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 Gold Coast anglers last week. The seas were calm and winds light, which meant heading offshore was no problem for most of the week.

Plenty of boats headed out through the bars over the last week with mackerel being the primary target for most anglers. Plenty of spotty mackerel have been around and can be taken over most of the close reefs. Palm Beach, Mermaid and the reefs north of the Seaway have been some of the hotspots. The best methods for spotties were trolling small skirts or minnows, casting metal slugs or pilchards, or berleying then fishing with live baits or pillies.

There have been good numbers of decent sized Spaniards about also and these fish have often been taken when targeting spotties. To have a go at some good Spanish mackerel and wahoo, Tweed was the best place to do it. Trolling Halcos and medium skirts has produced some great fish as has trolling whole slimie mackerel or small tuna.

Most of the inshore marlin action has died down but some large blues have been taken on the distant grounds off the coast. Only people with heavy gear and large boats should attempt to cover the distances necessary to find these fish. Some good schools of dolphinfish have been hanging around the 50 fathom line and can be caught on small trolled skirts, minnows and metal slugs.

The bottom fishing was a little quiet during the week, especially in close. On the shallow reefs, out to the 24’s, a few tailor, parrotfish, trag and squire have been taken. The best fish were taken at dawn and dusk with the odd better snapper turning up on live baits at these times. Further out on the 36’s and 50’s a similar range of species was taken, along with a few pearl perch and morwong. The fish in deeper water were generally of better quality than those in close, with pilchards, flesh baits and live slimies or yakkas the pick of the baits. There have been quite a few cobia about so remember to put a live bait out under a balloon or in mid-water and you could get some extra excitement.

The estuaries have been fishing well although the large amount of boat traffic on the water for the long weekend shut things down a bit at the beginning of the week. Bream have been dominating catches with their numbers increasing every week. Some good fish were taken along the logs south of Wavebreak Island, under the boats at Marina Mirage and at the old bar entrance.

Further up the rivers the fish were in good numbers around bridges, rock bars, canal entrances and pontoons. Bream were responsive to many different offerings, including prawns, whitebait, mullet gut, soft plastics and small hard bodied lures.

There are still plenty of whiting around in the Nerang for those chasing a feed. Bloodworms and yabbies have been the best baits for these fish, with beachworms also working well. The incoming tide has generally been the best and any of the usual spots will hold a few good whiting this week.

Flatties came back on the chew last week, with some good specimens taken in the Broadwater around Crab Island, the Sovereign Island bridge, Brown’s Bay and the Aldershots. Most of the flatties were taken by casting soft plastics around weed beds or drifting live mullet in the channels adjacent to sand flats.

The Seaway was a popular destination for many local fishos and also tourists during the week and plenty of results were had. Good bream, tailor and the odd trevally could be taken along the rock walls on half pillies, whitebait and live baits. The hole at the end of the north wall has been fishing well for mangrove jack, trevally, tarpon, tailor and school jew. Live baits have been most productive but casting pillies, metals and soft plastics has also proved very effective.

The pipeline has been holding some thumper bream, trevally and tailor along with the odd kingfish, jewie or shark. Soft plastics and live mullet or herring have been producing the best fish from this area.

A few Luderick are still showing up along the Wavebreak Island rock walls and the area in front of the Seaway tower. Finding bait has been the hardest part of getting these fish.

Fishing has been a bit slow on the Gold Coast beaches over the past week. This can be attributed to the unusually calm spell of weather we have had. Without the swell to stir the sand there have been less feeding opportunities for whiting and dart and less cover for tailor and bream. Never the less a few nice tailor and bream came from the beaches along the Spit and from South Straddie. Whole or half pilchards were the best methods to catch these fish, though casting metal lures also accounted for the odd tailor. A few whiting and dart have been pulled from shallow holes and gutters on the rising tide in the morning and afternoons. The best bait for these fish was beachworms, with pippies also worth a try.

Hinze Dam continues to fish well with some nice bass caught throughout the week. The best bass came from the shallow water early in the morning before falling back into the deeper stuff during the middle of the day. Casting spinnerbaits, soft plastics and small diving lures in the bays and over weed beds produced most of the bass before the sun hit the water. After that it was back to trolling deep diving minnows along the rocky points or fishing spinnerbaits if a school could be located. Casting live worms and shrimp from the bank produced some nice bass along with a few decent silver perch. A few yellowbelly were also taken trolling along the steep banks or around sunken timber.

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