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 over the past week has been great for fishing on the Gold Coast. Light winds and a moderate south easterly swell have made the offshore grounds easily accessible to even smaller boats.

Plenty of boats headed offshore last week and some nice results were had. There have been some good numbers of Spanish mackerel as well as a few wahoo for those anglers chasing pelagics this week. Nine Mile, off Tweed, was the best spot to try but good fish could be taken up and down the coast, though not in the same numbers as Tweed.

The best methods for targeting these fish were by trolling either skirts, diving minnows or live baits. The best live baits were slimie mackerel, gar and tailor, although small mack tuna produced a few good Spaniards and one wahoo that was estimated at over 30kg before release.

Mack tuna have been in plague proportions in some offshore areas and often it is impossible to catch anything else unless you switch to extra large baits and lures. A few yellowfin tuna were also taken while trolling medium size Hexhead skirts. The numbers of spotty mackerel dropped off a bit this week, but that is not to say some good catches won’t be taken over the next few weeks, as spotties can be very hot and cold.

The bottom fishing continues to be steady without really hotting up. A few snapper have started to make their way onto the shallow reefs to feed in the early hours of the morning and in the evening. These fish can be targeted with live baits or pillies. Berleying with pilchard bits and then fishing a bait with a minimum amount of weight is a good way to catch these large, cautious snapper.

Other fish caught on the shallow reefs during the week were tailor, trag jew, parrot, squire and some very nice cobia. Pilchards and flesh baits were the best bet, while the cobia were falling to live yellowtail and slimies fished under a balloon or suspended in the middle of the water column.

The deeper reefs produced a mixed bag of squire, trag jew, snapper, parrot, morwong and a few tailor. There have been some large amberjack and reasonable kingies along the 50 fathom line and these can be targeted either by jigging heavy metals or dropping a live slimie to the bottom.

The estuaries continued to fire last week with some good hauls taken, especially from the Seaway area. During the incoming tide huge bait schools were balled up along the Seaway walls and these attracted larger predators like tailor, bream, trevally, jew, tarpon and sharks. These fish could be targeted using metal slices, deep diving lures, soft plastics and live baits. Whitebait and pilchards also worked effectively for the bream, tailor and trevally.

Some nice jew were pulled out of the Seaway this week from the end of the northern rock wall and along the pipeline. Live herring, tailor and mullet have been working well, although unfortunately a lot of sharks are also hooked fishing these baits.

There have been some nice squid around in the Broadwater and up around the Sundale bridge. These make an excellent bait for jewies and don’t seem to be taken by sharks quite so often.

Good luderick could be taken along the Wavebreak Island rock walls and adjacent to the Seaway Tower on the south wall. Flathead have been a bit more active this week and could be taken on top of the flats and in shallow water where the temperature is a bit warmer. Soft plastics and deep diving lures caught a few fish but live baits such as herring, whiting and mullet seemed to attract the fish a bit better.

Further up the rivers there have been some good whiting on the chew. While the numbers are lower than in summer, it is still possible to get a good feed relatively easily. Bloodworms and yabbies have been working very well as baits in all the usual whiting haunts.

Plenty of bream have been showing up in the rivers around the bridges, canal entrances and snaggy areas. Fishing at night with live herring, mullet and prawns has produced some thumper specimens close to two kilos. They are also great fun on soft plastics or small deep diving lures that can be cast around jetties, rock walls, moored boats and beacons. A few trevally have been taken live baiting under bridges in the Nerang.

The beaches have been fishing very well for tailor and bream. Most of the deeper gutters have been holding tailor at some stage of the tide. Metal slugs have been working well, as has casting pillies on ganged hooks. The best results for tailor are had when the bait is kept moving at a brisk pace to imitate a fleeing baitfish. Bream and tarwhine can be found in similar areas to tailor. They can be taken on a half pillie, beachworms or pippies.

There have been some nice dart around, and though they are not much good to eat, they fight hard and are great fun. Beach worms and pippies are the best baits and these also pick up the odd whiting in the same areas.

With the weather a bit warmer than the previous week, fishing Hinze Dam was a bit more productive last week. Some nice bass were taken trolling deep diving minnows and fishing spinnerbaits along the old river bed. Some good fish were also taken in the shallow bays early in the mornings, just after the sun has hit the water. Soft plastics and small sub-surface lures were as good a method as any, while for the bait fishermen live shrimp and worms produced the goods. A few saratoga have been turning up in the upper and western arms of the dam, although a lot of these fish were merely basking and could not be tempted with a lure or fly. The odd yellowbelly turned up on live baits and deep diving lures around the rocky points.

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