WINTER BREAM ON THE WAY
HI everyone, hope you have all had a good week. The weather was wet and windy at times over the Labour Day long weekend, but we still saw plenty of sunshine on the Gold and Tweed Coast making fishing a nice option for those keen to try their luck.
It looks like the showers will finally clear and we are in for a pretty nice weekend on the way with both Saturday and Sunday looking good to get out amongst the action. Let’s check out what’s been on the chew this week.
Local fishos have reported some good quality early season bream have been showing up after all the rain has given the local rivers a massive flush out last month.
There are still plenty of small ones around at the moment but as we head closer to winter larger bream will start to school up in big numbers in preparation to spawn throughout the winter months.
I recommend using a light estuary outfit spooled with 9lb mono line attached to a long 8-10lb fluorocarbon leader depending on the type of snags you are fishing; a size 3 or 4 ball sinker and a size 2 or 4 bait holder hook should do the trick.
Some great spots to try for a feed is around Short Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Crusoe Island, Kalinga Bank, Logan River, Jacobs Well, Coomera River, Nerang River, Paradise Point, Wave Break Island and the Gold Coast Seaway.
Mullet fillet, bonito fillet, white pilchards, mullet gut and yabbies are great bait. A good burly trail is important when chasing bream, try using a pellet type option from Wilson Fishing or Stimulate will work.
As we step closer to winter, all the early signs for a great bream season are here which is good news for anglers keen to try their luck.
Some nice tailor have come from the surf gutters along South Stradbroke Island the past couple of weeks which is great news as we head closer to prime tailor season during the cooler months ahead.
Once the westerly winds turn up it will be a great time to hit your local surf beach gutters for a look. The swell is tipped to drop, meaning a beach fishing session at your local would be a good option.
We have been landing some extra big greenback tailor for the past few weeks offshore on the local reefs. These schools will tend to move closer to the mainland and into the gutters to feed.
Try using a set of 3 x ganged 4/0 hooks with a 20lb mono trace and start with a 5 ball sinker, this will have to be adjusted according to the sweep in the gutter.
Whole WA pilchards will make great bait along with mullet fillet. If the tailor are thick you may need to change to a wire trace to stop bite-offs but try mono first as they can be quite picky sometimes and your bait will present much more naturally.
Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports once again flathead have dominated the catch with trolling working as well as jigging the deep holes with Samaki vibes and Ecogear ZX40’s. The deep holes have also produced a couple of small school jewies and the odd giant trevally.
Well done to everyone who entered and fished this year’s Pirtek Fishing Challenge I hope you had a great time, and congratulations to my daughter Rebecca on winning 3rd place Junior Whiting. You can view the results at https://pirtekfishingchallenge.com.au