Get out there while you can

Whatever species you’re targeting, load up your gear and head for your favourite spot

It was a bit wet and windy last weekend but is was good to see plenty of fishos out braving the conditions.

During the week we had a good run with light winds and the odd storm move through on the Tweed and Gold Coast, giving us some pretty nice days on the water.

Unfortunately the wind is tipped to pick up from the north on Saturday before swinging around to the S/SW and increasing rain making for more testing conditions.

Sheltered waters will be the go-to until the weather eases enough to get back offshore.

The Broadwater continues to produce some great feeds of quality whiting again this week for those lucky fishos able to sneak out and enjoy some of the great weather conditions we had during the week.

Whiting will tend to move around quite a bit when they are feeding, locating good numbers of fish can quite often mean changing spots several times until you find them feeding in better numbers.

The southern Broadwater has fished well again this week anywhere from the Sundale Bridge north to Paradise Point has seen some quality feeds of whiting caught.

When looking for fish to target try fishing a few different depths of water to give you the best chance, also pick an area that gets a fair bit of tidal flow as this also encourages the whiting to feed more aggressively. Live bait is the best option, try yabbies, beachworms and bloodworms.

Some good spots to start are Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Paradise Point, Coomera River, Nerang River, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well Shoals, Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel and the Logan River. Fish as light a gear as possible, use a rod with a sensitive tip, make sure you have a big enough sinker to keep your bait on the bottom where the fish feed.

When you are getting a bite just let the fish take the bait for as long as possible, if you strike too early you will miss the fish.

There has also been plenty of bream, tarwhine and grunter ready to hit your bait before a whiting can find it.

Once the wind and swell eases offshore we should see some great fishing on offer.

Ben (see photo in report) managed to sneak out during the week in a good weather window and nailed a great feed of good-sized spotted mackerel off the Gold Coast.

Spotted mackerel have been caught in pretty good numbers the past week, fishos have been finding fish at Palm Beach Reef, The Gravel Patch, Mermaid Reef, the 18 fathoms reefs off Southport, The Bait Grounds and also pretty much straight out from the Seaway if you are lucky to hit a school of fish feeding.

When looking for mackerel keep your eyes peeled for any surface action that would give them away, when they feed, they tend to push a pretty decent splash of water, birds diving into the water to pick up scraps is a good sign and also work any bait schools.

Good news for anglers keen to target a Spanish, the recent closure has now ended, and Spanish are now back on the target list and menu.

Keep a keen eye on the sounder for bait and signs of predators feeding.

You can cover ground by trolling a mixture of diving and skirted lures, once you locate fish you can try slow trolling live baits or just dropping down a bait into the school. The 18 and 24 fathom reefs have produced a mixed bag of snapper, moses perch, trag jew, maori cod and silver jew. Out wider current dependant the 36 and 50 fathom lines have seen some great hauls of snapper, pearl perch, trag jew, yellow tail kingfish and amberjack. Best baits are WA pilchards, whole large squid, mullet fillet, bonito fillet and also mac tuna fillet. The fads have been holding plenty of dolphin fish, trolling the same area has also seen some bigger wahoo and the odd marlin showing up.

Mud crabs have been a good target species after the latest rain and storms, with more fresh water.