Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Hi everyone, hope you are all having a nice week. Well, what a cold and wet start to the week on the Gold and Tweed coasts, with only the keenest of fishos braving the below-average conditions in search of a feed. The good news as we head towards the weekend is that the rain is forecast to clear and we should see a return of the sunshine, making conditions much nicer for the remainder of school holidays. If the forecast is right, you may be able to get one more go at a snapper or pearl perch before the season closure starts. Keep an eye on the forecast and make sure you have all the latest before heading out. Let’s check out what’s been on the chew this week. Gold Coast Coomera
Looking towards the weekend, we may be lucky enough to have a weather window, with a drop in wind and swell and reprieve from the cold and rain, giving everyone a chance to get offshore and chase a feed of snapper and pearl perch before this year’s closure takes effect on July 15, 2022. Reports of some great fish were coming in prior to the start of the week, with lucky fishos scoring great quality snapper from the close 18 and 24-fathom grounds. I also had reports of plenty of solid cobia, silver jewfish, teraglin, tuskfish, maori cod and moses perch. Out wider on the 36-fathom lines, there were plenty of snapper on offer, along with good quality pearl perch, cobia, yellowtail kingfish, amberjack, samson fish and tuskfish. Once the closure commences, you will have to think about targeting all the other available species – we are lucky to have such a good variety of fish in this area. Live bait have produced the bigger and better-quality fish – Western Australian pilchard, whole squid and bonito and mullet fillet will also do the job for you. I always recommend using a berley trail – this does work well when targeting snapper but will also attract plenty of other species such as cobia. Before heading offshore, make sure you have all the up-to-date information regarding this year’s snapper and pearl perch closed season, commencing July 15 to August 15. Visit daf.qld.gov.au Gold Coast Coomera
Throughout the Broadwater and Jumpinpin areas, good numbers of tailor have been showing up again this week, which is great news for fishos wanting to score a nice feed of fresh fish. I always recommend keeping an eye on the sky for birds picking up baitfish that the tailor schools push towards the surface as they feed. It’s also worth keeping your eyes peeled for splashes on the surface when the school is active. If there are no signs around, it’s best to watch the sounder for signs of bait and fish, and try trolling a diving lure that will get you down into the strike zone and among the action. Usually, the last couple of hours of a rising tide and the first hour of a run-out tide are the best times to target tailor because they tend to prefer better quality water. But in saying that, you will also find them far up the rivers and estuaries hunting in dirty water at times. Surface fishing is great fun – being able to watch them smash a popper or stickbait on the retrieve. I also enjoy casting metal slugs, which work very effectively on surface fish. Or, you can let them sink a bit when you cast into a tailor school that has moved to deeper water, making them a good all-purpose lure option. Some good spots to start looking for tailor are the Gold Coast Seaway, the main channel north of the Seaway up to Sovereign Islands, Jumpinpin Bar entrance, Crusoe Island, mouth of Whalleys Gutter, Kalinga Bank, Short Island, the Tweed River and Tiger Mullet Channel. Tailor are a great feed eaten fresh, though make sure you bleed them for best eating quality. Gold Coast Coomera
Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports… Due to the cool weather and rain, I moved around the river this week and jigged the deep holes that were holding bait schools, as well as casting and trolling some Pontoon 21 Crackjack and Slam lures across the shallows. Fishing the shallows is a good option at this time of the year as flathead will often move on to the flats on the making tide in search of food and warmer water. This month – especially during the weeks leading up to the new and full moons – should see schools of good quality tailor start to move up the river, so keep an eye out for any bird or surface activity. The species caught this week were a heap of flatties and bream, as well as school jewfish and small mangrove jack.
Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports… What a week it was for squid! They came on thick and bigger in size. They are not widespread yet, so you have to know exactly where they are holding each day and take full advantage. They usually stay in the same few hundred metres that particular day. And there is something about Ecogear Dartmax jigs – they smash arrow squid. No surprise though as the Japanese have been fishing squid for hundreds of years. The biggest thing I look for on the sounder when chasing squid is an undulating bottom. We had several days of falling barometer, which always makes for a slow bite. You have to keep moving and grinding away to produce a result. There were flathead, flounder, tuskfish, winter whiting, leatherjacket and a ton of small tailor in the Broadwater. These mad things harass white bait all day long and are great at biting off expensive lures and even squid jigs. Run-out tides in deeper water have been fishing best for both fish and squid. The best areas for me this week were Southport and the deep reef holes south of Crab Island and east of Carters Bank. There were also nice flathead in the canals of the Nerang River. The neap tides this week are not great for hot bites but they make it easy to fish most areas, and are great for another week of chasing awesome arrow squid, which are so much fun to catch and even better to eat.
Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports… The 50-fathom grounds have been producing good quality snapper, pearl perch, tuskfish and amberjack. While the 36s have been good with a mixed bag of snapper, parrotfish, pearlies, kingfish, teraglin and moses perch, and the 18s and 24s have been good for silver jew and nice big snapper. Gold Coast Coomera
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 or brett@fishotackle.com.au
Stay up to date with all fishing regulations in Queensland https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries
Fisho Tackle and Coomera Houseboat Holidays now have Hire Tinnies follow the link to view https://www.coomerahouseboats.com.au/our-fleet-type/hire-tinnies/
Seabreeze is a great website to access a local forecast http://www.seabreeze.com.au/graphs/
Good luck with the fishing.
Brett
