine wilderness system by driving the sand tracks and fishing the beach gutters on foot. Wading the shallow surf gutters on a rising tide yields outstanding sand whiting and flathead on light spinning gear. Wading anglers must exercise extreme caution, as the shifting sand banks are highly unstable and rogue waves can wash over the rock platforms.
For boaters and kayak anglers, beach launching through the surf provides direct access to the close-lying offshore reefs and gravel patches. Navigating the surf zone requires a high-degree of skill and constant vigilance to avoid rolling your vessel in the breaking swell. The ultimate prize lies in fishing the deep-water current lanes surrounding Cape Moreton, which hold world-class sportfish.
Top 10 Species
Landbased
- Tangalooma Beach Flats: Wading the shallow sandy flats directly in front of the resort on a rising tide is highly productive. Walk quietly on the sand to avoid spooking active schools, casting ultra-light fluorocarbon leaders and fresh baits. Focus your efforts on the small channels where the current accelerates to target whiting.
- Bulwer Wrecks Wall: Cast metal spoons or whole pilchards on ganged hooks directly into the active foaming wash. Retrieve with an aggressive high-speed burn to trigger active tailor feeding near the wrecks. Let the lure sink for three seconds before cranking to locate the school.
- Kooringal Beach Ledges: Slow-roll three-inch soft plastic paddle tails parallel to the sandy drop-offs during the last of the run-out tide. Let the jig head bump the bottom to kick up visual puffs of silt along the drop-off. Focus your casts around the isolated weed clumps where flathead wait.
- Yellow Patch Shallows: Present live baits on light running sinker rigs along the shallow sandy ripple zones. Retrieve with a slow, continuous twitch to target sand whiting feeding along the sandy drop-offs. Focus your casts during the first two hours of the run-in tide.
- Reeders Point Groyne: Cast heavy chrome spoons or weighted soft plastics directly into the deep rip currents draining off the point. Work the lure with a fast, erratic hopping retrieve to trigger aggressive strikes from giant trevally. Target the twilight periods of dawn and dusk when baitfish concentrate close to the wall.
Offshore
- Tangalooma Wrecks: Drift the low-lying wreck structures in fifteen meters of water casting seven-inch soft plastics on light jig heads. Work the plastic with a slow lift and drop retrieve close to the bottom to target snapper. Use light fluorocarbon leaders to fool the wary fish in this shallow water.
- Bulwer Deep Gutter: Position your boat up-current of the deep muddy channels and use a GPS-lock motor to hover. Deploy live slimy mackerel on heavy running sinker rigs using a size four-zero circle hook. Target the brief thirty-minute window of slack water high tide for Mulloway.
- Cape Moreton Reefs: Troll deep-diving hardbody minnow lures parallel to the rocky headland cliffs at three knots. Select lures that dive to six meters to bounce along the deep bottom transition. Watch your sounder for large arches holding near the ledges for Spanish mackerel.
- South Passage Gutter: Anchor your vessel just outside the main current run and cast weighted squid baits down-current. Use a heavy pyramid sinker to keep the bait pinned securely along the muddy channel floor. Focus your fishing during the twilight periods of dawn and dusk.
- Yellow Patch Gutter: Slowly troll deep-diving hardbody lures parallel to the sandy drop-offs on a high tide. Target the current seams where the sandy channel drops away into the deep passage. Run a forty-pound fluorocarbon leader to survive the sharp snags when a big kingfish strikes.
Hot Spots
- Tangalooma Wrecks: Rebuilt shipping hulls providing direct boat casting access to deep current channels.
- Bulwer Wrecks: Sunken vessels and shallow sandy flats offering outstanding land-based casting access.
- Kooringal Beach Ledges: Shallow sandy drop-offs holding ambush-feeding dusky flathead.
- Cape Moreton Reefs: Deep rocky reef structures holding schooling yellowtail kingfish.
- Reeders Point: Sandy beach spit and deep gutters perfect for targeting sand whiting.
Local Bait Tips
- Baitfish: Cast-netted along the shallow sandy margins of the western beaches on a rising tide. Keep these hardy live baits in an aerated tank to attract flathead.
- Beach Worms: Pulled from the wet sand on the eastern surf beaches using fresh fish frames on a receding tide. Hook them through the head on a size four long-shank hook for surf whiting.
- Pipis: Sourced by twisting your feet in the wet sand along the eastern surf beaches on a low tide. Hook them whole on a light running sinker rig for dart.
Bait and Tackle
- TACKLE LAND SANDGATE: 78 Rainbow Street, Sandgate QLD 4017 | Phone: (07) 3269 5060
- THE TACKLE WAREHOUSE: 436 Old Cleveland Road, Camp Hill QLD 4152 | Phone: (07) 3398 6500
- WATER TOWER BAIT AND TACKLE: 10 Ernest Street, Manly QLD 4179 | Phone: (07) 3396 1833
Basecamp & Accom
- Castaways Store Bulwer: 100 Moreton Street, Bulwer QLD 4025 | Phone: (07) 3408 2212
Emergency & Safety
- Volunteer Marine Rescue Brisbane: 95 Allpass Parade, Shorncliffe QLD 4017 | Radio: VHF 16, 67 | Phone: (07) 3269 8888
