HOOK IN FOR SOME TOP BITES
HI everyone, hope you’ve all had a great week. We have been desperate for rain for months now and some parts of the Gold Coast copped up to 300mm last weekend. With so much freshwater in the system let’s have a look at some options for the Australia Day long weekend.
Local fisho Paul Wilshire had a great trip recently, getting stuck into some top quality Spanish mackerel on the shallow reefs (see photo). Paul used a couple of methods: slow-trolling live baits and then switching to trolling diving lures. Spaniards can be found on most of the reefs on the Gold and Tweed coasts; from the bait reef out to about 24 fathoms will fish the best.
Same principles apply as any other form of fishing: keep an eye on the sounder for bait schools, bird activity or surface feeding and you should find the fish. Mermaid Reef, Palm Beach Reef, Gravel Patch, Fidos, Nine Mile, and the 18 to 24 fathoms reefs off the Gold Coast should all produce Spaniards.
For live baits I recommend using a single-strand wire trace with a stinger rig of a Mustad Hoodlum on top and a quality treble hook on the bottom.
After a massive flush-out, fishing closer to the open ocean entrances is recommended; either the Pin Bar mouth or the Gold Coast Seaway should be fishing well around the tide changes. The best areas to target will be the current lines where the fresh water meets the salt. These areas will hold bait fish and the predators like tailor, trevally, jew fish, squire and bream.
Regular customers have done well on the mud crabs after the rain, scoring a great feed using mullet as bait. The
Coomera River nearer the mouth of the North or South Arm has crabbed well, as have the Pimpama River, Logan River, Nerang River, Brown Island, Jacobs Well and Brown Bays on Russell Island.
Bream are one species that love the rain and fishos have been catching plenty this week. Bream will eat just about anything and can be found scavenging in numbers around most canal entrances, bridges, jetties, rock walls and marinas. Find the right structure and you should do well. They are a great species for the kids to chase on holidays.
Smithy, from Brad Smith Fishing Charters, says the boat traffic on the Tweed River this week has been a lot quieter with the constant wind and early-morning showers. But he said that hadn’t stopped the fishing, with good planning producing fairly consistent results. Fishing the flats around the top of the tide with surface lures has snared whiting and bream.
On the Broadwater, it has been a good week for fishing, with some variety caught and big mangrove jacks still coming in at night and late afternoons. The lighter winds and smaller tides have made for pleasant conditions. There have been a lot of squid around. The best areas to fish have been Southport, Bums Bay, the west side of Carters Bank, and the Currigee area at times.
Local waterways will be extra busy this long weekend, so be safe on the water and enjoy our great backyard.
Hope you all have a good weekend and get out for a fish. If you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how you went at brett@fishotackle.com.au.