Dave scored his personal best 40cm whiting and plenty of other quality fish on charter with the author.

Luring whiting and other species

May 12, 2024

Hi everyone, as we’re heading into cooler weather, this month I’m going to talk about some great new lures.

First though, let’s look at the latest local fishing happenings.

It was definitely one of the hottest and wettest summers in southeast Queensland memory.

This has continued into autumn and has resulted in the waterways staying quite muddy.

It has also coincided with one of the best runs of sand whiting fishing I have ever seen.

These tasty and hard-fighting fish have been prolific and big, and we will continue to catch them through to winter.

Also, there were huge schools of grunter, bream and tarwhine feeding in the same places as the whiting.

Looking ahead, the nights are getting cooler and during the day is not as hot.

This will entice dusky flathead to enter the picture and this is a fish we’re definitely looking forward to targeting on our charters, particularly from the months of May to November.

On this note, some new lures are now available in tackle shops that I’m very excited to use when chasing flathead.

The Fish Craft brand is one I’m already familiar with and use successfully on my estuary charters.

These lures are very well priced for their quality and have great strike rates on a wide variety of fish.

Dave was all smiles after catching a giant trevally on light gear from the Tweed River.

In particular, Dr Prawn and Dr Flex are the two I most want to focus on to use for flathead as the water clears and cools.

Dr Prawn comes in three sizes suited to all fishing needs.

The 3” is the one I use most on the Broadwater flats and rivers for flathead.

This durable soft plastic can be easily rigged on a jig head with the 1/4oz 3/0 size my pick.

A nice school jewfish for Ollie with Brad Smith.

Add some prawn scent such as Sax Scent and you have an ultra-realistic prawn imitation that comes in a great range of colours with an impressive action in the water.

This one is a must in the tackle box.

A method that will work well is cast, sink, small double twitch, then pause, then repeat.

The other lure that I can’t wait to use is the Dr Flex, which is available in two sizes, 90mm and 112mm, and also comes in an awesome range of colours and at an attractive price.

G Man and his first ever giant trevally while fishing with Brad Smith.

This is a unique design, being a soft-bodied version of the bent minnow-style of lures.

The erratic action on this lure means it looks like a dying struggling baitfish and predators will have no sympathy when they attack.

It will be a killer lure on big bream near structure but also effective on the flats.

The new Fish Craft Dr Prawn soft plastic lures are catching a lot of fish both in and offshore.

I do like how it dives just below the surface when worked over flats, then suspends, then slowly floats back up with a pause.

It will be popular among flathead in shallow water! whiting

To book on a charter with myself or Brad, or if you have any fishing related questions, visit goldcoastrivercharters.com, SMS 0432 990 302 or email fishingwithclint@gmail.com, or find us on Facebook – Brad Smith Fishing Charters.