TIME TO TARGET FLATTIES
HI everyone, hope you are all having a nice week. It was good to see a bit more sunshine this week with just the odd shower of rain around which has been a nice start to spring. Looking at the weekend at the time of writing my report we will see some stronger northerly winds on Saturday which will ease by Sunday afternoon. Let’s check have a look at what’s been biting this week.
With the Gold Coast Sport Fish Club Flathead Classic getting close, start date the 27th and finish date the 30th of September, all keen flathead fishos have been spending as much time on the water as possible chasing these great fish. The water quality has been pretty good this week with some nice clean water on offer to target flathead on the incoming tide with the better-quality water pushing a fair way into the Broadwater and Jumpinpin.
Fingers crossed the dreaded northerly winds predicted don’t hang around too long as it doesn’t take long to reduce the water quality making it quite murky and also tends to push snot weed around most people’s favourite fishing grounds. Flathead seem to spread throughout the Gold Coast waterways with some big fish landed in both deep water and extra shallow water depending on the area you are fishing.
Fishing the shallows on the incoming tide when the water quality has been at it’s best has been very productive by throwing a mixture of hard body surface lures, large unweighted soft plastics and lightly weighted prawn imitations along the edges of mangrove islands and the tops of sandbanks. Always keep an eye out for baitfish activity in the shallows as the flathead will usually be feeding nearby.
The deeper areas such as the
Gold Coast Seaway and Jumpinpin bar have been producing some great size female fish with plenty of smaller male fish hanging nearby as we head towards spawning season. Fishing the deeper water can be quite challenging with a strong tidal flow to contend with. For deeper water make sure you adjust the size of the jig head you choose when working soft plastics and also a heavy soft vibe is recommended to keep contact with the bottom as much as possible to attract a hungry predator. When fishing the average water depth from 1.5 to 4m a 1/4 or 3/8 jig head matched with a 3-to-4-inch plastic is a great match or a 12 to 20 gram soft vibe will also work well in those water depths.
Weather permitting the offshore fishing grounds have been producing some pretty nice catches of reef fish. With the sunrise getting earlier each day as we head into spring the earlier you get out on the water the better your chances are of scoring the prime sunrise bite window. Try to give yourself enough time to make it to the area and have a good look around the area on the sounder until you can find enough life worth fishing on. You will usually know how the spot is going to fish within the first 15 minutes, if you are getting shows but not getting the bite you may have to move on to and find another area to try your luck.
Both the 18 and 24 fathom grounds have been fishing well with local fishos getting stuck into some great quality snapper on a recent trip.
If you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how you went email brett@coomerahouseboats.com.au