FLATHEAD DOMINATE CATCHES

IT’S nice to see some good weather after the cold and windy weekend put a stop to most fishos getting out on the water. Great conditions this week on the Tweed and Gold Coasts have seen keen anglers finding a variety of action. Let’s have a look at what’s been happening.

Flathead have been quite active this week leading up to the full moon. Coomera Houseboats customer John (see picture, right) did well catching and releasing a cracking 78cm fish at Kangaroo Island, Jumpinpin on a yabbie as bait on his holiday. Some bigger flathead are starting to show up more consistently as we head closer to the prime breeding time in September/ October. The big females will attract a number of smaller males, which are a good size fish if you want to keep a couple for a feed, just remember the rules in Queensland – minimum size is 40cm and maximum size limit is 75cm.

Drifting with bait is a good way to cover ground and find flathead if you’re not used to using lures. Yabbies, white pilchards, blue bait and strips of mullet fillet make great baits.

For the lure fishos, trolling hard body lures along the mangrove-lined banks of islands and edges of sandbanks is a great method as flathead will sit head into the current waiting for bait fish to swim past. Trolling against the tide is not recommended as the fish will have to turn to attack your lure. Some good areas to try your luck are Bedrooms, Tipplers Passage, Paradise Point, Aldershots, Never Fails Islands, Kalinga Bank, Tiger Mullet Channel, Cabbage Tree Point, Currumbin Creek and the Logan River Mouth.

Schools of tailor responded well to the cold westerly winds last weekend with keen anglers getting stuck into some nice quality catches. Gutters along South Stradbroke Island produced good numbers, also Main Beach north to the pumping jetty, Palm Beach, Burleigh Heads and from Fingal north to the Tweed bar.

Throwing metal slugs, surface walkers and poppers is a fun and very visually rewarding way to target tailor. Whole WA pilchards were the best bait followed by mullet, bonito or tailor fillet on ganged hooks.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed the ongoing great winter weather continues with cool, clean morning starts and warm, windless days. Not a lot has changed from last week’s report and the flathead are still dominating the catch rate.

Being in the right spot around the tide changes is the time that really triggers their feeding instinct. The deeper holes in the rivers are producing the odd tailor and very small school jew. The slight increase in water temperature has also allowed us to have a bit of fun chasing bream on surface lures. The water is very clear in the river at present so very natural coloured lures are working the best.

Clint from the Gold Coast reports typical beautiful winter weather has made for some very pleasant days out on the Gold Coast Broadwater. Flathead tended to start feeding later in the day, and the large schools of winter whiting have moved out to the open ocean to find food. There has been a distinct lack of bait fish in the ultra-clear water, apart from white bait.

There have been a few nice flathead, bream, whiting in the canals, and the odd small mulloway up the river.

Hope you all have a good weekend and get out for a fish.