SNAPPER ACTIVE IN SEPTEMBER

HI Everyone, hope you are all having a nice week, it has been a bit of a wet start to September on the Gold and Tweed Coast with a few showers persisting throughout the week. The wind has finally eased a bit also giving everyone some nicer conditions to get out on the water. Let’s check out what’s been happening this week and look at some options for the weekend.

Looking at the forecast for Saturday at the time of writing my report the weather is looking good for fishos that are keen to head offshore and chase a feed. Anglers that were lucky enough to find a weather window to head out the past week were rewarded for their efforts like Ben White (see photo) who had a good day out on the 36 fathom grounds landing some great quality snapper for the table.

It’s always a bit of a gamble when planning a trip as to what water depth will be best for targeting on the day. September is a good month for chasing snapper. The 18 and 24 fathom reefs off the Gold Coast have fished well over winter and should also be holding good numbers of quality fish to target during September.

Getting an early start will increase you chances of finding the better quality fish. I always recommend allowing yourself enough time to have a good sound around and try to mark a show of bait or fish feeding to target your efforts. I do prefer to anchor up and get a berley trail going when fishing the closer reefs as this will help to attract any fish from the surrounding reef and then keep them active in your strike zone. A berley trail will also tend to make the fish rise in the water column and this is great when float lining as you will quite often get hit halfway down on the drop, which is a great feeling when reef fishing.

As well as snapper you will have a good chance at finding a feed of tusk fish, moses perch, Maori cod, spangled emperor, trag Jew, jewfish and cobia. The 36 and 50 fathom reefs have also been producing some great catches during the past couple of weeks, current dependant. Fishos have reported good hauls of snapper, pearl perch, trag Jew, tuskfish, cobia, amber jack, Samson, yellow tail kingfish and even a few dolphin fish have been taken off the local fads. Best baits are WA pilchards, whole large squid, bonito fillet, mullet fillet, live or dead yakkas and slimy mackerel.

Now that the days are getting longer and the weather is starting to warm up chasing a feed of whiting will be a great option. Good quality whiting are on offer pretty much all year round on the Gold Coast including winter with the warmer months generally producing better numbers of bigger fish. Whether you are fishing from a boat or land based there are plenty of spots to try your luck. Basically, you are looking for an area with a sand or mud bottom or mixture of both with a few undulations in the bottom that gets a fair bit of tidal flow running through to stir the bottomup which attracts schools of whiting.

A light estuary outfit is all you need. I recommend a rod around 7 to 9ft in length, with the reel spooled with 6 to 9lb mono, a long trace of 6lb fluoro carbon leader and usually a size 4-ball sinker to keep your bait on the bottom where the fish feed and a size 6 bait holder hook. Best baits are live blood worms, beach worms and smaller sized yabbies.

If you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how you went. brett@coomerahouseboats.com.au