CURRENT LINES HOLD THE FEED
HI everyone, hope you are all having a nice week. It’s was good to see plenty of sunshine and light winds earlier in the week giving everyone some nice conditions to get out and throw a line in. It’s also been good to see plenty of kids out making the most of school holidays trying their luck at catching a fish.
As we head towards the long weekend at the time of writing my report it unfortunately looks like we are in for some strong southerly winds and a big increase in swell offshore. If you were thinking about heading offshore it would be best to wait until next week and keep an eye on the weather. With a large amount of freshwater still moving through the local system after last week’s excessive rainfall finding some clean water to fish in will improve your chances of scoring a fish. Let’s have a look at how the fishing has been this week.
Those lucky enough to have some time off during the week managed to get a few nice weather windows to head offshore for a fish. Ben White (see photo) did just that and came up trumps with some top-quality Snapper after a great session on the 36 fathom line. Current dependent both the 36 and 50 fathom grounds have been fishing well. You will still need to have a good search around to locate a patch worth fishing but if you put in the time and effort there are some great quality fish on offer.
The 36 and 50 fathom reefs have been producing a good mixed bag of Snapper, Pearl Perch, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack, Samson Fish, Trag Jew, a few Cobia and the odd Dolphin Fish can be found hanging around the fads. In closer the 18 and 24 fathom reefs have seen some pretty good fishing the past week for those keen to get an early start and have a good look around on the sounder. Fishos have reported some nice Snapper, Tusk Fish, Moses Perch, Trag Jew, Maori Cod, Silver Jew Fish, Cobia and the odd legal Pear Perch.
As it can get a bit busy in closer. it pays to spend the time having a good look around on the sounder trying to locate the best shows of either bait or fish to drop on. I will normally try not to sit in among too many boats as the extra fishing pressure and sounder noise can quite often shut the fish down. If you are planning to anchor up getting a good burly trail on the go will again increase your odds of landing the better-quality fish in the area. Just make sure you have the latest weather forecast before planning your next trip offshore.
The water quality in the Broadwater and Jumpinpin is slowly getting better after the large amount of rain we got towards the end of last week seeing a massive amount of runoff from the local catchments. Finding clean water is often the key to success when conditions are very average. I always try to look for the distinct current lines where you can easily see where the freshwater meets the salt as this is usually where the predators will be on the hunt.
Bait fish that gets washed out of the rivers will tend to school up on the current lines in search of some cleaner water. The best spots to try your luck are the open ocean entrances of the Jumpinpin Bar and Gold Coast Seaway. Try to plan your trip to fish in the last two hours of the run-in tide and the first hour of the run-out tide when the water quality will be at its best and you will also get the tide change bite period.