MACKEREL BITE NOT SLOWING
WE finally cracked some decent weather earlier in the week and as is often the case after a period of unfishable conditions the fish were biting.
One boat nailed six marlin in areas like Spot X and Deep Treg using live bait such as yakkas and slimely mackerel.
If you find the bait schools in around 80m of water you can be assured there will be some small black marlin lurking nearby.
In these areas it is also worth trolling skirted lures for both wahoo and big dolphin fish as well.
Sunday is looking the better day over the weekend for getting offshore but if you have had your fill of pelagic fishing, there have been some big snapper taken on the closer reefs.
Nobody knows for sure why snapper head to shallower waters during big swells but if you try places like the 18 fathom grounds on dawn it is definitely worth trying your luck.
One species no Gold Coast fisherman gets sick of catching is mackerel and fortunately it has been a great season.
But the season should soon be coming to an end. However, it shows no signs of slowing down and, if anything, it has gotten even better.
Good catches of both spotty and Spanish mackerel have been taken this week at the usual spots like Mermaid and Palm Beach Reef as well as the Gravel Patch.
Perhaps the best spot though has been off Jumpinpin Bar in around 15m of water while trolling deep diving lures slowly. Also just off Sea World has produced some good catches too.
When fishing for mackerel this way it always pays to have a spinner rod rigged up ready to cast with a metal lure in case the spotty mackerel bust up on the surface.
On the beaches I watched a professional wormer pull hundreds of worms on Narrowneck Beach earlier in the week.
With the recent big swell whipped up by Cyclone Linda new surf gutters have formed on our open beaches and they are holding quality whiting, which are great eating, and bream. Good Luck.