Mackerel back on menu
HI everyone, hope you are all having a nice week. It was great to finally see a few days of good weather last weekend with light winds and a small swell offshore giving fishos a great weather window to go and chase a feed.
It was a bit windy during the week with a cooler south-easterly hanging around, but the good news at the time of writing is the weekend ahead is looking very favourable for fishing with light north-easterly winds and a decrease in swell.
Sunday looks like being the pick of the days for me so far.
Now let’s have a look at what’s been caught on the Gold and Tweed coasts this week. Some great catches of tasty whiting have been landed this week, with Brett Van Latham (below right) getting amongst some top quality fish in the Nerang River last weekend. It has been a good season for whiting so far this summer with good numbers of solid fish being caught.
Fishing at night has consistently produced the best fish. Some of the better spots have been the Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek, Wave Break Island, Coomera River, Pimpama River, North Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well and the Logan River.
When looking for a spot to try, you need to pick an area that gets a good amount of run in the tide, this helps to stir up the bottom and assist the schools of whiting feeding.
If you have a sounder try to look for an undulating bottom rather than flat ground, a water depth of between 1-3m is pretty well ideal.
On high tide you can even target the tops of sandbanks quite successfully in extremely shallow water.
As the tide runs out fish the edges of the banks and spread your rods out over a few different depths of water until you find the best depth to fish in.
If an area goes quiet just keep moving around until you start to find the school of fish as they can move around a fair bit when searching for a feed.
Keep your tackle as light as possible – I recommend a light estuary outfit around 7-9 foot long with a sensitive tip matched with a small Alvey or spin reel spooled with 6-9lb mono, a long 6lb fluorocarbon leader, size 3 to 5 ball sinker, current dependant, and a size 6 or 4 baitholder hook depending on what bait you are using,
The best bait is live blood worms, beach worms and yabbies. The conditions have been pretty good for getting offshore the past week which is a welcome change for all the below-average conditions so far this summer.
Good news for those fishos that like to chase spanish mackerel: the first of the two closures ended on February 21, giving you a chance to target a feed off South East Queensland.
Spotted mackerel seemed to be busting up on a few of the closer reefs, making a welcome target for a feed. This weekend you will be able to target both spanish and spotties – try trolling lures around the 18 and 24 fathom reefs off the seaway, Mermaid Reef, Palm Beach reef, and the Gravel Patch at first light while keeping a keen eye on the sounder for signs of fish schooling and bait fish that would hold predators.
Bottom fishing has also produced some nice snapper, jewfish, moses perch, tusk fish, Maori cod, trag jew and cobia from the 18 and 24 fathom grounds. Boats trolling skirted lures on the 36 and 50 fathom lines are still finding some good-sized black marlin, dolphin fish and wahoo.
If the current is a bit slower and the trolling is quiet it will be worth having a drop for some snapper, pearl perch, tusk fish, yellow tail king fish, samson and amberjacks on the wider reefs.
If you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, email us at brett@coomerahouseboats.com.au