Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Hi everyone, hard to believe it’s March already.
Times flies when you’re having fun, and we have been having lots of fishing fun on our estuary charters.
Brad Smith has, as usual, been catching heaps of flathead, jewfish, trevally and more for clients on his lure-fishing charters on the Tweed River.
Smithy has been an estuary fishing guide for over 28 years now and knows how to catch fish.
If you haven’t been fishing with this friendly legend, do yourself a favour and book in.
I’ve been super busy at the Gold Coast Broadwater, with a focus on chasing sand whiting in the shallows.
Regular guest Terry did well to land his personal best whiting on 3lb line – a monster fish measuring at over 45cm.
It was a rainy day, so we nearly called the trip off – we were very glad we didn’t!
On other days, we fished the channels, reefs and wrecks in the Broadwater for a big variety of fish, including moses perch, tuskfish, slatey bream, blubberlip, flathead, tarwhine, bream, winter whiting, trevally and squire.
As prawn season kicks into gear, so too do Ecogear ZX lures come into their own.
These have always been a go-to lure for everything that swims.
Another lure I’m having a lot of success on is the Ecogear Breamer Vibe.
These little lures get absolutely smashed and have a strike rate at least as good as the ZXs.
They weigh 5.5g – slightly less than the 7g ZX40 lures – so you do have to pay close attention to keep them on the bottom while drifting.
Favourite vibes for us are those from the Samaki Vibelicious range, and we use the new release Samaki Hardlicious in shallower water too.
When the water isn’t too hot on the flats, I love using Z-Man Prawnz and ST Grubz soft plastics, and 60mm Daiwa Double Clutch hard-bodies to catch flathead, bream and whiting on charters.
Always keep an eye on your fish finder for water temperature fluctuations.
Recently, I noticed the water was 28C in the Broadwater one day and the next morning it was 22C.
Suddenly the baitfish, birds and flathead were back on the shallow flats.
Enjoyed your article about fishing in the Broadwater..really interesting.. Could I suggest that you print a one page article stating the BEST to worst eating fish caught in this huge area. I constantly throw back Jewfish, Trevally and Tusk Fish, as I find them bland and not worth eating. In my opinion, Whiting would have to be at the top of the list.
I’m sure your panel of experts could agree on the best ( say ) 20 common table fish from tastiest to barely edible.