Go early to beat ill winds
LOOKS as though we’re in for some northerly winds tomorrow before pulsing early Sunday then swinging around to the west later in the day.
Conditions will be moderate offshore for those in small to average size craft during these times. Might be best to try early tomorrow or later Sunday.
There’s been some decent catches of cobia, snapper and squire coming in from the reefs while tailor have been caught on the beaches and bream and luderick from the estuaries. Mangrove-lined banks such as Kalinga, The Five Ways, Tiger Mullet Channel, the southern tip of Short Island and most creek entrances and deep holes with structure produced the best catches of bream during the week with yabbies and white bait working well.
The sand flats next to Coby Coby, Pandanus Island, the entrance to the Pimpama River and throughout Tipplers Channel have all been producing school flathead and whiting on the first of the run out tide. Best to use beachworms and yabbies for the whiting and white bait, Squidgie soft plastics, yabbies and small diving lures for flathead.
Luderick have also been caught along the southern tip of Short Island. Tailor are being caught but in scattered numbers on the run in tide throughout the bar entrance and along the logs and adjoining bank on the southern tip of North Stradbroke.
Most of the upper reaches of rivers and creeks have been a touch up and down with only a few bream and school flathead caught.
Beach fishing has seen tailor and dart dominating most of the catches from the gutters although not in great numbers this week. Fishing the rock walls opposite the main channel at Paradise Point, under The Sovereign Islands Bridge, the old deep hole on the southern side of Crab Island and the entrance to Runaway Bay Marina should all produce bream, school flathead, javelin fish and whiting.
These areas have also produced some chopper tailor on the run out tide at night. Try these areas on the last of the run in tide and the first of the run out tide.
Bream, flathead and the odd trevally were also caught along the rock walls adjacent Hope Harbor, Sanctuary Cove and where the Coomera River and Saltwater Creek meet. Fishing for bream has been good with plenty of fish landed along the Seaway walls, the pipeline, the walls of Wavebreak Island, the entrance to Biggera Creek and along the old submerged logs in the southern channel.
Fishing the first of the run in tide and the first of the run out pulled the larger fish and the best baits were yabbies, fish flesh, peeled green prawns and at night mullet gut.
Huge schools of big luderick are working their way along the seaway walls and the pumping jetty. Try fishing with green stringy moss, sea cabbage or black weed and they’ll also take a yabbie from time to time.
Flathead have also been caught around the Seaway entrance and in canals. Further up in the Broadwater, bream, chopper tailor, flathead, trevally and the odd school jew have been caught around the moored boats next to old Grumpy’s Wharf and under the old Sundale Bridge. Using fresh baits such as live herrings or yabbies will work well.
Anglers trolling small diving lures in these areas managed to catch themselves school flathead. The back reaches of the Tally behind Coplicks Golf Course and around the entrances to canals are worth a shot for bream, flathead and the odd trevally.
Sand crabs can be caught in the mid reaches along with the odd early season muddie.
Both the Currumbin and Tallebudgera creeks saw a mixed catch of bream, whiting, flathead and luderick.
The highway bridges produced bream and luderick mainly on the run in tide. Trolling small diving lures along the mangrove lined banks and in the deep channels on the run out tide produced a catch of flathead and the odd trevally.
Drifting with beachworms around the entrances produced some nice sized whiting and the odd school flathead. Tailor have been a little slow but try the early morning or late afternoon with pilchards or garfish.
Whiting and dart have been caught on beachworms from most shallow gutters. A trick for any fishing is to slowly wind in your bait. The movement attracts the fish. Down in the Tweed, luderick have been landed from under Boyd’s Bay Bridge and along the adjoining rock walls on black weed, green stringy moss or sea cabbage.
These can be bought from any fishing tackle outlet in the local area.
Bream are also in good numbers and were caught off the bar rock walls, around Jack Evans Boat Harbour and Fingal Wall with white bait, yabbies and peeled green prawns working well.
Further up in the river, flathead, the odd trevally and a few whiting were caught mainly on the run up tide. Those anglers spinning around the entrance also managed to snare a feed of trevally and chopper tailor. Setting a few pots out in the river should entice a feed of sand crabs and the odd early season muddie from the lakes.
Try early morning or late afternoon for tailor from the deeper beach gutters. They have slowed down a touch during the week but there’s still some nice sized fish working the gutters. Whiting, dart and sea bream are taking yabbies, pipes or beachworms from the shallower gutters. Cobia are in good numbers on the closer reefs with live yakkas or legal size tailor scoring the fish. Other species caught in close were chopper tailor, squire, trag, mac tuna and there is plenty of whaler sharks annoying anglers. Some nice snapper have been caught on the 36s north east and out wide on the 50s expect to catch amberjack, squire, rosy jobfish, morwong, kingfish and a general mixed bag. Try spinning for doggy mackerel in close around the bait schools. The close grounds have been up and down but try for squire, sea bream, tailor, tuna and cobia from the local Palm Beach and Gravel Patch Reefs. Squire, tusk fish, trag jew, snapper and cobia should be caught from the wider reefs. Doggy mackerel are just behind the beach gutters eating the bait schools. Fishing the reefs east of Cook Island should see anglers catching quality snapper, sweet lip, squire, cobia and tusk fish. The wider 42 and 50 fathom grounds will be holding pearl perch, amberjack, kingfish, pigfish, rosy job fish and morwong. Doggy mackerel have been landed behind the beach gutters up and down the coastline. Best way to catch them is to spin small baitfish size metal lures and cast them directly into the baitfish that are being eaten and start retrieving.