TIME THE TIDE FOR TAILOR

IT was good to see some sunshine and light winds earlier this week on the Tweed and Gold Coast.

But unfortunately, we are looking at the wind strengthening from the southeast and the rain to return just like it has every weekend for the past few months.

It seems to be very persistent this year. Fingers crossed as we get closer to winter the rain will ease and we will see more calm sunny days ahead of us.

Good luck to all anglers fishing the Pirtek Fishing Challenge on the weekend, hope you can land your target species.

Let’s have a look at what to target this long weekend.

Now that the water quality is getting back to normal, fishos have reported some good hauls of tailor around Jumpinpin with the last two hours of the run-in tide and the first hour of the run-out tide the best times to target them.

If you can time the tides around sunrise or sunset this is when tailor are usually feeding at their best.

Trolling shallow or mid water diving minnows is a great way to cover territory and entice a bite if the fish are active in the area. Always keep an eye on the sounder for signs of bait and fish, an eye on the water for fish splashing while feeding and an eye on the sky for birds waiting to feed on bait and scraps.

Once you locate an active school of tailor feeding, try casting metal slugs, or surface lures to tempt a strike. This is a fun way to fish and rewarding when you see the fish strike.

If you prefer to fish with baits, drifting to cover ground is recommended again until you can find a school of fish. I recommend trying a combination of baits that are unweighted and also weighted to find the depth they are feeding at. WA pilchards, blue bait, bonito strips, mullet fillet and even white pilchards all make good options.

As tailor have razor sharp teeth most anglers will use a wire trace when using bait, I normally stick to a mono leader as this will present the bait more naturally and if the fish are fussing can help to produce a bite. I only go to wire when the fish are thick and hitting anything you throw at them.

Jumpinpin Bar Entrance, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Bedrooms, mouth of Tiger Mullet Channel and Canaipa Passage are good spots to start looking for tailor.

The Gold Coast Seaway is still holding a few nice school jew and Mangrove Jack mostly hitting live baits such as yakkas, pike, mullet and herring, fished over bait schools around the pipeline and the hole on the North Wall at the entrance. When fishing the Seaway make sure you have the most up to date forecast and keep an eye on the swell.

When the wind and swell finally drops next week, hitting the close reefs will be worth the effort with some great catches of spanish mackerel landed earlier in the week during one of very few good weather windows.

Some good spots to try are Palm Beach reef, Gravel Patch, Local Bait reef, 18-fathom and the 24-fathom reefs are all holding good bait schools. The best way to cover ground is by trolling a combination of deep and shallow diving bib lures or skirted metal head or resin head lures until you can find fish. Slow trolling well rigged dead baits like tailor and bonito or live baits live yakkas or slimy mackerel.