Fishing Monthly - Latest Fishing Reports


	These reports are updated weekly. Last Edited: Friday, 28 May 2004 Quick Jump Links: Gold Coast, Moreton Bay, Freshwater, Bribie Is & Caloundra, Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Yeppoon, Stanage Bay, Mackay, Whitsundays. Townsville, Hinchinbrook. Mission Beach, Karumba, Cairns, Port Douglas. C ooktown, Weipa, Archived Reports, Weather & Tides.
COMPILED WEEKLY BY GARRY SMITH IN CAIRNS: e-mail: lavallesmith@iig.com.au

Gold Coast

The weather was kind to us last week, with good conditions for all forms of angling. The winds were mainly light out of the east and south-east and the swell stayed down, which meant that offshore trips were definitely on the cards.

Mackerel were once again the prime target for a lot of the boats that headed out through the bars and entrances. Plenty of these fish were taken all along the Gold Coast, from the close grounds off South Straddie down to Fido’s and the Nine Mile off Tweed. The close reefs were the place to try if you were after a nice feed of spotty mackerel. These fish are still around in good numbers and the size has been pretty good over the last month or so. Trolling small minnows, casting metal lures and floatlining pilchards have been among the best methods for getting into spotties. They seem to congregate in good numbers on the shallow grounds off South Straddie and down at Palm Beach and Mermaid Reef, but a few can usually be taken along most of the 12 and 18 fathom reefs down the coast.

A word of warning – take care when crossing the Currumbin Bar, as four or five boats have come to grief their over the past week.

Spaniards have been a bit harder to find but there are definitely a few about. They are often taken while fishing for spotties but if you are after a large specimen, or even a wahoo, then off Tweed between Fido’s and Nine Mile is probably the pick of the spots. Trolling small to medium dark skirts and Halco Lazer Pros is the best way of attracting these fish, although a small whole mack tuna is often irresistible to the larger fish.

Plenty of mack tuna have also been around and at times they are in such plague proportions that it is difficult to catch anything else. The odd yellowfin tuna and wahoo have also been taken trolling lures on the wider grounds, along with a few sails down at Tweed.

The bottom fishing improved a bit this week, with the current less noticeable out wide. Good catches are starting to come from the shallow reefs, with some quality fish taken over the past few days. Squire, tailor, trag, parrot and the odd bigger snapper have been taken on pilchards and flesh baits. As the weather cools, big snapper will become more common on these shallow reefs, especially at dawn or dusk. A whole pillie on a two hook rig or a live slimie mackerel are the best way to get connected to these good reddies.

The deeper reefs have fished well, with snapper, pearl perch, trag, parrot and morwong all being boated during the week. Using lumo sinkers and fresh bait increased the catch rate significantly. Jigging heavy metals out wide has produced quite a few good kingies and amberjacks, and the numbers of these fish should increase over the next month or so.

The estuaries fished very well again during the week, especially around the Seaway where some good fish were taken. Fishing half pillies from the rock walls produced bream, tailor, trevally and a few decent flathead. On the incoming tide, drifting the north wall casting pilchards, metals or live baits produced some red hot sessions, with plenty of good tailor and trevally more than willing to smash a bait. Also taken in the hole at the end of the north wall, on live baits and soft plastics, were school jewies, kingfish, tarpon, mangrove jack and small sharks. Tailor, kingfish and some good size bream were taken in the area adjacent to the pipeline where they seem to hold on an incoming tide.

The area between the north Wavebreak Island rock wall and the marker was also worth a try with live baits or soft plastics for jew and kingies. Further into the Broadwater and up the rivers some good catches of bream whiting and flathead have been taken.

Whiting are slowly declining in numbers but not in size, with some great elbow-slappers taken during the week on bloodworms and yabbies. The fish were taken from outside Brown’s Bay, along Chevron Island, the hole at the end of Campbell Street and in the Carrara Stadium reach of the Nerang.

The bream fishing continues to improve with both numbers and size of the fish improving rapidly. Plenty of good fish have been taken at night in the channels adjacent to the Seaway, as well as further up the rivers around bridges, rock bars and canal entrances. Whitebait, yabbies, small live mullet and herring, as well as diving minnows and soft plastics were all effective on bream.

Fishing bridges and canal entrances with live baits produced a few trevally, cod, mangrove jack and bull sharks.

The beaches have been a little slow again as the swell has stayed reasonably small. The odd tailor has been taken on the beaches of South Straddie, the gutters south of the sand-pumping jetty and down at Burleigh and Fingal. Whole and half pilchards worked well, as did metal slugs in the 40-60gram range. A few bream and tarwhine were also taken in the same areas as tailor.

There is still plenty of dart about, as long as there is a little bit of white water for them to shelter beneath. The trouble is finding the good sized specimens. Dart could be taken on beach worms, pippies and half pilchards.

Whiting have been elusive but should be all along the beaches in shallow holes and gutters. Beachworms and strips of pippy are the best bait and fishing at dawn or dusk is the best way to get a feed. A few golden trevally, sea gar and shovelnose sharks have been taken from the sand-pumping jetty.

Hinze Dam continues to fish well, especially early in the day in the shallow bays and over the sunken weed beds. This is where bass and saratoga feed during the early morning and it is great fun targeting them on surface lures. The mornings on the dam have started to get a little brisk and it is not long until the beanie will be a constant fishing companion at this time, however this does not seem to have slowed the fish down.

As the sun gets up a bit the bass retire to the deeper water where the can be targeted with deep diving lures, spinnerbaits and soft plastics over the old river bed or around deep rocky points.

A few yellowbelly have also been taken around the points and by trolling along the steep banks. A couple of cod were also taken using this method. The odd silver perch is still turning up along the grassy banks on garden worms and live shrimp.

John Polson & Paul Revie
The Fisherman Pty Ltd
Sporty's Warehouse
32 Strathaird Rd. Surfers Paradise
Gold Coast. QLD 4217
Australia
Phone: +61 7 5531 6511
Mobile: +61 418 751220
www.thefisherman.com.au