Gold Coast and Tweed Report (2024)

2/9/2022

Fishos reported some nice catches of Flathead again this week with good numbers of fish being landed throughout the Broadwater, Jumpinpin and adjoining rivers and estuaries. Unfortunately, there has been a bit of the dreaded snot weed starting to show up in some areas just to make anglers lives a bit more difficult when fishing. When targeting Flathead in the Broadwater and Jumpinpin systems the two main things you should look for is water quality especially on the run-in tide and the other is bait including bait fish and prawns being the main sources. Finding clean water will normally increase your hook up rate as the fish will tend to spot your lure or bait much easier rather than just swiping at it when the water is dirty. Any bait activity is important when you are fishing and that applies to Flathead, keep and eye out in the shallow water for bait fish and prawns jumping around trying to escape from predators and also keep an eye on the sounder in the deep water as the bait schools will attract Flathead to feed in these areas. My favourite tide to fish is the run-out tide when chasing Flathead, you can choose to target the edges of sandbanks, creek mouths, drains and river mouths are all good spots to find Flathead laying in wait as the water level drop and the bait moves towards deeper water the Flathead will lay in wait head into the tide ready to pounce on anything that swims past. When using lures trying a mixture of trolling hard body lures, casting soft plastics or working soft vibes are all worth a go to see which method the fish are best responding to on the day. When trolling lures, you are best to troll with the tidal flow to increase your hook up rate. The same applies when casing plastics try and retrieve with the flow of water. Some good spots producing fish at the moment are Wave Break Island, Nerang River, Currigee, Crab Island, Brown Island, Coomera River, Tipplers Passage, Bedrooms, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Logan River, Tweed River, Tallebudgera and Currumbin Creeks.

We have been lucky enough to have a pretty good run of weather the past week giving fishos plenty of opportunities to head offshore and chase a feed from the local reefs. Once again quality catches of Snapper have been the standout with good numbers of fish being caught. Once the strong wind and swell predicted for the weekend settles down getting an early start and hitting the 18 and 24 fathom grounds off the Seaway will be a good option with some great quality fish being landed in these areas. Make sure you get out as early as possible to allow enough time to have a good sound around to 18 to 24 fathoms reefs and find a show of fish and bait to target on the sunrise bite time. Fish as light as possible, sometimes you can get bricked on the bottom, but you find the lighter set up will always out fish the heavy gear and you will catch a lot more fish in the long run. A float line rig set up is again my first choice when fishing either live or dead bait as you have all the control on how quick you drop your baits making them present as natural as possible producing a hit on the drop. There has been a good general mixed bag of Snapper, Moses Perch, Jew Fish, Cobia, Trag Jew, Maori Cod and Tusk Fish on offer. As you head out winder the 36 and 50 fathoms grounds are also fishing well current dependant with good numbers of quality Snapper, Pearl Perch, Tusk Fish, Trag Jew, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amber Jack, Cobia and Samson Fish being landed. Best baits are WA pilchards, Whole large Squid, Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet or live or dead Yakkas.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reportsI only did a couple of days work on the Tweed River this week, and had a sensational day with Clint travelling to Brisbane to meet our new sponsors. We met up with Gareth the owner of Tackle Tactics and we are both now proud users of Okuma Australia reels and TT rods. Okuma make a fantastic reliable range of reels and I could not wait to get back to the Tweed to use them. The best fishing for us this week was to once again jig vibes in the deep holes and channels where we caught Flatties, Bream, Tailor, Big Eye Trevally and Jewies. We also caught a few Australian Bass and of course released them very quickly and carefully as it is closed season for them in tidal estuaries at this time of the year. It is well worth noting that the Bass have moved well down the river this year due to the ridiculous amount of rain we have received this year. Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports once again this week the Squid were keeping us entertained, and there are plenty of Flathead on the chew. We are blessed to have an abundance of Squid in our waters over winter, and they are so much fun to catch and absolutely delicious to eat. Some days they will aggressively attack Ecogear Australia Dartmax squid jigs, other days the Ecogear and vibe lures we use daily are the best offering to tempt them. Flathead have been everywhere shallow to deep, the key to finding them is looking for bait fish. In shallow water keep an eye out for birds diving and the actual small fish in the clear water. In deeper water look for patches of bait on your fish finder then dropping lures under them. Water temperature has been hovering around 18 degrees, there has also been some decent Flounder, Winter Whiting, Tailor, Bream, and Trevally hunting in the Broadwater.

26/8/2022

The fishing offshore has been pretty good the past week with fishos finding a few weather windows to head out and chase a feed. Good numbers of Snapper have been on the chew for those lucky enough to find a school to target. At the time of writing my report it looks like the southerly winds might be up over the weekend and then start to ease Monday, just make sure you have the latest forecast before heading out on the water. Once again, the close reefs off the Seaway have produced some good quality Snapper on the dawn or dusk bite and also on the tide changes which are best times to target fish on the 18 and 24 fathom grounds. Finding good ground to fish is the key to success in close, I always try not to fish too close to other boats opting to have a good sound around and try to find a show to target away from the crowds this will increase your chances of catching fish. It’s worth having a good look on the sounder when choosing a spot, finding a show of bait or fish arched up is a good indication it’s a spot worth having a drop on. If you are not catching fish in the first 15minutes or so I would usually recommend moving on and try another area of the reef, even a small move of 50 metres can make a big difference. Catches from the 18 to 24 fathom grounds this week have included Snapper, Jew Fish, Cobia, Trag Jew, Maori Cod, Moses Perch, Spangled Emperor and Tusk Fish. Out wider on the 36 and 50 fathom reefs current depending fishos have scored some great feeds of Snapper, Pearl Perch, Cobia, Tusk Fish, Yellow Tail King Fish, Amber Jack and Samson Fish to name a few species.

The King of the Pin competition was held last weekend with plenty of keen anglers giving it a go, by the sounds of it the comp was a great success with lots of happy winners taking out some great prizes in their chosen categories. The comp saw a good mixed bag of species like Jewfish, Tailor, Flathead, Bream and Whiting landed to name a few.

The Broadwater and Jumpinpin is holding lots of bait schools at the moment, this intern has seen plenty of good-sized Tailor being caught this week. The best time to target Tailor is the last couple of hours of the run-in tide when the water quality is at it’s best and the first hour of the run-out tide. The deeper main channels seem to be the best spots to target the Tailor, the bait schools tend to hold up against the current lines in the deeper water and will move towards the surface when being attacked by hungry predators. When looking for fish to target always keep an eye on the sounder for signs of life to indicate either bait schools or schools of lager fish like Tailor in the area. Birds searching a current line or diving hitting the water is a great sign as it usually tells us that fish are actively feeding at that time. When searching try trolling a mixture of diving lures to cover ground until you get consistent hook ups, once you have found fish you can then look at switching to throwing metal slugs as they can cast a long distance and worked quickly or let sink to attract fish feeding deeper. If there is plenty of surface action, try a surface popper or a stick bait for an exciting surface strike. Some good spots to look at the Gold Coast Seaway, Main Currigee Channel, Mouth of the South Arm of the Coomera River, Aldershots, Jumpinpin Bar, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Mouth of Tiger Mullet Channel, Short Island and Canaipa Passage.

Flathead catches have also been very consistent this week with some great fish being landed in the Broadwater, Jumpinpin and the Local Rivers of the Gold and Tweed Coasts. A mixture of soft plastics, soft vibes, glide baits, trolling hard body lures and drifting baits have all done the trick on the Flathead.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the weather was awesome this week and so was the fishing earlier in the week but unfortunately the back end went a bit quiet. The reason the last couple of days went a bit slow was the lack of run in the tides and a major barometer drop. It is amazing how you can have the best sounders as well as equipment and techniques and mother nature’s little tantrums have the last say.It was not like we didn’t catch anything over the past couple of days we just got less fish and worked harder to get them. The fish caught this week were Flatties, Bream, Whiting, School Jew and Mangrove Jacks.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week again there was lots of Squid in the Broadwater. It is now peak season for them, and they should be on for the next month. I will be doing lots of Squid fishing and chasing nice fish as well, so book in your private charter soon. Limited dates available. The Squid are now bigger and more numerous in their usual areas both sides of Crab Island, Biggera and in all the holes from Seaworld to Sundale bridge. Look for areas 4-6 metres deep and use 2.5 and 3.0 size squid jigs. My favourites are EcogearDartmax in colours including green, gold, white, orange, pink, and purple, red in cloudy conditions. Cast them out far enough that they will reach bottom then either drift or slowly lift and drop and retrieve. Other than the Squid there are some nice Flathead on the flats and in the channels, plus Flounder, Bream, Winter Whiting and Tailor. I have been noticing the bite including the Squid has been dropping off during each day as the barometer drops. This week we have some nice size tides for channel fishing in the Broadwater, and casting lures over the edges of the sandbanks.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports Snapper season opened on the 16th and weren’t they on the chew bagging everyday along with Pearlies, Tuskies and also Dolphin Fish still hanging around on the 50 fathoms taken on pilchards and squid.

19/8/2022

Good news for fishos on the Gold Coast with the Snapper and Pearl Perch closure coming to an end, this good news combined with some nice weather has given anglers a chance to head out offshore and catch some great feeds of Snapper this week. Local fishos Ben and Justin wasted no time heading out during the week and had a great session landing some top-quality Snapper (see photo in report) off the Gold Coast Seaway. With the season just opening it will be a matter getting an early start to the day on the water and heading to your favourite spots and having a good look around on the sounder for life. This time of year, the 18, 24 and 36 fathom grounds current dependent should all be holding good bait schools which intern will attract the hungry predatory Snapper to feed in these areas. Once you have located a show on the sounder worth fishing if you are anchoring up, I’d recommend getting a burly trail on the go straight away as this will help to attract fish to the area you are fishing and help keep them feeding in your strike zone. Fishing as light as possible will always gives you the best chance of catching the better-quality Snapper, I usually will fish 15 to 20 lb braid mainline and run a 20lb mono trace with a light ball sinker running directly to you hooks making the perfect floating line rig to maximise your chances. When choosing bait you should try to mix it up a bit and put a few different offerings out until you can see what the Snapper are best feeding on that day. WA Pilchards, Large Whole Squid are always a favourite followed by flesh baits like Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet, Tailor Fillet and even Silver Trevally Fillet works well. If you can catch live baits like Yakkas and Slimy Mackerel, they will do the trick on the larger Snapper as the smaller pickers will tend to not try and eat them. When targeting Snapper in these areas you are always a good chance at landing plenty of other species like Jew Fish, Cobia, Pearl Perch, Moses Perch, Tusk Fish, Maori Cod, Trag Jew and Spangled Emperor just to name a few.

The Flathead fishing has been great on the Gold Coast the past week with plenty of top-quality fish being landed, the Gold Coast Sportfishing Top Gun comp was a great success last Sunday seeing plenty of big fish caught and released. Both Jumpinpin and the Southern Broadwater have been fishing consistently which is great news, there is a bit of snot weed starting to show up but not enough to be an issue yet. When choosing an area to fish you are best trying to find spots with the cleanest water available on the incoming tide as Flathead tend to prefer the better water clarity when feeding. There is still plenty of bait around which is great as the Flathead won’t be too far away, if you spot bait on the sounder or visually see it swimming around or being stirred up that area will be a good spot to start fishing. On high tide you can get right up into the shallows and fish the tops of sandbanks and the edges of mangrove islands, these are all prime areas for Flathead to hold. Once the tide turns and starts to run out the water quality will get dirty, this is the best time to target the edges of sandbanks, river mouths and the entrances of smaller feeder creeks and drains. All these areas mentioned are prime Flathead territory as they will lay in wait head into the flow of water and pounce on any bait fish or prawn that swims past. I tend to find that when the water is dirty that if you slow your lure speed down weather you are casting or trolling this will help the hook up rate when the fish goes for the lure as its tending to react to vibration rather then being able to see your lure. Best sized lures to troll are hard body shads between 65 to 100mm, soft plastics and prawn imitations from that 3 to 4 inch size rigged on either 1/4 or 3/8 jig heads or soft vibes from 65mm to 90mm in size will all do the job. Just mix it up a bit until you find that right sized lure the fish are reacting to best. Drifting baits is also a great method, WA Pilchards, White Pilchards, Prawns, Blue Bait, Mullet Fillet and Yabbies will all work well. Some good spots to try are Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Brown Island, Coomera River, Never Fails, Tipplers Passage, Jacobs Well, Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel, Kalinga Bank and the Logan River.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I had hoped from last week’s report a few very big Tailor did move into the river. They were not in big schools but put up a great fight on light tackle. Keeping a close look out for any bird activity is the best way to find where these fish are roaming. Apart from the Tailor good quality and good numbers of Flathead continue to dominate the catch with some reasonable Bream also smashing the lures.The little Jewies that have been lurking around the deep holes in the river were also around with the odd nice one mixed in for good measure.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports It was a good week for Arrow Squid in the Broadwater, we caught them on Ecogear Dartmax 3.0 squid jigs with the purple one working great on cloudy days, and orange, pink, green/ gold during other conditions. Keep trying different colour to find what works.We catch a lot of Squid on Samaki 70mm fork tail vibes too, my favourite colours lately on squid and fish are whitebait, uv squid, ghost bait, slimy mackerel. Keep jigging these vibes on the bottom, squid will grab at them repeatedly until hooked, and also get fired up and grab the squid jigs. We also caught some nice big Flounder, Flathead and Bream this week on lures and yabbies. Full moon has now passed, so the Squid should come on thick this coming week, and hopefully plenty of big tailor.

August 12, 2022

Bream have once again dominated catches around the Tweed and Gold Coast with good numbers of solid fish being landed by fishos keen to have a go. Winter is the best time to find larger schools of bigger fish witch spawn in big numbers during the cooler months in our local waterways. Bream are a great target for the younger anglers just staring out wanting to catch a fish, and also a the favourite of lots of seasoned fishos that have been chasing a feed for years. A basic light to medium estuary outfit is all you need to get out and enjoy some fishing action, most shops will sell a combo including rod and reel spooled with line and a small tackle pack ready to go. When fishing land-based try looking for areas that offer a mixture of structure like jetty’s, pontoons, bridges, rock walls and even weed beds will tend to attract bait fish and jelly prawns which will intern attract Bream predominantly feed in these areas. For the serious fishos targeting Bream during the cool winter nights will normally produce better quality fish with catches of fish between that average 30cm and over. When fishing during the daytime you will have to weed your way through a lot more undersized fish with bigger models a bit more wary during daylight hours. My favourite baits for Bream are Mullet Gut, Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet, White Pilchards, Blue Bait, WA Pilchard Cubes, Squid, Prawns and Yabbies. To give you the best chance of attracting fish and keeping them in the area you are targeting I recommend a consistent burley trail consisting of either Burley Pellets, Small Cubed Fish Pieces or Burly Bombs with minced fish should all work. Some good spots to try are the Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Broadwater Foreshore, Gold Coast Seaway, Runaway Bay Canals and Canal Entrances, Bridges around Paradise Point, Coomera River, Dux, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island and Short Island.

With the wind tipped to ease on Sunday at the time of writing my report and the swell dropping it might be worth looking at heading offshore to try your luck, just make sure you have the most up to date forecast before heading out. Some good quality Jew Fish and Cobia should be on offer from the closer 18 to 24 fathom reefs off the Gold Coast Seaway for those keen to make the effort. When it comes to the choice of baits for Jew and Cobes live baits like Yakkas, Slimy Mackerel and Pike are my go to options followed by the humble WA pilchard, Mullet fillet or Bonito Fillet will all temp a bite if you are lucky on the day. When choosing an area to fish keep an good eye on the sounder for bait schools holding around more isolated rocks and structure, some fishos will get a GPS mark from a mate and just head straight there because they caught fish there a few days before, this may work occasionally but keeping an eye on the sounder for life is the key to finding better quality fish. I recommend to sound around for along as it takes to find the best area to fish rather than fishing a baron area hoping something good might swim past. You should find a bit of a mixed bag on offer including Tusk Fish, Moses Perch, Trag Jew, Maori Cod and Cobia. As you head wider out to the 36 or 50 fathom line you will encounter bigger Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack and Samson fish which will all stretch your arms. Just keep in mind all Snapper and Pearl Perch must be released during the closure which ends on the 15/8/2022

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I only did a few trips a few trips on the river this week as I was helping some friends fix their boats. The charters I did were focused on the lower reaches of the Tweed River combining some trolling and deep-water jigging.We caught some great Flatties, a few really good quality Bream and a ton of small chopper Tailor. The season is coming to an end for the big tailor that would normally be in the river over the last few months, but I have a gut feeling that a few might turn up on next week’s tides.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I mostly fished the Broadwater this week but also a couple of days in Nerang River. The Broadwater has not a huge amount of bait fish but there are Flathead, Squid, Tuskfish and some big Flounder to be caught if you do the miles to find actively feeding fish. The bait is starting to build again in the Seaway so the Tailor will return in bigger sizes and numbers. There are a lot of Bream and Grunter feeding in Nerang, and not big numbers of Fathead but some good quality ones.Best lures have been Samaki vibes in whitebait and slimy mackerel colours, while Knockin Tail plastics in white colours have worked well on Flathead and the odd Jewfish.

August 5, 2022

Good numbers of nice sized quality Tailor were on the bite around the Broadwater and Jumpinpin earlier in the week closer to the open ocean entrances, it has been a good winter season so far with some pretty decent sized fish being landed. Tailor are usually most actively schooled up and feeding during the last few hours of the run in tide and the first hour of the run out tide when the water quality is at its best. When searching for Tailor you are basically looking for any action like birds in the distance diving onto the water picking up scraps of bait fish left by tailer, they will normally tend to move around and follow current lines where bait fish can be restricted by the change of water temperature basically trapping them and making an easy feed for the predatory fish. If the fish are schooling a bit deeper in the water column keeping an eye on the depth sounder is important, you are best to try trolling some diving lures and get them down into the strike zone to temp the fish. Once you have located a few fish that are hanging around a particular area it will be worth casting some different sized metal slugs and surface lures at them until you find out the size of bait they are feeding on, this is called matching the hatch as predators like Tailor can become fixated on the bait fish they are feeding on and not respond to lures that are either too big or small presented to them. If you prefer bait fishing try either WA Pilchards whole or cut in half, Blue Bait or White Pilchards either un weighted or lightly weighted casted or drifted around schools of fish. Some good spots to try are the Gold Coast Seaway Entrance, the Main Channel from the Seaway heading north towards Sovereign Island or south towards Marina Mirage. Aldershots, Jumpinpin Bar Mouth, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel and Canaipa Passage.

Fishos have been doing well throughout the Broadwater, Jumpinpin and Nerang River this week scoring some quality Flathead on a mixture of bait and lures. Some good spots to try in the Broadwater are Wave Break Island, Paradise Point, Brown Island, Aldershots, Coomera River, Never Fails and Tipplers Passage. Around Jumpinpin try Cabbage Tree Point, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Pandanus Island, Crusoe Island, Cobby Passage and Kalinga Bank. The Coomera River, Pimpama River, Nerang River and Logan River. Try using a mixture of paddle and curl tails soft plastics in the 3 – 4” sized rigged on either a 1/4 or 3/8 of a once jig heads will cover most application matched with 12lb Flouro Carbon leadr to tackle the Flatheads abrasive mouth and limited bite offs on bigger fish. Trolling hard body lures like Zerek Tango Shads, Rapala, Storm, Manns or Tilson lures in the shallower areas has also been working well. If you prefer to use bait try drifting these areas listed above, it’s a great way to temp Flathead that tend to be lazy and wait for a feed to come to them, WA pilchards, White Pilchards, Mullet Fillet Strips, Prawns or Yabbies are great bait. Flathead are ambush predators so keeping the bait on the move to cover more ground and increase your chances of finding better numbers of fish. It has been a great week so far with good numbers of Flathead being landed, the forecast is looking pretty good this weekend for you to get out and have a go.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I decided to move back down to the lower reaches of the Tweed this week as the water upstream was a bit dirty after last week’s rain. As expected at this time of the year Flatties dominated the catch with some nice quality fish in the mix. Other species caught were Bream and a few small chopper Tailor which I was a bit surprised with as normally at this time of the year the tailor should be a lot better quality.Provided we don’t get any more rain I think the schools of big Tailor will move into the river on the lead up to the next full moon.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports It was good to see the Flathead numbers increase as the week went on, they are everywhere now. Samaki vibes were catching them, as were the 4 inch Knockin Tail plastics rigged on 1/4 oz 3/0 hook jigheads. Bigger Flounder are turning up too, and can be caught on vibes and yabbies. The squid aren’t around in big numbers, but they have suddenly appeared in bigger size. The Ecogear Dartmax 2.5 and 3.0 size squid jigs and Samaki vibes have been nailing them. Best areas to fish have been Benowa, Runaway Bay and Southport. The water has been cold and hovering around 16-17 degrees. Just find the bait on the fish finder and you’ll find the fish. This coming week has some good-looking weather and favourable tides for the Broadwater to chase Tailor and Squid in the deeper channels North of the seaway, and Flathead over the shallow sand flats.

July 29, 2022

Given the recent weather conditions chasing Flathead has been a great option for fishos keen to get out on the water the past week. The cooler water temps combined plenty of bait in the system has seen some great Flathead fishing on offer throughout our local waterways which is great news. Good numbers of fish are on offer if you can find a good area to target with some fishos landing 40 plus fish in a session with a mixture of sizes from small up to 80+cm crocs. If you are lucky enough to manage to catch and release a large Flathead this will be a big breeding female fish, these larger fish will tend to attract good numbers of smaller male fish usually around the 40 to 55cm size range with are great fun to catch and also a good sized to keep for a feed if you are chasing a meal of fresh fish. If you are finding good numbers of smaller fish, this intern also means you are in with a good chance of landing that prized trophy monster Flathead for a photo before releasing her back to the water. When organising a trip it pays to work around the tides and come up with a plan that will give you the best chance of finding fish, the run out tide will give you the best chance of finding fish as the tide goes out and the sandbanks start to show this gives you a much smaller area to target and find where the fish are concentrated. When fishing the rising tide you may have to search around a lot more as the fish have a lot more area to hide and will make there way into very shallow areas around islands and sandbanks as well sit in deeper holes in search of bait fish swimming past. It pays to have a few different options when it comes to tackle onboard. Trolling hard body lures works well and is a great way to cover larger areas when searching for fish in water depts of up to 2m. Once you locate numbers of fish throwing soft plastics around that 3 to 4 inch size of either 1/4 or 3/8 ounce jig heads or smaller soft vibe lures and a great way to target an area by fanning out your casts and hitting as much of an area as possible. When it comes to deep water it’s a pretty similar approach, but you will be using a bit heavier gear and upping the size of your plastics to 5 to 7 inch and jig heads accordingly anywhere up to 1 to 1.5 ounces depending on current. Also, big soft vibes tea bagged in deep water are irritable to a hungry Flathead. Keep in mind when trolling or casting that Flathead will normally sit head into the current and lay in wait for a bait fish or prawn to swim past for an easy feed so trolling or casting with the flow of water is important. If Flathead have to turn and chase a lur they will quite often miss the lure resulting in not hooking up and normally a scuffed trace line but no fish. Drifting baits is another great way to target fish if you’re not into lures, White Pilchards, Prawns, Blue Bait, Mullet Fillet and Yabbies all make good bait. It’s just a matter of casting out the rods and drifting with the tide and waiting for a Flathead to pounce on your bait. Flathead tend to have a very rough mouth much like a file and will tend to rub through you trace pretty quickly depending on how they are hooked, I would recommend to use a trace between 12 to 20lb depending on lure or bait size matched to similar size tackle. Some good areas to look for fish are the Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Wave Break Island, Crab Island and the middle banks North to Sovereign Island, Coomera River, Aldershots, Tipplers Passage, Dux, Bedrooms, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Cabbage Tree Point, Logan River and Russell Island.

Reports of good numbers Bream and some quality Whiting being landed is good news for anyone chasing a feed of these great bread and butter species. The better-quality Bream have been mainly landed at night-time; they seem to really feed well on the extra cool nights making it worth the effort. Some good-sized Whiting have been caught mostly during the daytime, making them a good option as the days can be quite pleasant during the winter. If you are targeting Bream, try your luck along the rock walls in the Tweed River, The Nerang River, Gold Seaway Rock Walls, Lands End, Paradise Point, Coomera River, Jacobs Well, Kalinga Bank, Short Island and the Logan River. Try to fish around any structure in these areas, best baits are Mullet Gut, Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet, Prawns or Squid. Some nice Whiting have been landed in the Nerang River, Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Bedrooms and Tiger Mullet Channel. Best baits for Whiting are Bloodworms, Beachworms and Yabbies.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I was lucky to be on the water this week and see the sunshine after all the wind and rain last week. We found some nice fishing including small School Jew and Bream with the highlight being a heap of Flatties with a lot of great quality size ones in the mix.Drifting and deep-water jigging with Ecogear zx 40s and Samaki vibes did the damage and produced the best results.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I mixed it up with some sand flats wading with yabbies and hardbodies, Broadwater channel drifting with vibes for a variety of fish and some squid and chasing bream in Nerang River. You can watch the action on my Youtube channel “Gold Coast River Charters” Fortunately the weather looks much better after all the wind and rain we received last week. There should be a few Squid, Tailor, and a variety of fish in the Broadwater on offer.

July 29, 2022

July 22, 2022

The cool conditions have done wonders for the Bream fishos giving you some great conditions to get out and chase a feed of the popular bread and butter species. We have seen some nice catches of quality fish lately which is great news for everyone keen to have a go. Cool nights are the prime time to target big Bream around the Gold and Tweed Coasts with plenty of bait fish schools like white pilchards being a favourite food source for Bream. The bait fish will tend to school up around structure like rock walls, bridges, pontoons, jetty’s, rock bars and natural snags like fallen trees and mangrove lined banks with drop offs being a good starting point to look for a Bream. Once you locate a good spot to try your luck, I recommend getting a consistent burley trail on the go to attract fish feeding nearby and bring them into the area you are casting to, either frozen burley block with minced tuna, chopped up WA pilchards cubes or burly pellets will normally get the job done and increase your chances of catching a good feed. Just remember to be consistent with the burley, don’t feed then too much you want just give them just enough to be keen to hit your baits. A light estuary combo is a good choice when looking at the right outfit for chasing Bream, either and spin reel or alvey spooled with 6 to 9lb mono matched with a 2-5kg 6ft to 8ft rod and an 8lb to 10lb fluorocarbon trace is recommended as once hooked Bream will tend to head straight for structure and try to bust you off. Match the above gear with a size 4 to 6 bait holder hook and you are ready to go, best baits are mullet gut, mullet fillet, bonito fillet, white pilchards, prawns and yabbies. Some good spots to try are the Tweed River rock walls and jetties, Currumbin Creek, Nerang River, Wave Break Island, Gold Coast Seaway Rock Walls, Paradise Point Bridges, Runaway Bay Canal Entrances, Coomera River, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Whalleys Gutter, Kalinga Bank, Short Island and Marks Rocks in the Logan River.

Reports of good numbers of quality Tailor being caught through the Broadwater, Jumpinpin and off the surf beaches from the Tweed north to Stradbroke Island have been coming in the past week is great news for everyone keen to have a crack. Once the wild weather and swell eases it will be worth a look at your local surf beach for a feed of fresh Tailor. When looking for a spot to try finding a good gutter is important. When looking for a gutter basically you are looking for a deep hole close to the shoreline with and entrance at either end for the water to flow in and out and a shallow bank behind the gutter where the waves will be breaking leaving you which a smaller shore break in the gutter to content with. It always pays to be able to have a look at low tide before choosing an area to fish and the gutters are a bit easier to spot. The best tine to target Tailor are dawn and dusk when they are actively feeding or a tide change, if you can time either of the above with an incoming tide that would be the bets time to go. When beach fishing I recommend using a set of 3 gang 4/0 hooks on a mono trace to start which and this will present your baits much more naturally, if the fish are thick and you are getting bitten off then swap out to a wire trace. Choose a sinker that is big enough to be able to cast into the zone and keep your bait from washing up on the beach. Best baits are WA Pilchards, Bonito Fillet and Mullet Fillet. Also casting metal slugs and surface lures is a great way to target Tailor and very productive during the day or at night. When fishing inshore keep a look out for birds diving on the water as this is a sign of a school of Tailor feeding, trolling hard bodies to cover ground is a good idea. Once you have located fish then try casing metal slugs, surface poppers and stick baits which is great fun. Inshore have a look around the Seaway Entrance, Currigee Channel, Paradise Point, Jumpinpin Bar mouth, Bedrooms, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island and Short Island.

There has been plenty of Flathead around this week with big numbers being landed if you are lucky enough to find and area holding schooling fish. 3 to 4 inch Soft plastics in either curl tail or paddle tails have worked well, also soft vibes from 65mm to 90mm worked in deeper water have been getting crunched. Crab Island, Brown Island, Rat Island, Neverfails, Tipplers Passage, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island and Russell Island have all been holding quality Flathead.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it took the same strategy as I have all year and found the areas where the dirty water met the clear water, this clash of currents is around the middle reaches of the Tweed River and as expected the fish were there and lucky for myself and my clients the area also provided some protection from the wind.The fish caught were a heap of Flatties with some very good quality specimens in the mix as well as some Tailor and those beautiful little school Jew that I have been catching for months now and are a wonderful sign for the future of the river.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the southern end of the Broadwater which usually provides lots of fun this time of year, has been quiet and lacking baitfish. I’m sure as the water clears more the white bait and yakka will move in followed by Tailor, Mackerel, and other fish. I did have some good catches of Squid near Seaworld before a school of Giant Trevally seemed to spook them. The rest of the week we searched North of the Seaway for a mixed catch of Arrow Squid, Flounder, Flathead, Winter Whiting. I also fished at Jumpinpin one day and we caught Flathead on Samaki vibes, Knockin Tail plastics, and Gobbler plastics with the more transparent colour lures working best.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports weather permitting the 50 fathom grounds has been good with quality Tuskies, Samson Fish, Amberjack and Yellow Tail Kingfish, the 36s have also been good with a mixed bag of Tusk Fish, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Trag Jew and Moses Perch and 18s and 24s have been good with nice big Silver Jew on offer.

July 15, 2022

Flathead have been around in good numbers throughout the Broadwater and Jumpinpin areas the past week with plenty of happy fishos finding good numbers of nice quality fish on offer. If you are keen to catch a feed or you like to catch and release chasing Flathead at the moment is a good option. There is plenty of bait fish and jelly prawns around during the cooler months and the Flathead love to lay in wait for an easy feed to swim past them. Flathead respond well to the cooler conditions usually resulting in fish schooling up in good numbers in certain areas during winter making them a good target for lure fishos. When targeting Flathead choosing the right areas to look will be tide dependant, if the tide is rising Flathead will tend to head up onto the top of sandbanks, shallow flats, around shallow mangrove islands and into feeder creeks in search of prey. Once the tide starts to fall, they will make their way off the banks and shallows and sit of the edges and drop offs of sandbanks and in the mouth of feeder creeks looking to target the bait fish and prawns making their way out of these areas. In saying that some larger female fish will also tend to prefer deep water options like the Gold Coast Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar entrances and sit in the deep waiting for a feed to swim past, these larger fish also attract a good number of smaller male fish that will school up around her. The more popular methods to target Flathead are trolling hard body lures, casting surface lures in the shallows, casting soft plastics, working and tea bagging soft vibes and metal vibes. If you prefer to use bait drifting is the best way to cover ground and locate fish, WA Pilchards, White Pilchards, Prawns and Mullet Fillet make good dead bait. Live baits work very well, Herring, Hardy Heads, Sliver Biddies and Yabbies all make great options. Some good spots to try are Nerang River, Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Rat Island, Brown Island, Aldershots, Never Fails, Tipplers Passage, Bedrooms, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Kalinga Bank and the Logan River Mouth.

If you are thinking about heading offshore for a look there has been some top-quality Jewfish being caught on the 18 and 24 fathom reefs of the Gold Coast the past couple of weeks, Jewfish are a great target species whilst Snapper and Pear Perch season is closed. The best way to target Jewfish is having a good look around on the sounder trying to locate an isolated rock that is holding bait, you will usually see the larger Jewfish holding close to the bait. I recommend anchoring up and float lining live baits like yakkas, pike and slimy mackerel into the show. Dead baits will also work well like fresh flesh baits like Mullet Fillet, Tailor Fillet, Bonito fillet, Trevally Fillet or butterflied dead yakkas and slimys. As well as Jewfish you will also be able to target Cobia and will come across a good mixed bag of Trag Jew, Tusk Fish, Moses Perch, Maori Cod and Spangled Emperor. Out wider on the 36 and 50 fathom line you will have a chance at scoring Yellow Tail Kingfish, Samson Fish, Amberjack, Trag Jew, Tusk Fish and Cobia to name a few species.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reportsthe beginning of this week brought on some rollercoaster weather conditions but by working hard some great fish came across the gunnels. The trick this week was to find some good areas that were protected from the wind and also provided the spots where the bait schools were concentrated. As usual for this year with the huge amount of rainfall the bait is holding where the dirty water meets the clearer water from the run-in tides.Trolling a combination of shallow and deep running minnows being the ever-reliable Pontoon 21 crackjacks and Slam lures provided the most consistent results. The fish caught were a heap of Flatties, Bream and even the little School Jewies that are in the biggest numbers I have ever seen in the river.It is great to see the sun shining once again and look forward to talking to you all next week.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports a funny old week I found with times of falling air pressure during the day coinciding with slower bite periods. Whatever happens we always find a way to grind out a result for our customers, and we caught Squid, Flathead, Flounder, Winter Whiting, Sand Whiting, Tailor, Bream and Trevally. Best lures were Samaki Vibelicious forktail 70mm in uv squid colour, Ecogear ZX40 in 440 colours with Sax scent uv prawn added, and best squid jigs were Ecogear Dartmax 3.0 in colours D201CG in cloudy conditions, D08G and D35CS in clear sky, and Daiwa Emeraldas nude 2.5 and 3.0 in brown Ebi colour. I spray a tiny bit of Egimax scent onto the hook end of jigs.

July 8, 2022

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 weather and rain giving everyone a chance to get out offshore and chase a feed of Snapper and Pearl Perch before this year’s closure takes effect on the 15/7/2022. Reports of some great fish were coming in prior to the start of the week with lucky fishos scoring some great quality Snapper from the close 18 to 24 fathom grounds fishing, I also had reports of plenty of solid Cobia, Silver Jewfish, Trag Jew, Tusk Fish, Maori Cod and Moses Perth. Out winder on the 36 fathoms there were plenty of Snapper on offer along with some good quality Pearl Perch, Cobia, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack, Samson Fish and Tuskfish. Once the closure commences you will have to think about targeting all these other species on offer, we are lucky to have a good variety of fish on offer of the Gold Coast. Live baits have produced the bigger and better-quality fish, WA Pilchards, Whole Squid, Bonito Fillet and Mullet fillet will also do the job for you. I always recommend to use a burley trail, this does work well when targeting Snapper but will also attract plenty of other species like 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 on 15/7/2022 unto 15/8/2022. You can find all the info at the DAF website.

Good numbers of Tailor have been showing up again this week throughout the Broadwater and Jumpinpin area which is great news for Fishos keep getting a nice feed of fresh fish. I always recommend keeping an eye on the sky for birds picking up bait fish that the Tailor schools push towards the surface as they feed. It also worth keeping your eyes peeled for splashes on the surface when the school is active, if there are no signs around best to watch the sounder for sigs of bait and fish and try trolling a diving lure that will get you down into the strike zone as amongst the action. Usually, the last couple of hours of the rising tide and the first hour of the run out tide is the best time to target Tailor as they tend to prefer better quality water, but in saying that you will also find them far up the rivers and estuary’s hunting in dirty water at times. Surface fishing is great fun being able to watch them smash a popper or stick bait on the retrieve, I also enjoy casting metal slugs which work very affectively on surface fish, or you can also let them sink and bit when you cast into the Tailor schools if they move 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, Tweed River and Tiger Mullet Channel. Tailor are a great feed eaten fresh, just make sure you bleed them for best eating quality.

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 cast and trolled some Pontoon 21 crackjack and Slam lures across the shallows. Fishing the shallows is a good option at this time of the year as the Flatties will often move on to the flats on the making tides in search of food and warmer water.This month especially on the weeks leading up to the new and full moons should see some 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 Jew and Small Mangrove Jack.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports what a week it was for the 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 day. There is just something about the Ecogear Dartmax jigs, they just smash arrow squid. No surprise though as the Japanese have been doing it for hundreds of years. The biggest thing I look for on the sounder when chasing Squid is undulating bottom. We had several days with falling barometer and this always makes for a slow bite. You really have to keep moving and keep grinding away to produce a result. There was Flathead, Flounder, Tuskfish, Winter Whiting, Leatherjacket, and there is 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. Best areas for me this week were Southport, and the deep reefy holes South of Crab Island and East of Carters bank. There were also some nice Flathead in the canals of Nerang River. Neap tides this week are not great for hot bites, but they make it easy to fish most areas, and great for another week of chasing the awesome Arrow Squid which are so much fun to catch and even better to eat.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports the 50 fathoms grounds has been producing good with quality Snapper, Pearl Perch, Tuskies and Amberjack. Whilst the 36s have been good with a mixed bag of Snapper, Parrot ,Pearlys , Kingys , Trag Jew and Moses Perch and 18s and 24s have been good with Silver Jew and nice big Snapper.

July 1, 2022

As the first week of school holidays is nearly done and dusted, fingers crossed you managed to brave the weather and find an opportunity to get the kids out of the house and have a crack at landing a fish. Basic bread and butter species like Bream, Flathead and Whiting are a great target for kids of all ages to try their luck. The fishing has been great so far this winter but with a bit of wind hanging around this week we are blessed to have plenty of options to hide out of the wind and fish. The main species you will be able to catch are the humble Bream, Whiting and Flathead which are all accessible fishing either land based or by a boat. All the above species are around in good numbers through the Gold and Tweed Coast waterways at the moment, as far as fishing gear goes all you really need is a basic a light estuary or kiddies combo available at your local tackle store. A standard running sinker rig works fine, use a trace around 40cm long of 8lb to 10lb leader, size 3 to 4 ball sinker and match this with size 2 to 4 bait holder hook and you have a great all-round rig that will work well on most of the fish you will encounter. As far as choosing a good spot to start by trying your local jetty as they offer are a great structure that attracts bait and intern predators like Bream, Flathead and a number of other fish species. Try not to cast out to far away as the fish will be usually right and your feet. Trying your luck off one of the many beaches along the Broadwater or parks on the canals is another good option as they will hold good numbers of Whiting, Flathead and Bream close to shore. The Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Runaway Bay Esplanades, Paradise Point, Coomera River, Jacobs Well and Cabbage Tree Point are some spots to try your luck. When it comes to choosing the right bait yabbies and beach worms make great live bait and are also good fun for the kids to catch. Prawns, Squid and White Pilchard are also a good frozen bait option.

Last weekend the offshore fishing was great with near perfect conditions greeting fishos lucky enough to get out for session, the close reefs have been fishing well on the lead up to the new moon. Reports of plenty of Snapper being landed on both the 18 and 24 fathoms reefs including some extra-large Nobbys was great to hear, anglers also caught plenty of Cobia including some 20kg plus fish, Silver Jew, Trag Jew, Moses Perch, Maori Cod and Tusk Fish made up the bulk of the catches. The 36 fathom grounds have also produced a good mixed bag of fish including Snapper, quality Pear Perch, Trag Jew, Cobia, and the hard fighting Amber Jack, Yellow Tail King Fish and Samson. Live Yakkas have done the damage on a lot of the larger fish caught making it well worth the effort to have a few live baits in the tank. Also, WA Pilcahrds, Whole large Squid, Bonito Fillet and Mullet Fillet will normally do the job. I always recommend using a burley trail when anchoring on a mark to increase the chances of attracting fish in the area and keeping them interested. If the swell decreases heading offshore may be worth a go over the weekend, rain depending. Just make sure you have the latest forecast before heading out on the water.

Flathead have still the main focus of plenty of fishos as they are starting to school up in larger numbers throughout the Broadwater and Jumpinpin as they slowly make their way out of local rivers and move closer to the open ocean entrances to spawn during springtime. When planning a trip to target Flathead it is worth having a few areas to target that have produced fish in previous years depending on the tides you are working as I have noticed that you can catch 10 fish in one spot then when you go back a week later you can catch nothing. It seems the fish have a bit of a pattern in certain areas, its just a matter of having a few casts or troll a certain area for 15 to 30 minutes. If you do not catch a fish within that time frame just move on to the next spot a repeat until you finally find better numbers of fish to target. Trolling hard body lures is a good way to cover a larger area when searching for fish. When the tide is high targeting the tops of sandbanks and the shallow edges of mangrove islands is a good idea, as the tide drops then focus of fishing the edges and drop offs of sandbanks, creek mouths or any deeper holes you can locate on the sounder. I also enjoy using soft plastics, and a mixture of soft and metals vibe lures. Some good spots to have a look are Wave Break Island, Gold Coast Seaway Rock Walls, Crab Island, Brown Island, Rat Island, Aldershots, Never Fails, Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jumpinpin Bar Entrance, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island and the Mouth of the Logan River.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports as I expected and hoped for from last week’s report this week delivered the same dreamy conditions that guides like Clint and I have been waiting for after a long first half of the year of constant rain.There is not a lot of difference between my blog from this week and from the past three weeks other than the Tweed River is on fire with massive of catches of Flatties, Bream, Beautiful little School Jew, the odd Whiting, and well out of season Mangrove Jack. The key is to know how to read your sounder properly and work the huge schools of baitfish that are flourishing the deep holes in the river.Jigging the deep holes with a combination of Samaki vibes and Ecogear ZX 40s will get smashed as well as trolling the shallows on the top of the tides with Pontoon 21 crackjacks. I am fully booked for next week and I am frothing to get out there with my clients on the water.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the big plus for me this week has been the Arrow Squid starting to appear in numbers. We are a few weeks away from the really big sizes and numbers turning up, but it is great to see them finally return after a late start to the season. My favourite jigs are Ecogear Dartmax in 2.5 & 3.0 sizes, with the white/ silver, green/gold, and pink shades amongst the most successful for arrows in the Broadwater. There are lots of baby ones with some bigger keepers around too. When they are in full swing in July and August, I will be doing heaps of Squid fishing charters. They are so delicious to eat fresh, I find the best way is really simple: clean them, cut the tubes into rings, roll them and the candles in tapioca flour, then fry in olive oil in a pan, two minutes each side, then sprinkle salt and pepper, serve on a plate witha bit of mayo or tartar sauce, Greek salad, superb! The fishing has been tricky otherwise with the bait schools moving fast and often. This week should see an improvement and more aggressive feeding activity from Bream, Tailor, Jew, Winter Whiting, Flathead, Flounder, Squire, and more Arrow Squid! Samaki vibes in whitebait colour will work best, as well as yabbies and Ecogear Isome red worms.

June 24, 2022

At the time of writing my report the weather was looking great for heading offshore and chasing a feed of reef fish this weekend. The fishing has been consistently good the past week with some nice catches coming in on a regular basis since the run of good weather has finally blessed the Gold and Tweed coast. In close the 18 to 24 fathoms reefs have been fishing well with some pretty big Snapper being landed, along with big Jewfish, Cobia, Tusk Fish, Trag Jew, Moses Perch, Maori Cod, Tailor, Bonito, the odd Spanish Mackerel and Mac Tuna also showing up. It pays to get an early start when targeting the shallower reefs with the dawn bite producing the best quality Snapper, once the sun comes you may find yourself having to move around a bit to locate fish actively feeding, in saying that quality fish can be landed at anytime during the day if you are in the right area. Before choosing a spot, it is always important to take the time to sound around a mark carefully looking to locate signs of life such as bait or schools of fish to drop on. Once you have located an area you can fish it a couple of different ways, drifting is popular particularly with larger boats this allows you to cover ground and you can then mark where you catch fish to concentrate your efforts on. My preferred method and most effective in my experience is to anchor up on the show and start a consistent burly trail and float line your baits more naturally down with the current, this is a very affective way to fish and will tend to draw fish in that get a sniff of the burley trail. Quite often a lot of the Snapper we land spit out a mouthful of burly onto the deck, that is a fair indication the burly is doing its job well. For those keen to head a bit wider the 36 and 50 fathom grounds have been also fishing well for Snapper along with the tasty Pear Perch, Tusk Fish, Cobia, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Samson Fish and Amber Jack. The dusk bite has also produced some great quality fish if you are keen for a nighttime run. Best baits are WA Pilchards, Whole large Squid, Bonito Fillet, Mullet Fillet, Mac Tuna Fillet, butterflied Yakkas and to get your arms stretched live Yakkas. Just make sure you have the most up to date weather forecast before heading out.

With the swell tipped to ease a beach fishing session will be well worth a go with plenty of top-quality tailor on offer on our surf beaches from Tweed Heads to Stradbroke Island this week. The tides are looking great with either an early morning or late afternoon high tide combing the best time of day to fish with the high tide seeing predators moving into the beach gutter to feed. As well as Tailor there will also be good numbers of Dart, Bream, Tarwhine, Flathead, Whiting and even the chance to land a prized land-based Jewfish. Finding the ideal gutter is important as your fishing window is often small, if possible, try and scout the area you are looking to fish at low tide this should give you the best indication where the gutters worth targeting are located. At low tide you are basically looking for a deeper section of water close to shore with a sandbank directly behind it and an entry point at one end and exit point at the other end. As the tide rises bait fish will move into the gutters seeking shelter and the predators will then more into the same area looking for a feed, this then enables you to chase the fish pretty much close to shore in a more confined area. Birds working an area is a great sign of bait fish and normally predators like Tailor will be either close by or actively feeding at the time. When bait fishing selecting the best weighted sinker to suit the sweep in the gutter is important, if you go to light your bait will just wash up on the beach. A traditional 3 gang of 3/0 or 4/0 hooks run on a mono or wire trace is a standard Tailor rig, this will also work for Jew Fish and Flathead. For other species like Dart, Bream, Tarwhine and Whiting just use a running sinker rig with a bait holder style of hook. Best baits are WA Pilchards, Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet, Beach Worms, Pippies and even Yabbies.

Flathead have been active this week throughout the Broadwater, Jumpinpin and the local Rivers with good numbers of school sized fish and a few bigger models hitting soft plastics, soft vibes and trolled hard body lures. Try looking around Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Brown Island, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Aldershots, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point, Bedrooms, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel and the Logan River.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports how unbelievable is this long run of perfect weather and some of the best fishing conditions for this year.Once again, we caught a heap of fish with our lures not lasting too long in the water without being crunched. Big numbers of quality Flathead dominated our catch rate with a combination of trolling Pontoon 21 and Slam lures as well as jigging with Ecogear zx 40 and Samaki vibes.Other species caught on our lures this week were Mangrove Jacks, small School Jew, Whiting and of course the ever-reliable Bream.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I had a busy week, the fishing has steadily improved, and the water has cleared heaps since the big tides came through around full moon. Species caught include Flathead, Winter Whiting, Tarpon, Tuna, Tailor, Bonito, Flounder, Moses Perch, a few Squid, Queenfish, and probably few others I forgot. Mainly lure fishing this week and the Samaki vibes in whitebait colour have been getting smashed, as are the Samaki spinning lures. It has been great to see good numbers of Flathead turning up through the Broadwater, there are a lot of small ones but also some good quality.I’m now finding that the run-out tide is fishing better for the bottom fish, and run in for the surface pelagic species. Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports that the 50 fathom grounds have been very quiet and also the Dolphin Fish have moved on but 36s have been good with a mixed bag of Snapper, Tusk Fish, Pearl Perch, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Trag Jew and Moses Perch.

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Useful links:
• Hir e a Tinnie
• Marine weather forecast
• Stay up-to-date with Qld fishing rules

June 17, 2022

The cool winter conditions have stirred the Flathead up with good numbers of fish being landed on the Gold and Tweed Coasts for fishos keen enough to brave the cold weather and get out and have some fun. The Broadwater, Jumpinpin and Tweed River waterways are all holding good numbers of bait fish and prawns after the extended rains/floods that affected these areas which intern attracts predators like Flathead into these areas to feed. I headed out with my daughter Jess last Sunday for a look, conditions were a lot cooler and windier than predicted. We planned to have a fish around the Broadwater and Jumpinpin to see if we could locate a few Flathead as it was the first time I had been out targeting them for a while. We worked the deeper channels and tops of sandbanks while the tide was high, once the tide turned to run out, I then focused the edges of sandbanks, edges of channels and entrances to any feeder creeks we could find with a range of soft plastics and soft vibes until we found better numbers of fish. We ended up catching plenty of nice fish including a good sized high 60cm fish (see photo in report) making it a worth braving the cold for. I used a range of soft plastics around the 3 inch size mark including prawn imitations, paddle and curl tails. The best soft vibes were the zerek fish trap in 65mm being the standout, these versatile vibes can be worked in deeper water and also be casted and retrieved in shallow water situations with an action that a Flathead can’t resist. Try to keep in mind that Flathead will normally head into the tide, throwing your lures up current and then working them bank with the tide directions will results in more strikes and a much better hook up rate. Some good spots to try are the upper reaches of the Tweed River, Crab Island, Brown Island, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Aldershots, Tipplers Passage, Never Fails, Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel, Crusoe Island, Kalinga Bank, Jacobs Well and the Logan River.

Some good sized Tailor are on offer throughout the Broadwater and Jumpinpin area at the present, the cooler conditions combined with a good supply of bait fish has seen good numbers of Tailor spread out in these areas. I ended up hooking some good Tailor last weekend whilst targeting Flathead on both the incoming and outgoing tides. The birds seemed to be very active hovering over current lines in the channels following the schools of Tailor harassing the bait. Ideally the best time to target Tailor is the last two hours of the incoming and the first hour of the outgoing tide when the water quality is at it’s best but in saying that I did catch them in dirty brown water around Jacobs Well. With the wind and swell tipped to pick up making beach fishing not a good option your best bet to have a look inshore instead. I would recommend having a look around the Gold Coast Seaway Mouth, Seaworld Channel, Currigee Channel, Paradise Point, Jumpinpin Bar Mouth, Millionaires Row, Crusoe Island, Kalinga Bank and Canaipa Passage. Best baits are whole WA Pilchards, Blue Bait, White Pilchards, Mullet Fillet and Bonito Fillet. For the lure fishos try trolling a combination of deep and shallow diving lures to cover ground and help you locate fish feeding, if you are lucky enough to spot some birds working you may be able to throw a mixture of metal slugs, surface poppers and stick baits and the feeding fish which is a great way to target Tailor. The Gold Coast Seaway mouth has also been alive with plenty of smaller Mac Tuna which are awesome fun pound for pound to fish for on lighter tackle and will hit the same lures you are throwing at Tailor.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports what a great week of fishing with light winds and more importantly no rain which has been a long time coming so far this year. The good conditions were matched with some absolutely fantastic fishing with the deep holes in the Tweed River producing big numbers of fish.The Samaki vibelicous lures were outstanding with the pearl shrimp, phantom craw and chartreuse ginger squid colours proving the standout colours. The fish caught were a heap of Flatties as well as the ever present bream that are in plaque proportions.The amazing run of small School Jew were once again present this week and one of my regular clients Noel capped the week of today with 3 winter Mangrove Jacks with 2 of the jacks being crackers which also crunched the Samaki vibes.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the fishing has improved noticeably this week in the Gold Coast Broadwater. It’s good to see the water clearing up nicely, and not overly dirty on the run-out tide either. There are plenty of Flathead, Tarpon, Whiting, Tailor, Flounder, Squire, Bream, Tarwhine. We have been catching plenty on Samaki vibes (Cleopatra Tiger colour is a favourite of mine), Ecogear ZX40 blades, and live yabbies. I had to cancel my charter today after I injured my shoulder. I’m hoping to be ok asap after some therapy and teaspoons of concrete today.

June 10, 2022

As predicted fisho’s reported some good hauls of Tailor coming out of the beach gutters right up and down the Gold and Tweed coasts given the good weather forecast this will be an option to try over the weekend. There maybe a bit bigger swell hanging around over the weekend but given the light westerly winds forecasted at the time of writing my report it will be well worth a go. The tides should be fairly favourable with an incoming tide for both the early morning and late evening which are both major bite times when fishing the surf beaches. Scanning the beaches during the daytime around low tide is a good idea as you can tend to easily spot the areas that will fish the best, you will be able to spot most of the gutters in the area at low tide as they will hold water like a pool close to the waters edge and then will have a sand bank clearly visible just behind them separating the gutter from the breaking waves. Once you have located an area to try I would recommend to time your fishing trip around 2 hours before high tide leaving you plenty of time to fish each gutter until you can locate a school of Tailor actively feeding. The bite can switch on and off quite quickly so it pays to be organised and ready to make the most of your opportunity, a fish wading bag is a great option as you can keep your bait , lures, tackle and fish you catch on you rather than having to walk backwards and forwards up the beach each time you land a fish which also helps you to keep you fishing spot from other anglers if there are multiple anglers fishing the same gutter as they will tend to move into your spot if they see you land a fish. Dart, Whiting, Flathead, Bream and Tarwhine are all other bread and butter species that can be readily targeting land based in the surf. Best baits depending on what species you choose to target are WA Pilchards, Bonito Fillet, Mullet Fillet, Pippies and Beach worms. Tailor will also respond well to lures such as metal slugs and surface walkers; it may take a few casts and a couple of different lure changes until you find the correct size lure to match the bait the fish are eating before you start to land fish.

With a good forecast predicted I managed to sneak out offshore last Sunday with Wayne Young (see photos in report), plenty of other anglers had the same idea with it being one of very few weather windows we have had for such a long time. Conditions were fairly good; the North Westerly was up pretty early but did not end up picking up in strength until close to the middle of the day which made it fairly fishable for everyone. We headed out the seaway nice and early leaving us plenty of time to have a hunt around on the sounder to find a show worth hitting for the dawn bite, given the wind direction we opted to stick around the 18 to 24 fathom reefs making the run home much more comfortable. We managed to find a nice show of fish to target first up, after getting the burly trail going, we were lucky enough to land a couple of nice Snapper which hit the float line rigs on the drop, when chasing Snapper that is always a great sign that the fish are actively feeding when hunting around higher in the water column. Once the sun had come up the Snapper bite shut down and plenty of Bonito showed up making it hard to get a line past them, Bonito makes great bait, so we kept a few to stock up for next trip. We just kept on moving searching the sounder from spot to spot and found plenty of shows of fish to have a drop on, in the end we managed our bag limit of 8 good eating sized Snapper, a nice Tusk Fish and some nice Bonito for the freezer for bait. It was great to see other boats also betting stuck into some nice Snapper, Jew Fish, Cobia, Maori Coda and Trag Jew. Fingers crossed we have some nicer weather during Winter giving everyone the opportunity to get out offshore and have some fun.

Flathead are starting to show up in better numbers as the water temp starts to cool down around Jumpinpin and the Broadwater, there has been plenty of bait fish and small prawns around after the rain to keep them well fed. It will be well worth a look over the weekend, the tides are looking good with high tide early in the morning and a low just before lunch making a morning session a good option. Working the tops of sandbanks on the high tide in search of fish feeding is always worth a go. I find the best time to target Flathead is on the run-out tide when they start to move off the flats and out of the creeks looking for a bit deeper water, this gives you a much smaller playing field to locate numbers of fish to target. On the run out tide Try working the edges of sandbanks, gutters and any creek entrances you can find, these are perfect spots for a Flathead to lay in wait ready to ambush and bait fish or prawn swimming past. When trolling lures, casting plastics or working soft vibes always to to keep in mind that Flathead will normally tend to sit head into the current so working your lures with the current or tide flow will help increase your hook up rate substantially. Some good spots to look are WavebreaK Island, Currigee Channel, Crab Island, Brown Island, Aldershots, Tipplers Channel, Never Fails, Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel, Cabbage Tree Point, Canaipa Passage and the Logan River.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports we a had a great finish to the week on the Tweed River with massive numbers of fish coming onto the deck.The areas where the clean ocean water is meeting the dirty water after all the rain is holding a biomass of bait. This bait is attracting a heap of Bream and lots of school sized Flatties that are averaging between 40 to 50 cm in length. Also, in amongst the bait balls are a heap of school Jewies which have only been around the 40cm mark which is a very healthy sign for the health of the river. I am very surprised with the number of fish we have been catching that we haven’t nailed acouple of really big Flatties or Jew but i have a gut feeling that this week will produce the biggies with the better tides on the make.Well, I am frothing to get on the water next week as there are certainly good numbers of fish around regardless of size and you can’t complain about keeping a constant hook up and a bend in the rod for the day.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I went for a fish with Paul Burt our local legend weatherman to do some filming for his Step Outside tv show, which airs on 7mate every weekend. One of the days we did some crabbing, and another we chased Tailor and Tuna. Great fun and always a lot of fun fishing with Burty. These episodes will be on tv in the next few weeks. There has been plenty of Tailor and Tuna busting up in the Seaway, Jumpinpin, and along the waves at South Stradbroke Island. They are so much fun on medium tackle. Casting and cranking Samaki metal V2 and Flash stick baits are all you need. Run in tides are still the best time to fish with clearer and warmer water. I noticed at the pin the other day the water temperature was 16 degrees and murky on run out tide. The tides are small the next few days so fishing around the mouths are the go until we get closer to full moon on 14 June. There are plenty of Whiting around in the Southern end of the Broadwater between the Spit and Sundale bridge. Using live yabbies, and the deeper parts of channels are the best places. North of the seaway there are Flathead, Flounder, Tailor, Mac Tuna, Tuskfish and plenty of Bream and Tarwhine to be caught. Morning run in tides are most productive. There are plenty of Tailor, Flathead, and Bream in the beach gutters from South Straddie to Palm beach.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports with westerlies winds and cooler conditions off the Gold Coast Dolphin Fish have started slowed down a little around the fads but some there still to be caught. The close in grounds have been fishing well with plenty of Mac Tuna, Cobia, Jewfish, Spanish Mackerel and sharks, live bait have been the go to for all these fish as well as some Trag Jew, Snapper and Tusk Fish have been on the chew.

June 3, 2022

With Winter here and a pretty good forecast for the weekend it’s time to head out offshore in search of a feed of Snapper. Reports from during the week once the wind eased were very promising with local fishos doing well on the close reefs float lining the 18 and 24 fathom grounds off the Gold Coast with good success with plenty of good size fish hitting the deck. With fewer boats than normal being able to fish the past few months it has given the fish a chance to move around the closer reefs without the fishing pressure they normally face, this is good news for fishos keen to get out and score a feed. As always, the earlier the start the better when targeting Snapper on the shallower reef systems off the coast, best to get out there before sunrise have a sound around until you can find a show off fish or bait to anchor up on and get a burley trail going to lure the fish in around your boat. Float lining is the preferred method for targeting better quality fish, as the fish get bigger, they also get smarter which means you need to present the most natural looking baits to them as possible. Float lining is basically using a running sinker the correct size to suit the current that sits directly above your hook, this method allows to control the speed that you drop down your bait trying to make look as natural as possible which in turn entices the Snapper to swim up your burley trail and hit your bait in the way down. When using the traditional paternoster rig with a big sinker on the bottom this style of rigs just flies past the fish at speed and will majority of the time just attract the smaller fish sitting hard on the bottom of the reef. This rig is recommended for fishing in much deeper water where the fish tend to haunt closer to the bottom on the reefs. When fishing the closer reefs you should also have a chance at a good range of other species like Tusk Fish, Moses Perch, Spangled Emperor, Trag Jew, Silver Jewfish, Maori Cod, Cobia and Tailor. Out on the 36 and 50 fathom grounds there has still been a few dolphin fish on the fads whilst the reefs are producing good catches of Snapper, Tusk Fish, Pearl Perch, Samson, Amber Jack and Yellow Tails Kingfish. Best baits are WA Pilchards, Whole Squid, Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet and Yakkas live or butterflied.

With the westerly winds kicking in early this winter it signals a good time to hit the surf beaches swell permitting and chase a feed of Tailor, Dart, Bream, Tarwhine, Whiting, Flathead or even a Jew Fish if you get lucky depending on which species is you favourite to target. There should be some good beach gutters scattered all along the coastline from the Tweed to South Stradbroke Island giving fishos some good areas to wet a line. When targeting a feed of Tailor, the dawn and dusk bite times are the best, if you can also coincide this with an incoming tide you should be in with a good chance as the fish will tend to move into the gutters follow the bait schools in closer to shore putting pretty much at your feed to easily cast at. Most anglers will prefer to use a traditional 3 hook gang rig on either a wire or mono trace, a running ball sinker to suit the sweep and a whole WA Pilchard or a strip of Bonito or Mullet Fillet as bait. Another productive method which will allow you cover more ground until you can locate the target species is to cast and retrieve metal slugs and surface lures, this is a very affective way to fish and quite rewarding to see the fish hit a lure. Live Beach worms make great bait are work very well when targeting Whiting, Dart, Bream and Tarwhine in the surf. You can purchase live worms from selected tackle shops or even have a go at catching your own its great fun and very rewarding and if you have kids they will think it’s great.

The Gold Coast Seaway has been fishing well the past week with good numbers of Jew Fish on the chew on the last couple of hours of the run-in tide and the first couple of hours of the run-out tide being the best time to target them. Unfortunately, sharks have been a major issue taking their fair share of fish if you are too slow to land them, I would recommend using a bit heavier tackle if you are going to target a Jew, if you are using light gear you will just end up feeding the sharks your hard earnt catch. Live bait has been the best option, pike, herring, mullet and yakkas will all work if you are fishing in the right areas. Keep an eye on the sounder for signs of fish schooling up and bait schools which will attract the predatory Jew.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports with westerlies winds the Dolphin Fish have slowed down a little around the fads, but the close in grounds have been fishing well with plenty of Mac Tuna, Cobia, Jewfish, Spanish and Sharks, live bait have been the got o for all these fish also some Trag, Snapper and Tuskies have been biting.

May 27, 2022

Reports of some quality fish around the southern end of the Broadwater after the rain is a good sign this week with Fishos landing a variety of species such as Snapper, Tusk Fish, Tailor, Juvenile Spangled Emperor, Jew Fish, the odd Tuna, Flathead, Flounder, Bream, Tarwhine and Morwong. Water quality makes a big difference after all the rain so fishing around the mouth of the Gold Coast Seaway has been extra productive with good sized bait schools of hardy heads and white pilchards proving irresistible to predators. The run-in tide has fished well seeing the clean water moving in from the ocean, try starting a drift form the mouth of the Seaway and heading either North in the main channel towards Currigee or South towards Marina Mirage. Live baits area good option in either clean or dirty water putting out distress vibration that will attack any fish feeding in that area. Dead baits like White Pilchards, WA Pilchards, Mullet Fillet and Prawns will all do the trick. Soft Vibes and Metal Vibes up to half ounce in weight work well in the deeper water if you can spot and fish or bait activity on the sounder, this method is a favourite for me. I try to target the last 2 hours of the run-in tide and the first hour of the run-out tide for best results.

For those keen to brave the wind and rain during the week there has been some pretty nice hauls of Sand Crabs coming out of the Broadwater and Jumpinpin channels which is a good sign after the rain. In the Broadwater the southern channels have been the most productive areas to try your luck in the Seaworld Channel heading towards the Nerang River Mouth, around Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Currigee Channel towards Paradise Point and the western channel along the foreshore of Runaway Bay and Paradise Point. Around Jumpinpin try Dux Anchorage, Mouth of Tiger Mullet Channel and Whalleys Gutter, Pandanus Island, Millionaires Row, Crusoe Island and Canapia Channel. The best areas to set your pots are the edges of the channels where the water tends to drop off a sandbank or the shorelines and along any weed bed edges seems to attract good numbers of Sand Crabs. The best baits are Whole Mullet and Fresh fish frames, a bait bag is always recommended to stop small fish and crabs from destroying the baits. You can work the Sand Crabs pots a bit more regularly unlike chasing Mud Crabs, I would check then every half to one hour mark and you can choose to re set in the area if you are catching good numbers or then move them to try another spot.

Heading offshore once the swell eases will be worth a go, Wayne Young found a weather window recently (see photo in report) managing to find a few nice Snapper and some good eating Tusk Fish around the 24-fathom line off the Gold Coast. Both the 18 and 24 fathom reefs should be fishing well as we approach winter not seeing as much fishing pressure the past few months with hardly anyone getting out due to the weather. An early start is always best trying to be out on the reef and looking for sign’s life on the sounder around sun rise to get the early bite, if you can’t find too much to fish on it’s best to have a drift around until you find some action to concentrate on. Snapper, Tusk Fish, Moses Perch, Trag Jew, Jew Fish, Maori Cod, Cobia and Tailor will be the main species to target. Current depending out on the 36 and 50 fathom reefs it will be worth trying for a Pearl Perch, Snapper, Amberjack, Yellow Tail King Fish, Samson Fish, Cobia and Tusk Fish. The fads should still be attracting passing schools of Dolphin Fish and will be well worth a look if you are in the area. Float lining is the best way to target quality fish, best baits are WA Pilchards, Large Whole Squid, Mullet Fillet, Bonito, Mac Tuna, Live or butterflied dead Yakkas and Slimy Mackerel should do the trick if there are some fish around.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports well everyone the rain just keeps coming this year making things a bit uncomfortable, but the fish are there for those getting on the water. I managed to put in a couple of days on the water this week fishing the lower reaches of the Tweed on the tun in tides.The fishing was a lot of fun with a heap of Bream smashing every lure that hit the water. The other species caught were some nice quality Flatties and some small School Jew.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports most models suggest that La Niña will continue to weaken in the coming week and most likely break down in late autumn or early winter. This is great news for many people including us and I do hope this happens sooner rather than later. We have had enough rain and sick of the sight of it. Let’s hope the rain and wind goes on holiday and gives way to calm and sunny days typical for winter in Queensland. One thing for sure is we will get amazing fishing over the next five or so months.I ran a few charters this week, and we caught nice Flathead and plenty of Bream in Nerang River on lures and yabbies, while in the Broadwater the fishing has been hit and miss but there are plenty of good size male Blue Swimmer Crabs out there. Definitely run-in tides are working best for all species and locations, and near the Seaway and main channel just North of there the place to be. The TSS rocky reef has plenty of Bream holding there. Best lures: Samaki vibes in Cleopatra Tiger, Grey Ghost, Ecogear soft plastic worms in red colour, Samaki slugs for Tailor. As always yabbies have been catching plenty of fish, we even caught a Mangrove Jack on a yabby, with regular guest Damo catching his first ever red dog.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports the 50 fathoms still has plenty of dolphin fish on the fads bagging out very easily which has been amazing, Kingys, Amberjack, Pearlies and Snapper bottom fishing on the 50s using pilchards and live bait and jigs doing the job for the Kings and Aj’s.

May 20, 2022

With constant rain falling last weekend and the rivers getting plenty of fresh water run off chasing a feed of mud crabs was top of the list when it came to best options to try your luck. Those that braved the rain did well with some nice feeds of good quality Mud Crabs taken last weekend and also this week. It’s always going to be a bit of a gamble to choose the best place to set your pots during and after the rain, the Coomera River has been producing some consistent catches of crabs in both the south and north arms. The best way to find where the better numbers of crabs are on offer is to spread your pots out over a winder area covering different depths of water and trying up stream and also towards the river mouth and check them regularly during the first hour or two until you start to find better numbers of keepers then concentrate your efforts in that particular area. Some other good spots to try are the Pimpama River, Paradise Point, Brown Island, Aldershots, Neverfails, Tipplers Passage, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point and the Logan River. Just be mindful of debris being washed out when you are navigating these areas. Best baits are fresh whole mullet, raw chicken pieces or fish frames from your last trip. I always recommend to use a bait bag to stop all the little vermin and small crabs from stealing your bait before a good sized mud crabs gets a chance to get into your pot. Make sure you are up to date with all the latest rules if you are new to crabbing and keen to give it a go.

Wednesday this week saw a good little weather window with light winds and minimal swell finally giving fishos the opportunity to get out offshore and chase a feed of fish. The close reefs from 18 to 24 fathoms should be holing a good little mixed bag of fish to target including Spanish Mackerel, Snapper, Jew Fish, Trag Jew, Tusk Fish, Maori Cod, Moses Perch and even the odd Cobia should be starting to show up. Getting an early start is always the best option, as we get closer to winter you don’t have to get up as early to be out there at sunrise which is a prime bite time especially for Snapper. If you are anchoring up I recommend to get a burly trail going, don’t feed too much just enough to get the fishes attention and keep them is the strike zone around the boat. When choosing a rig I do prefer to use a basic float line set up with the lightest sinker current depending this allows you to drop your baits at a controlled natural speed which will also help you to target fish that have moved up the water column that have responded to the burly trail.

Fishing closer to the open ocean entrances of Jumpinpin Bar and the Gold Coast Seaway will once again be the best bet if you are keen to wet a line over the weekend, best trying your luck towards the last couple of hours of the run-in tide when the water quality will be at it’s best. There is quite a distinctive colour change where the dirtier fresh water meets the clean salt water in the channels, these areas are well worth fishing as the bait fish are quite often holing along the edge in turn attracting a wide range of predators like Trevally, Jewfish, Tailor, Squire, Bram and Flathead just name a few sometimes it’s a lucky dip and you just never know what might show up. Fishing live baits will always work well when the water quality is down, herring, sliver biddies, mullet, pike and yabbies should send out vibrations in the water that will switch on any predatory fish in the area. Also try drifting some brightly coloured soft vibes, mental vibes or soft plastics along the dirty water edge and see if you can temp a bite.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports on the 36 and 50 fathoms there are still plenty of Dolphin Fish on the fads bagging out very easily that has been amazing, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack, Pearlies and Snapper bottom fishing on the 50s using jigs, pilchards and but liveys and jigs doing the job for the Kings and Amberjack but also unfortunately there has been plenty of Sharks getting around and taking some fish. Snapper are definitely ramping up and once the cooler waters are here they will be biting even better.

May 13, 2022

If the forecast rain eventuates setting a few crab pots up a protected river to chase a feed of Mud Crabs might be about the best option to explore. Just make sure you have the latest forecast and check the water for debris before launching the boat. We do have quite a few good land-based options to also try if you can’t get out on the water. Mud Crabs have been quite prolific this year with the rainfall, May is still a good month for crabbing with some good quality full crabs on offer. Try having a look at either the Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Coomera River South and North Arms, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well and the Logan River. I always recommend working a few test pots in different depths of water, in the creek mouths or further up the rivers to find a good spot that is holing better numbers of crabs to then concentrate your efforts in that area. Fresh bait is always the best, whole Mullet, fish frames and chicken pieces will all do the trick. A bait bag is also a great idea, it limits the number of small fish, eels and crabs from destroying your bait before it gets to attract your target species.

If we get smaller rainfall than forecast and the water quality isn’t affected as much by run off, once the wind eases chasing some Tailor will be an option. Some good catches were reported last weekend until the wind blew everyone off the water. Jumpinpin fired up with some big schools of fish showing up the last couple of hours of the run-in tide and the first hour of the run out around the Pin Bar mouth, Crusoe Island, Kalinga Bank, Millionaires Row and the mouth of Tiger Mullet Channel. I always recommend keeping an eye on the sounder for bait fish and also on the water is case the bait fish have been pushed to the surface. Also watch out for any tell tail signs of birds feeding as this is an indication that that Tailor maybe actively feeding on a bait school. The Gold Coast Seaway entrance and the Northern Channel from the Seaway mouth through to Sovereign Islands has also been seeing plenty of early season action as the water starts to cool down and move bait fish move into the area. If things are quiet and you have to search trolling a range of diving lures to find fish is a productive method to try. Once you can locate fish it is best to try and match your lure to the size of the bait they are feeding on and then try casting metal slugs or surface lues which is an exciting method of fishing and is very visually pleasing when you get a good surface hit.

Last weekend the Gold Coast Game Fish Club held a one-day Marlin tournament off the Gold Coast with good numbers of Blue Marlin and a couple of Stripped Marlin tagged and released along with a few nice Dolphin Fish also being landed. Once the weather eases and the swell drops off it will be well worth a look out on the wide grounds if you like chasing Billfish. As the current start to ease as we get closer to winder taking the deep drop gear will be a good idea if the Marlin are slow you can always bring a nice feed from the depths home.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports before the rain and wind returned, I decided to explore further up the Tweed River to areas thatI have not fished for many months due to the floods and some of the old haunts paid off.With a combination of trolling the edges of the channels with Pontoon 21 crackjacks and slam deep divers as well as jigging the deep holes with Samaki and Ecogear zx 40 vibes we caught an array of fish. including Bream, Flatties, Whiting, Grunter, Trevally and some small Jewies. The numbers of small School Jew that have entered the river since the floods has been amazing and hopefully shows some very positive signs for the future for this much sought-after species.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports some great action before the wind and rain on my Broadwater charters until the small neap days turned the fish off. Wading the flats and casting and cranking Daiwa double clutch 60mm lures resulted in catches of around 25 Flathead per session, and Whiting and Bream. This is such an exciting way to fish in shallow water that I now offer as a charter trip. My favourite colour double clutches currently are amber ale, motor oil gudgeon, and lazer ayu. The Tailor busted up in the main channel North of the seaway which was heaps of fun. There were bigger ones around the big school which were hard to stop, they were biting lures off and snapping leaders. We did catch lots of school size ones on 20- & 35-gram Samaki metal lures, before leaving them biting and moving onto catching Whiting, Flounder, Flathead, and Tarwhine on yabbies, Ecogear ZX40’s, and Samaki vibes, Sax scent UV prawn smeared on the lures. This coming week we again have the threat of rain. We just hope it doesn’t end. We can only wait and see what happens then fish near the mouths of rivers.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports Spanish Mackerel were still biting in close before the weather got worse using down riggers being the best option with live bait or dead slimeys, also on the 36 and 50 fathoms still plenty of Dolphin Fish on the fads and Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack, Pearlies and Snapper bottom fishing, jigs and liveys doing the job for the Kings and Ajs.

May 6, 2022

It was good to see some quality Flathead being caught the past few weeks, during May they normally started to show up in better numbers throughout the local rivers, Jumpinpin and the Broadwater as the water cools temp starts to cool down. Majority of the fish are around the 40 to 55cm range with the odd big girl like the 90cm fish caught and released during the Pirtek Fishing Comp 2 weekends ago. It will be worth looking around the North Bedrooms, Gold Bank, Kalinga Bank, Tiger Mullet Channel, Canaipa Passage, Jacobs Well, Brown Island, Currigee, Nerang River and Wave Break Island. Trolling hard body lures like Zerek Tango Shads can be a great option to find the fish. Casting soft plastics around the 3 to 5 inch with a 3/8 or 5/8 jig head will be very productive, also working Metal or Soft Vibes in 1/2 to 3/8 of an ounce in the deeper water will do the trick. Trace line around 10 to 14lb depending on lure size is recommended as they have a very rough mouth and can rub through your leader even after a small fight.

It has been good to see a few nice Tailor being caught from the surf gutters along Broadbeach, Main Beach, The Spit and South Stradbroke Island the past week or so which is great news as we head closer to our cooler winter months which is prime time to target Tailor. Once the winds eases and the swell drops it will be a great time to hit your local surf beach and find a gutter to target. You will also start to see some bigger Greenback Tailor school up offshore on the local reefs, these schools will tend to move closer to the mainland and into the gutters to feed. Try using a set of 3 x ganged 4/0 hooks with a 20lb mono trace and start with matched a 5-ball sinker or a weight suited to the sweep on the beach you are fishing. Best baits are whole WA Pilchards along with Bonito and Mullet Fillet. If the Tailor are thick and on the chew you may need to change to a wire trace to stop bite offs but try mono first as they can be quite tentative at times and your bait will present much more naturally on mono. I have had reports of a few smaller Tailor being landed in the main Broadwater and Jumpinpin channels on the last of the run-in tide, try towing some smaller hard body lures around and if you see birds diving or some top water action try throwing metal slugs for a result.

Given the weekend forecast chasing a feed of Whiting will be a good option, we are lucky to be able to hide up the rivers and canals out of the wind to target these great fish. I fished the Pirtek Fishing Challenge on the 23/4/2022 with my daughters and we got some great news the Rebecca managed 3^rd place senior Queensland with a 42.4cm Whiting and Jessica managed 3^rd place junior Queensland with a 37.9cm Whiting, the fishing was tuff as it rained all day and blew 25knots of wind but with some persistence we managed a good result. Some good spots to hide out of the southerly wind will be Coomera River both South and North arms, Nerang River, Pimpama River, Tiger Mullet Channel, Logan River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek and the Tweed River. Whiting feed best when the water is flowing fast with tidal movement, as the tide eases you just to get bycatch like Bream, Tarwhine or Catfish. You don’t need fancy gear, just a basic light estuary combo spooled with 6 to 9lb mono, a nice long 6lb fluro carbon trace, 4 ball sinker to keep the bait on the bottom and a size 6 bait holder hook. When it comes to bait fresh is best, I like to use either live Bloodworms, Beachworms or Yabbies.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this was once again a full week of charters with a few days getting a bit wet from showers. Getting hit by the odd rain squall did not bother us as the fishing was too good to be phased by the conditions. The fish are now slowly starting to move further up the river as the water quality is improving gradually after the flood event.In saying this please keep an eye out while motoring up the river as there are still a lot of logs and debris floating around. The species caught on our lures this week were Bream, Flatties, Whiting, Trevally, Grunter, Tailor and School Jew.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports in the lead up to new moon we had some good but inconsistent fishing. Some days the fish were feeding aggressively, other days they were shy.That’s fishing though, they can’t always be hungry. On the good days we boated 50+ fish, slower days around 10-20, the dominant species once again were Sand Whiting, Winter Whiting, Flounder, Dusky Flathead, Tailor, Tarwhine, Squire, and Bream.Freshly pumped yabbies always catch fish, while the standout lures were Ecogear Isome XL worms in red and brown, Ecogear ZX40 in 440 colour, and Samaki Vibelicious forktail 70mm in Cleopatra Tiger colour. Best areas to fish were North Currigee and Runaway Bay. The water is continuing to clear after the floods, water temp sitting around 22- 23 degrees. I’ll be taking advantage of the bigger tides close to new moon by fishing the mid to upper reaches of Nerang River. Next week is good for the deeper reefy channels of the Northern Broadwater in the 5-7 metre depth range, and the yabby flats on the run-in tide casting and twitching hardbody lures for Flathead.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports that Spanish Mackerel have been good the last few days in close using live bait, also picking up some Tuskies on the 24s. On the 36 and 50 fathoms still plenty of Dolphin Fish on the fads and Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack and Snapper bottom fishing.

April 29, 2022

As we head towards May the water and air temp has started to cool down, intern we are seeing plenty of bait fish and small prawns around. Flathead should start to show up in better numbers throughout the Tweed and Gold Coasts waterways over the next few months. Try looking around the tops of sandbanks on the high tide and when the tide turns and starts to run out try targeting the edges of the sandbanks the weed beds with soft plastics or hard body lures, also casting lightly weighted yabbies should work as well. As the tide drops you should find Flathead lying in wait for bait moving off the sandbank. Another great spot to look for action is any small creek entrances leading into a main waterway or gutters and drains leading off a sandbank. These are perfect ambush areas and will usually attract Flathead which tend to lay in wait to catch an easy feed swimming past. Soft vibes and metal blades will work a treat in deeper water and drifting dead baits are all great options to entice a bite. Try your luck in the Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Coomera River, Nerang River, Wave Break Island, Brown Island, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Crusoe Island, Kalinga Bank, Tiger Mullet Channel and the Logan River for a Flathead.

Bream have been caught in good numbers during April, they tend to fire up well after a good fresh water flush out. As we head towards winter it looks like a good season on the way for the Bream fishos around Jumpinpin area, Gold Coast and the Tweed. Some good spots to try around the Pin are the Huts along Short Island, Kalinga Bank, Tiger Mullet Channel, Crusoe Island, Whalley’s Gutter, the Power Lines and the Logan River. In the Broadwater try the Gold Coast Seaway Walls, Wave Break Island, Nerang River, Paradise Point Bridges, Seaworld Channel, Lands End and Marine Parade Labrador rock walls are a great land-based spot to fish. The Tweed River has plenty of structure to fish either land based or on the boat including plenty of rock walls, jetties and bridges. When targeting Bream, I recommend a light to medium estuary outfit spooled with 9lb mono, and 8-10lb fluro carbon trace as they will tend to fight dirty and try to get back to their snag once hooked matched with a size 2 or 4 bait holder hook. Burley is a must, don’t feed then too much just a bit at a time to keep them in the area and interested. Burly pellets or cubed WA Pilchards will do the job. Bream are usually not too fussy when it comes to eating and will pretty much have a crack at most baits presented to them. Best baits are Mullet Gut, Mullet Fillet, Silver Biddies, Herring, Prawns, White Pilchards, Pieces of WA Pilchards, Squid, Yabbies or Bonito Fillet.

Whiting have been on the chew this week with some nice catches of quality fish coming in, try looking around the Bedrooms, Pandanis Island, Millionaires Row, Tiger Mullet Channel, Wave Break Island, Nerang River, Crab Island, Coomera River, Pimpama River and the Logan River. Whiting will be active on both the incoming and outgoing tides, as the water flows it disturbs the bottom and helps them with feeding. They will go off the bite when the tide slows down to change and will usually start feeding again when the run in the water returns. Best outfit is a light rod and reel combo with a rod length 7 to 9 foot, 2000 to 2500 size reel spooled with 6 to 9lb mono, a long 6lb fluro carbon trace, 4 ball sinker to keep the bait on the bottom and a size 6 bait holder hook. Best baits are live Bloodworms, Beachworms and Yabbies.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it was once again another big week on the water with some mild weather and a heap of fish caught on lures.Even though we caught big numbers and a variety of species we did not catch anything really big but at the end of the day it is always good to see a consistent bend in the rods. The species caught were a heap of Beam as well as Flatties, Whiting, Grunter, Moses Perch, Estuary Cod, Flounder, Trevally, School Jew, Grunter and Tailor.The numbers of Tailor we caught show that the water temperature is starting to drop, and it won’t be long before the big tailor start moving into the river to spawn.The fun thing for my clients was to cast MMD Splash prawns at the Tailor and watch them hit the surface lures.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports a tougher week with some rain, wind, and neap tides, with the fish down in size. It still was a fun week though with lots of variety in the Nerang River and Broadwater. There were some nice Whiting and Flathead on the yabby flats, and Flathead, Flounder, Tailor, Squire, Winter Whiting, Sand Whiting, Tarwhine and big Bream in the main channels near the Seaway. With so much bait around the deeper holes and canals in the Nerang River have been producing School Jew, Flathead, Grunter, Bream, Sand Whiting. As always Samaki vibes and Ecogear ZX40 blades have been the best lures in the channels, and Pro Lure ST 42’s are good for casting on the flats. New moon is on Sunday 1 May, so the action will pick up noticeably in fish quality and quantity. We should see lots of fun fishing when the wind and rain eases this week too. I am hoping the Arrow Squid will start this week.

April 22, 2022

Now that the water quality is getting back to normal fishos have reported some good hauls of Tailor around Jumpinpin around the last 2 hours of the run-in tide and the first hour of the run tide being the best times to target them. If you can time the tides around sunrise or sun set this is when Tailor are usually feeding at their best. Trolling shallow or mid water diving minnows is a great way to cover territory and entice a bite if the fish are active in the area. Always keep an eye on the sounder for signs of bait and fish, an eye on the water for fish splashing while feeding and an eye on the sky for birds waiting to feed on bait and scraps that are pushed to the surface. Once you locate an active school of Tailor feeding try casting metal slugs, or surface lures to temp a strike, this is a very fun way to fish and rewarding when you get to see the fish strike. If you prefer to fish baits drifting to cover ground is recommended again until you can find a school of fish, I recommend trying a combination of baits that are unweighted and also weighted to find the depth they are feeding at. WA Pilchards, Blue Bait, Bonito strips, Mullet Fillet and even White Pilchards all make good options. As Tailor have razor sharp teeth most anglers will use a wire trace when using bait, I normally stick to a mono leader as this will present the bait more naturally and if the fish are fussing can help to produce a bite, I only go to wire when the fish are thick and hitting anything you throw at them. Jumpinpin Bar Entrance, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Bedrooms, Mouth of Tiger Mullet Channel and Canapia Passage are good spots to start looking for Tailor.

The Gold Coast Seaway is still holding a few nice School Jew and Mangrove Jack mostly hitting live baits like Yakkas, Pike, Mullet and Herring fished over bait schools around the pipeline and the hole on the North Wall at the entrance. When fishing the Seaway make sure you have the most up to date forecast and keep an eye on the swell rolling through.

When the wind and swell finally drops next week hitting the close reefs will be worth the effort with some great catches of Spanish Mackerel being landed earlier in the week during one of very few good weather windows, we have seen on the Gold Coast. Some good spots to try are Palm Beach Reef, Gravel Patch, Local Bait Reef, 18fathom and the 24 fathom reefs are all holding good bait schools which intern arracks predators. The best way to cover ground is by trolling a combination of deep and shallow diving bib lures or skirted metal head or resin head lures until you can find fish in the area. Slow trolling well rigged dead baits like Tailor and Bonito or live baits live Yakkas or Slimy Mackerel.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it was once again a fun week on the Tweed River with big numbers of fish and a variety of species smashing our lures. The bulk of the fish taking the lures were Bream in fact they were that thick in places we had to move positions to get away from them to find other species.Other species we caught this week were Flathead, Whiting, Grunter, Giant Trevally and School Jew. The best performing lures this week were pontoon 21 crackjacks and Samaki vibelicous.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports like Smithy at Tweed there were fish everywhere in the Broadwater, it’s hard to not catch fish at the moment with yabbies, Samaki vibes, Ecogear ZX40’s and Ecogear Isome worms. The channels have been fishing very well in depths of 5-7m for Sand Whiting, Winter Whiting, School Flathead, Flounder, Squire, Mud Crabs, Sand Crabs, and the usual Tarwhine and Bream. I will be doing plenty of trips walking the flats over the next few months, casting lures for Flathead, Whiting, and Bream. Hardbodies such as Daiwa double clutch, Pontoon 21 crackjacks, Pro Lure ST 72, and soft plastics provide great fun, and we’ll also have a go for monster Flathead using MMD whiting glides, John Costello’s soft glide, and Samaki boombait shads. It’s such a fun, visual, relaxing way to fish, seeing a Flathead chase down lures in shallow water. The last few trips I have done have resulted in 15-25 fish of various sizes.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports plenty of Dolphin Fish still on all fads , pilchards doing the trick, Snapper, Pearl Perch and the odd Yellow Tail Kingfish on the 50s and 36s also some Spanish are still getting taken on the Diamond and Q1 reefs.

April 15, 2022

Looking at the expected forecast over the Easter break of stronger south-easterly winds and a rising swell fishing inshore will be the best option for chasing a fresh feed of seafood for the table over Easter. Local fishos have been still scoring some very consistent hauls of Mud Crabs, Wayne Young (see photo in report) has just returned from a very successful houseboat holiday managing to land a fantastic feed of mud crabs each day he was on the water. Mud Crabs are still pretty widespread throughout the Broadwater, Jumpinpin and local Rivers and Estuary’s on the Gold and Tweed Coasts at the moment. It will be worth setting a few pots to see if you can score a nice feed too, the Coomera River including the North and South Arms, Pimpama River, Paradise Point, Aldershots, Tipplers Passage, The Never Fail Islands, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Logan River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgerra Creek and The Tweed River are some good spots to have a go. I would recommend working your pots and move them around a bit if you are crabbing during day light hours until you can find an area holding better numbers of legal bucks, also try varying the depths of water you target. If you are going to soak the pots overnight, try setting them as late as possible in the afternoon and checking as early in the morning as possible to try and eliminate the share farmers taking you hard earnt catch. When it comes to bait fresh is best, fish frames, chicken pieces and whole mullet are the best choices.

Prawns have been a bit quiet after the last dumping of rain, a few lucky fishos managed to score a good feed during the week at Redland Bay. It may be worth having a look early morning before the wind kicks in around the Logan River, Redland Channel, Russell Island and MacKleay Island if you are keen to throw the net, it can be very hard work if it is too windy.

Inshore chasing a feed of bread-and-butter species will be the go, there has been some pretty good feeds of Whiting being landed this week, they are a fun fish to target and very tasty to eat. There has also been plenty of Bream around and some nice sized Flathead being caught as the water quality is cleaning up. Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Wave Break Island, Green Bank and the Bedrooms have been good spots to score a nice feed of Whiting. When targeting Whiting tidal flow is very important, they will bite on both the incoming and run out tides, as the tide flow eases closer to the change of tide they will normally go off the bite. Try fishing around sandbank and have your lines set in different depts of water to locate where the fish are feeding. The best baits have been live Blood Worms, Beach Worms and Yabbies. Flathead have been much more active this week as the water quality improves, there seems to be plenty of bait schools throughout Jumpinpin and the Broadwater which intern attract predators like Flathead which tend to lay in wait for a feed to swim past. Fishing around the edges and drop off around Jumpinpin Bar, Kalinga Bank, Bedrooms, Crusoe Island, entrance to Tiger Mullet Channel, Crab Island, Wave Break Island, Paradise Point and The Gold Coast Seaway Rock Walls are worth a go with soft plastics, soft vibes or drifting baits like small wa pilcahrds, white bait and live herring should do the trick. Bream have been around in good numbers again this week, most land-based jetties, bridges and rock walls should be holding numbers of fish. Whilst chasing Flathead and Whiting Bream will be in the same areas and will eat a good variety of lures or baits put in front of them.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports once again due to the consistent amount of dirty water flowing down the Tweed River I planned my trips on the run in tides near the entrance of the river.We caught a lot of fish and some good variety trolling slam and pontoon 21 crackjack lures as well as drift jigging with Ecogear zx 40 and Samaki vibes. The species caught were Bream, Flatties, Whiting, Grunter, Moses Perch and a few small Giant Trevally.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports what a week! Wow so many fish out there in the Broadwater. Everywhere we fished they were there, bait balls and plenty of fish feeding on them. With the smaller neap tides and light winds, it was the perfect time to fish all the main channel areas between the Seaway and Sovereign Island. It’s quite amazing how many Sand Whiting are widespread out there. They may have been flushed out of the rivers to the beaches by the floods and are now returning through the Broadwater. Run in tides have still been the go with the water clearing during those phases, run outs get too dirty with Hinze dam still at 103.6 % capacity today Friday. We took full advantage all week and my clients enjoyed some great fishing and took home delicious fresh feeds. Yabbies have worked very well for Sand Whiting, Tuskfish, and Flounder, while Ecogear Isome worms tempted Winter Whiting, Flathead, and Samaki 70mm forktail soft vibes in Cleopatra Tiger and Grey Ghost colours caught plenty of Flathead and Flounder. This coming week is the lead up to full moon next Sunday, and the fishing gets trickier with bigger tides but we should still do very well. Especially with light to moderate winds. The lower to mid sections of Nerang and Coomera rivers will be worth a look for Flathead, Whiting, Grunter, Trevally, Tarwhine, and Bream. Hopefully the water starts to clear enough to fish well through the run-out tides as well as run in.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports on the 50 fathoms has been pretty consistent catches of nice Snapper coming aboard using bottom bashers and floaters and also picking up few Pearlies, Jobfish and the odd Samson and Amberjack. Dolphin fish have been really mainly on the 50 fathoms fads but the size are very small but plenty of them there a lot of fun to catch and release. There also has been Blue Marlin out wide on the shelf. Once the wind and swell drop this will be a great option.

Easter is a very busy time on our local waterways, the boat ramps can also be very challenging. Just remember to take your time, be willing to help out your fellow boaties and enjoy a relaxing and safe Easter holiday.

April 8, 2022

The drop in swell last weekend and early this week saw plenty of boats head out offshore in search of some action. A good variety of reef species were reported from both the 18 and 24 fathom reefs off the Seaway including some good quality Snapper, big Silver Jewfish, Trag Jew, Maori Cod, Yellow Tail Kingfish and Tusk Fish. The best methods are either anchoring up on a show of bait and fish on the sounder and then float lining down your lightly weighted bait to entice a hit on the drop or try your luck at drifting baits to cover more of the reef. Best baits are WA Pilchards, large whole Squid, Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet and live or butterflied Yakkas. The good news is that a few lucky fishos managed to troll up some nice catches of Spanish Mackerel and even the odd Wahoo after the rain which means the water quality is not too bad on the closer reefs. For targeting Spanish Mackerel, I recommend keeping your eyes peeled on the sounder for shows of bait which may hold fish in that area, try trolling diving lures or well rigged baits is a popular method which allows you to cover more ground whilst searching an area for fish. If you do locate good numbers of fish slow trolling live Yakkas or just dropping a live Yakka down into the show is also a very affective way to catch Spanish Mackerel.

Chasing a feed of Mud Crabs has been a good option once again with plenty of reports of quality crabs showing up in good numbers throughout the many Rivers on the Gold and Tweed Coast. The main Broadwater and Jumpinpin Channels have also produced good numbers of Mud Crabs that have been washed out by the flow of fresh water. Once the water starts to clan up you should be able to target Sand Crabs closer to the open ocean entrances. Best spots have been the Coomera River including the North and South arms, Pimpama River, Paradise Point, Brown Island, The Never Fails, Tipplers Channel, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Cabbage Tree Point, Canapia Passage and the Logan River. If you are looking to set your pots in deeper water you will have to keep an eye on then with the extra flow in the water they can easily move if you don’t use a long enough rope and the pot may also require a bit of extra weight inside. A bait bag is a great idea to reduce the amount of bait stolen by small fish, eels and crabs. Whole Mullet, Fish Frames and also fresh Chicken make great baits.

Jumpinpin and the Broadwater have fished surprisingly well since the last dump of rain, the key is to fish the incoming tide closer to the open ocean entrances like The Gold Coast Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar where the best quality water makes its way back into the system. In the Broadwater try around the Seaway, Seaworld Channel, Wave Break Island and Crab Island. Around Jumpinpin have a look around the Pin Bar, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island and the Bedrooms. We have seen plenty of Bream, Tarwhine, some nice Whiting, Flathead, Flounder, Moses, Squire and Tailor being landed using a mixture of soft plastics, vibes and bait. Try looking for clean the water is a good start, there has been a fair bit of bait fish around in these areas which is good sign considering the amount of fresh water that has pushed through lately. Live Yabbies and worms make great bait, if you are using frozen bait try Prawns, White Pilchards and Mullet Fillet.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports once again the rain came and after having such a great time last week the river has turned dirty. The reason for this is the low-pressure system that came through.This totally decimated the northern NSW river systems with some areas recording 400 mm of rain from Coffs Harbour to the Tweed. I guess I can’t complain too much as many of the residents in this area are still trying to patch up their lives after the first flood.The good news is that we are not expecting rain in the near future, and I will be working the early morning run in tides this week near the mouth of the river. I am pretty sure that I will post some good runs on the board as this is where the fish should be concentrated.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports Like Northern NSW, the Gold Coast also received a lot of rain which has muddied up the rivers once again.I did notice over the last few days however that the downstream area is clearing fast on the big run-in tides. This means that we will experience good fishing soon rather than later. This coming week features my favourite morning tides for fishing the deeper Broadwater channels from the seaway to Sovereign Island. Ignore the falling almanac, the fish will be hungry. Good options: Seaway for Jewfish, flats for Whiting, Flathead, channels for Crabs and variety of fish. I did get out fishing a few times this week, catching Flathead and Bream up Nerang River on Pontoon 21 crackjack hardbodies, and Flathead, Whiting, Flounder, and Bream around Runaway bay and Southport on Samaki vibes and Ecogear ZX40’s, with Sax scent uv prawn applied.

March 30, 2022

School Holidays are here once again, this is a good opportunity to get the kids out of the house and spend some quality time outdoors and try their luck at catching a fish. If you haven’t got much experience that should not be an issue. I recommend dropping into your local tackle shop and I am sure they will be keen to help you with all the advice needed to choose the right bait, tackle and some fishing spots to get you started at trying to catch a fish with the kids. Keep it as simple as possible, all you need is a basic light estuary combo with 9lb line, a running sinker rig with a size 3 to 4 sinker and a size 2 to 4 bait holder hook should do the trick on most species you may find of a local jetty or beach like Bream, Flathead and Whiting. A few good spots to try land based once things settle down after the rain will be either Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Marine Stadium, Broadwater Parklands, Main Channel near Seaworld, Grand Hotel Jetty, Lands End, Runaway Bay Canal Entrances, Paradise Point Jetty, Coomera River and Jacobs Well. After the rain Bream will be around in good numbers and they don’t seem to mind how fresh the water is, they will also be very hungry and will have a crack at just about any bait presented to them. The kids will enjoy pumping yabbies as they are great bait and fun to catch, also try using Prawns, Worms, White Pilchards or Mullet Fillet should attract a fish.

After the big flush out Mud Crabs will again be a prime target for most fishos keen to get the pots in and chase a tasty feed. After the water cleared up majority of the crabs were caught back in the creeks and upper reaches of the rivers, after this week’s flush it would have re pushed the bulk of the Mud Crabs back into the main channels and deeper holes throughout the Broadwater and Jumpinpin as they hunt for a feed in where the salinity will be stronger. I always recommend where possible try not to leave your crab pots unattended for too long if you are crabbing during daylight hours as unfortunately some people just can’t help themselves and are tempted to share you hard earnt catch. I recommend to work your pots closer to river mouths and also along the deeper channels in search of Crabs that are on the move the next week or so until they make a move back up the creeks and rivers as the water conditions start to get back to normal. Some spots worth giving a go are the Mouth of the Coomera and Pimpama Rivers, Paradise Point, Brown Island, The Never Fails Islands, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Canaipa Passage, Russell Island and the Logan River Mouth. When it comes to bait I always say the fresher the better, Whole Mullet, Fish Frames or Chicken pieces normally work best. A bait bag is a great idea to stop small fish, eels and crabs from destroying your bait.

Once the swell eases and the water quality is on the mend heading offshore in search of a Spanish Mackerel will be on the cards. Last weekend (see photo in report) Chris Blair and Kevin Ballantine did just that slow trolling some well presented dead baits for a great result landing a pair of quality Spanish for the table. The majority of fish have been taken from the 18 and 20 fathom grounds off the Southport Seaway and also the Gravel Patch off Palm Beach all producing some good catches of solid fish. Keeping an eye, the sounder is very important when searching for Spanish, locating bait schools that will hold fish in the area is key and also very handy to collect live baits to slow troll. If things are looking a bit quiet, I recommend to put on some diving lures that will cover multiple depths of the water column and keep an eye out for the schools of Mackerel which normally show up sitting just off the bottom and then extending up higher closer to the surface. Sharks have been an issue for anglers losing their fair share of fish, try to get them to the boat as soon as you possibly can to avoid feeding your fish to the tax man.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports we had a lot of fun on the Tweed River with the water slowly cleaning up after the floods.The cleaner water allowed me to fish upstream in some of my usual haunts that I haven’t been able to fish for the past 2 weeks. The species caught were Bream, Flatties, Whiting, Estuary Cod and Grunter and a couple of small Jewies.The highlight this week was the occasional school of big Giant Trevally that were traveling up the river. We found the Trevally on the run in tides feeding on some big bait schools in the deep holes.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the fish numbers in the Nerang river and Gold Coast Broadwater have been spectacular this week in spite of neap tides and low almanac. We have been catching 50-60 fish a session over the last four days, keeping a few for a feed and releasing most. I have never seen so many Bream and Tarwhine, at times it is hard to get past them. We just kept moving to find the Flathead, Winter Whiting, Sand Whiting, Grunter, Trevally and Flounder.Best lures at the moment are Samaki 70mm vibes- the new Cleopatra Gold colour totally slays, and Ecogear ZX40 in 440 colour. As always smearing on Sax scent helps get more bites. Live yabbies and Ecogear Isome worms in XL red are catching plenty of fish too. I went Whiting wading on the flats one day too, biggest Whiting was 42cm, and had a heap of fun casting small hardbodies and catching nice Flathead, Whiting, Bream and Trevally. I will be doing more of this on charters in coming months. Best areas have been the mid-section of Nerang River, the main channel north of the Seaway, and the South Eastern side of Sovereign Island, all in 5-7 m depth. This coming week the tides suddenly increase in lead up to new moon. This will fire up the Southern end of the Broadwater from the spit up to Sundale bridge, and the Nerang River from Chevron island to Carrara.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports try the fads on 36s and 50 fathoms for Dolphin Fish there has been heaps of them around and bottom fishing for Snapper, Pearl Perch, Amberjack and Yellow Tail Kingfish. Also in close Spanish Mackerel are on the 24s and 18s also will be some Trag Jew this week and big Silver Jew.

March 22, 2022

There has been no shortage off good quality Mud Crabs on offer for anyone keen enough to get out on the water for a session. Local fisho Brett Van Latham (see photo in report) did just that, taking out his mate Wayne Young to set the pots for a few hours managing to come up trumps with a great feed to share between them. The weather was pretty good at the start of the week with more sunshine on offer and a break in the showers making conditions much nicer to spend time on the water soaking a few pots. Mud Crabs have been very widespread throughout the system on the Gold and Tweed Coasts after the big flush out the past week or so. By now they have started to slowly make their way back into the river and estuary systems, this will take a while considering the amount of fresh water still moving around. It will be worth having a look around the Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Logan River, Paradise Point, Brown Island, the Aldershots, the Never Fails, Jacobs Well and Cabbage Tree Point. It is still recommended to set your pots in varying depths of water for the first soak until you can find the preferred depth of water the majority of crabs and more concentrated in. Best bait is whole Mullet, Chicken pieces and fish frames. When choosing the right bait, the fresher the better, make sure if you are soaking your pots for a couple of days to rotate the old bait out when needed. A bait bag for your pot is a must to stop your bait form disappearing before you have a chance to attract multiple crabs into your pots. Just make sure if you are new to crabbing that you have all the up to date information on rules and regulations https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/recreational/recreational-fishing-rules/crabs-lobsters

At this stage the weather forecast looks like it might be looking better for heading offshore for a fish from Sunday onwards, but I do recommend to always have the latest forecast before heading out. The wind is tipped to ease and the swell to decrease, unfortunately the Gold Coast Seaway entrance has become extremely shallow on the southern side causing dangerous breaking waves even when the swell is smaller, given the condition of the open ocean entrance trips offshore should only be considered by boaties that have plenty of experience in bar crossings. The close reefs may be still a bit dirty after the freshwater flush like Mermaid and Palm Beach, chasing Mackerel in close may not be the best option. I would recommend to start look on the sounder around the 18 to 24 fathom reefs for signs of bait fish and predators to have a drop on. These areas were holding good numbers of Spanish Mackerel prior to the big rains and will be a great place to start having look. For Spanish try trolling a mixture of shallow and deep diving lures or slow trolling live baits. If you spot a school of Spanish on the bottom or mid water, try dropping down a weighted bait rigged on wire or fast retrieving a larger metal slug. These areas should also produce a mixed bag of fish including Snapper, Moses, Tusk Fish, Jewfish, Trag Jew, Tailor and Maori Cod. If anchoring I always recommend the use of burley as will make a big difference when it comes to holding the fish you sounded up around your boat and also drawing in fish down current.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on behalf of Clint and myself we put out or best wishes to the communities that live on the Tweed River that have and are still suffering from the horrible flood event.Today was my first day back on the water after volunteering my time and boat to help people along the river as they desperately needed support in this very tough and saddening period. The client I had today knew it was going to be tough going but was well rewarded by the challenging conditions and managed to catch some Flatties, Bream, Whiting, Moses Perch, Estuary Cod and was unlucky that a nice Jewie spat the lure just outside of net range.It was great today to be back guiding and I look forward to fishing next week and trying to help as many flood affected people as I can.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the Broadwater this week, fish were hard to get on lures on the dirty water. Ecogear ZX40’s in gold colours worked ok on Whiting, but yabbies and Ecogear worms were most effective. There are some Sand Whiting and Winter Whiting in the Southern Broadwater, with bigger tides coming this week the fishing and crabbing action should improve further.Plenty of Grunter, Bream, and Tarwhine are around the mid-section of Nerang River which are all fun on light tackle. Yabbies, bloodworms and prawns will all work well.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports the weather has been very ordinary again but get out there and try the fads on 36s and 50 fathoms for Dolphin Fish and bottom fishing for Snapper, Pearl Perch, Amberjack and Yellow Tail Kingfish. In close Spanish Mackerel are on the 24s and 18s also will be some Trag Jew this week and big Jew leading up to the full moon.

March 11, 2022

The recent flooding rains gave the local rivers and estuary’s another massive flush out pushing plenty of quality Mud Crabs into the main Broadwater and Jumpinpin area, local fisho Ben White (see photo in report) had a great trip landing some top-quality rusty bucks for a fantastic feed. After the amount of rain we have had it will take at least two weeks to restore any sort of normality to the inshore fishing system, this means you will have to be versatile when you head out. I recommend targeting the edges of all main channels throughout Jumpinpin and the Broadwater as Mud Crabs will be on the move in search of better water quality and a feed until the salinity makes its way back up the river and creeks along with the majority of crabs. When setting some test pots try to vary the depth of water you target to try and locate the bulk of the crabs, this is a good way to find the best area to concentrate on targeting. Try targeting the deeper channels around Runaway Bay, Paradise Point, Aldershots, The Never Fails, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Canaipa Passage and along Russell Island. Best baits are whole mullet, fresh fish frames and fresh chicken pieces, I always recommend a bait bag to help look after your bait from being stolen by small fish, eels and crabs.

Reports of a few nice Bream being caught after the rain was to be expected but the good news is a few nice Whiting have also been showing up in the Broadwater which is great to see. Try fishing the edges of the sandbanks around the southern end of the Broadwater using live yabbies that can be pumped off the sandbanks you are fishing. Schools of Whiting and Bream can move around a bit while feeding, if you are lucky when the bite is on you can land multiple fish but they can just stop feeding as quick as they start. I recommend if you have not caught any fish for about half an hour just move around and try another spot close by and see how you go. The best tackle to use is a 6lb fluro carbon leader, and either no sinker in the shallows or a 4 – 5 ball sinkers on the deeper edges to keep the bait in the bite zone, worms and yabbies are the best bait. Some good areas to try land based are Labrador, Paradise Point and Runaway Bay esplanades these can produce a great feed. In the Broadwater try Wave Break Island, Crab Island, opposite Aqua Building. If you are fishing around Jumpinpin have a look around Pandanus Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Bedrooms and Jacobs Well Shoals.

Depending on the swell rolling through fishing the open ocean entrances of Jumpinpin Bar and the Gold Coast Seaway will be the best bet of finding good numbers of quality fish that get pushed out of the rivers and estuaries following the bait fish. These open ocean entrances also provide the best quality water on the incoming tide with most predators preferring the higher level of salt these areas provide. The Gold Coast Seaway has been fishing very well during the past summer months, this is a great spot to search for a variety of species including Jewfish, Mangrove Jack, Trevally, Squire, the odd Snapper, Grassy Sweetlip, Spangled Emperor, Estuary Cod, Flathead, Tailor, Dart and Bream to name a few. The best time to fish will be the last 2 hours of the incoming tide and the first 2 hours of the run out. Just make sure you keep an eye the swell at all times whilst fishing the above areas.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports there has been good numbers of Dolphin fish around the fads with plenty of current up to 3 knots as well but the bottom fishing on the 50 fathoms was red hot when u could get through the bar ( Please Be careful guys going through there bar with the big swell) but plenty of good size Snapper, Amberjack a few Yellow Tail Kingfish and Pear Perch on pilchards and mullet and the few Spanish Mackerel getting caught on the 24s.

March 4, 2022

With the wind set to ease over the weekend if you are thinking about heading out just make sure you have the most up to date forecast on hand and you are aware that there will be submerged debris in the waterways to deal with. Chasing a feed mud crabs will be about your best option, the main Broadwater and Jumpinpin areas will be the best spots to target a feed with the rivers and estuaries getting a massive flush out that would have pushed majority of crabs to find batter water quality to feed in. Try setting your test pots around the river mouths and then work your way out into deeper channels with the rest until you can determine the best areas to target Mud Crabs as they move through the area. After such a big flush it may take a couple of weeks to start getting back to normal. Best baits are whole mullet, fresh fish frames or fresh chicken pieces, I always use a bait bag to stop the small fish, crabs and eels from destroying your bait until it has had time to attract your target species of Mud Crabs to the pot. You could try the mouth of the North and South are of the Coomera River, Pimpama River, Brown Island, Aldershots, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well, Canaipa Passage, Russell Island may be worth a go. Just make sure you have the most up to date information on rules and regulations before giving it a go https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/recreational/recreational-fishing-rules/crabs-lobsters

Bream are about the best target species when the water quality is bad and full of fresh water, it seems to get them very active feeding on all the bait and bits and pieces washed out during flood conditions. You can target Bream either land based or also out in the boat, Bream will just about eat anything you present them. I find the best baits are Prawns, Mullet Fillet, Herring, Silver Biddies, Mullet Gut, Bonito Fillet and Yabbies. Laying a burly trail will increase your chances of finding fish and then keeping them in the area and feeding, basic burley pellets and even a loaf of bread is all you need to try. A light estuary combo will do the trick, rigged with 9lb mainline, 8 to 10ln fluro carbon trace, size 2 to 4 ball sinker depending on current a size 2 to 4 baitholder hook will normally do the job. Try to pick a spot where there is either natural or man-made structure in the water, this offers baitfish a spot to hide and then the predatory Bream a great spot find a feed. Sunken trees, mangrove edges, rock bars, bridges, rock walls and pontoons and jetties are all a good spot to try your luck. Land based try the Seaway Wall and the Spit, Broadwater Parklands, Labrador, Paradise Point and Runaway Bay. In the boat try Wavebreak Island, Crab Island, Paradise Point, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island and Tiger Mullet Channel.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports very limited fishing this week with the wind and rain. The Tweed is now muddy again but before that we were catching some nice Flathead on vibes and Whiting on MMD surface lures. Once this weather settles, we will have to focus on lure fishing the downstream reaches during the upcoming week. We will have fantastic fishing to look forward to in autumn and winter once La Nina weakens.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports very limited opportunity this week to fish but I did go a few times before the weather turned. Nerang and Coomera rivers are now a chocolate colour with more rain to come. The Broadwater produced a lot of variety of fish on yabbies and Ecogear Isome worms, while some Squid turned up in bigger numbers and size that normal for this time of year. I also ran an early morning charter in Nerang River, and we caught Flathead on soft plastics, then a jack charter one night which produced one Jack and some Bream before the heavy rain set in and shut the fish down. This week I will look to fish the seaway for Jewies and more, and the Broadwater sand flats and deeper channels for the usual Flathead, Tuskies, Whiting, Squid and others using yabbies, plastics, vibes, blade lures.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports once the runoff eases and the debris clears it will be worth chasing Dolphin Fish as they been hanging around the fads off the Gold Coast, sometimes it can be hard to get them to bite but try all different methods bait and lures and hopefully you can get the bite. A few Marlin still getting around spot x still and along that line Mackerel showed up in good numbers on the diamond reef and Q1 trolling hard bodies and also live bait and trolling dead baits.

February 25, 2022

It was great to see plenty of fishos out offshore last weekend making the most of the best weather window we have seen for nearly all summer. As predicted in last weeks report the southerly winds did the job well cleaning and heating up the water on the closer reefs off the Gold Coast seeing some fantastic catches of quality Spanish Mackerel and the odd Spotty for those lucky crews out chasing a feed of pelagic fish. Early season the Spanish had been pretty quiet but by the middle of last week they were very thick on the 24 and 18 fathoms reefs off the Gold Coast and also the Gravel Patch with boats trolling lures and live baits getting triple hook ups from large schools of fish cruising the reefs in search of bait schools. The Mackerel seemed to on the bite for the majority of the day with good catches even coming in around midday which is great if you got out a bit later in the day. In some areas of the 18 fathom reef the Spanish were seen free jumping when they were feeding of bait schools of yakkas. A combination of trolling hard body lures at different depths was the most popular method to cover ground and spot schools of fish sitting mid water on the sounder, once you locate fish slow trolling live baits in the upper water column and using a down rigger to cover the deeper water. Dropping metal slugs into the school and retrieving the lure at a fast speed will also result in a hook up, this method is a great rush when you hook a fish. Local fisho Paul Wilshire (see photo in report) hand a great day landing a pair of top-quality eating Spanish trolling dead baits. Spotted Mackerel have been a bit hit and miss so far this year, fingers crossed they start to show up in better numbers. Bottom fishing was quite successful also last weekend with some good sized Snapper, Maori Cod, Trag Jew, Jewfish and Tusk Fish being landed on the 18 and 24 fathom reefs with a pretty light current making fishing conditions good. Once the wind and swell eases and we get a good forecast heading offshore will be a great option.

With a windy and rainy forecast on the way for the weekend once again finding some shelter up on of the many creeks, estuaries or canals will be the best option if you are keen to try your luck. Bull Sharks have been active the past week with the warmer humid days stirring them up, anglers that were keen did pretty well in the Coomera River, Nerang River and Logan River landing a variety of different sized Sharks from pups to bigger models with the favourite bait of choice being freshwater eel. A medium sized outfit 20-30 lb rigged with a nylon coated wire trace 60-100lb and a size 6-9 circle or J hook is all you need to get out and have fun. Sharks will be quite active during the daytime as well as night making them a good all-round species to target while the weather is average.

Chasing a feed of Whiting is also a good option given the forecast, some good catches have been reported from the Logan River, Pimpama River, Coomera River the Nerang River and Wave Break Island will all offer good protection from the wind. The amount of rain we get may determine the best of the above spots to try. Live blood worms, beach worms and yabbies will make the best baits, a light outfit spooled with 6 to9lb mono, a long 6lb fluorocarbon leader, size 3-5 ball sinker depending on current and a short shank bait holder hook size 4-6 to suit your bait of choice. Bram and Flathead will also be on offer as a good bycatch when fishing the above areas.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it was great to have some good weather and very good tides this week. The main catch was some nice quality Flatties that we caught trolling and drift jigging with Pontoon 21 crackjack and Samaki vibelicious lures.There were also some GT’s around, they were only small but provided some fun light tackle sport. With the water slowly cleaning up after a lot of early season rain we took the opportunity to do a bit of surface fishing with MMD splash prawns.We caught a couple of Whiting on surface but the bream were very dominant which created some fun topwater action.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the fishing was good leading up to the full moon then slow on the moon and the day after.Sand Whiting are still around in numbers and good size on the Broadwater flats during the day and up the Nerang River at night, with the usual 40cm plus fish amongst the schools.Mangrove Jacks, Squid, Flounder, Flathead, Squire and Tuskfish made up the rest of the catch this week. The weed has cleaned up with the bigger tides, but it does pay to find the warmer patches of water to find the bait and the following fish. This coming week we have good tides for wading the flats for big sand Whiting or fishing up Nerang River with lures for Giant Trevally and Flathead.

February 18, 2022

For the majority of anglers this weekend will be the first time in weeks we have seen a drop in wind and swell giving you a chance to head out offshore and try your luck. The recent southerly wind should have pushed in some warm clean water into the shallow reefs making targeting Spotted and Spanish Mackerel a good option. It will be worth having a look around Mermaid Reef, Palm Beach Reef, The Gravel Patch, the Bait Grounds, 18 fathoms and 24 fathoms off Southport. For targeting Spanish Mackerel, I would recommend getting an early start and try trolling a mixture of deep and shallow diving lures, rigged dead baits or slow trolling Live Baits around the reefs listed above and any bait schools you are able to mark on the sounder in these areas. I recommend rigging a small length of 69lb single strand wire on the lures and baits to limit your chance of getting bitten off by these toothy critters that have a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. If you are keen to target Spotted Mackerel again an early start is best, try to have a good sound around the area you have chosen to target. Once you have located bait and life in the area anchor up and start a burly trail using small cubes of WA pilchard to attract the predators. I always have a metal slug rigged up on a rod and try to put in plenty of casts to lure in the Mackerel close to you boat and into the burly trail, this method will also result in plenty of hook ups on the lures. Matching the hatch is very important, a metal slug between around 20-40 grams will cover the bait they are usually feeding on. Best baits are half or whole pilchards rigged on light multi strand wire and even live yakkas will attract the bigger fish to bite.

Bottom fishing is always worth a go depending on the strength of the current, the 18 and 24 fathom reefs off the Gold Coast should be holding some good-sized Snapper, Jew Fish, Trag Jew, Moses, Maori Cod, Tusk Fish and the odd Cobia this time of year. Out winder the fads on the 36 and 50 fathom reefs should produce some good catches of Dolphin Fish, whilst trolling skirted lures or dropping live baits on bait schools on the deeper reefs should do the job if there are any Marlin or Wahoo in the area. At the time of writing my report the weather was looking good, but make sure you have the most up to date forecast before heading out on the water.

With a good forecast on the way for the weekend chasing Mangrove Jack will be a great option around our local rivers, canals and in the Gold Coast Seaway. For the bait fishos live baits like Herring, Silver Biddies, Mullet, Yakkas, Winter Whiting, Garfish and Pike all make a great option. Dead baits like Mullet Fillet, butterflied whole Poddy Mullet, Yakkas and Garfish should get the job done. Some good spots to have a look are the Coomera River Bridge, Koala Town Rock Bar, Rock walls near the Sanctuary Cove in the main river and then work your way down the south arm are to Jabiru Island East towards Paradise Point, Sovereign Island, Ephraim Island, Paradise Point Canals, Runaway Bay Canals and the Nerang River. The Gold Coast Seaway has been producing top quality Mangrove Jack on live baits this summer. Some great sized Estuary Cod have also been caught this week and make for a fun bycatch are not too bad on the plate if you want to keep a feed. You may even get to encounter the illusive SE Queensland Barramundi if you are lucky, we have seen a few nice Barra caught and released the last couple of weeks.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it’s been a windy week with a couple of settled weather days in the middle. Trolling my favourite Pontoon 21 crackjack 48mm lures has produced some nice Flathead on the run-in tides over the shallow flats at the Tweed River. These amazing little lures will catch most species in estuaries including Flathead, Bream, Whiting, Trevally.This coming week’s lead up to full moon and dropping wind will see some great catches in the rivers.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports after some very windy days it was such a pleasure to see some beautiful weather on Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday we fished the deeper main channel in the Broadwater just North of the seaway. Despite the small tides and low almanac, the fish were hungry on the run in tide, with plenty of Flathead, Whiting, Tuskfish, Slateys, Squire, Flounder, Tarwhine, Grassy Emperor falling for Ecogear isome worms, Magbite shrimps, and Samaki vibes. It’s quite amazing how well the Ecogear worms work in the Broadwater.They smell like blueberries and don’t dry out like other similar products. I went Whiting wading with Andrew and Richard. After a slow start we recovered well and found a good feeding patch on the run in tide. Richard did well to catch his best ever whiting, measuring 41.5cm (see photo in report).

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports plenty of Snapper on the 50 fathom grounds last week when the current was down, a couple of Dolly’s still hanging around the fad sometimes hard to get them to bite thou around the fads. Afew Marlin getting around spot x and along that line and working the bait schools also few Mackerel should around on the close reefs.

February 11, 2022

Chasing a feed of Mud Crabs will be worth a go with some nice catches coming in the past week, this option will suit the stronger winds on the forecast. You should be able to find some good spots to drop the pots in out of the wind on the Tweed River, Nerang River, Coomera River, Paradise Point, Hope Island, Pimpama River and the Logan River. Fresh bait is always the best, whole Mullet, Fish Frames and Fresh Raw Chicken make the best baits. Try to check the pots regularly and if the bait is getting a bit smelly swap it out for some new bait as Mud Crabs will always go for the fresher option over the smelly stuff. Make sure to drop your pots in a few different water depths and areas to give you the best option at finding good numbers. A bait bag is a great addition to the crab pot and will slow down the chances of your bait being wrecked and stolen by fish, eels and small crabs. I recommend if you are crabbing during the daytime not to stray too far away from your pots during daylight hours as you do run the rick of someone trying to raid your pots and get away with your catch. The ideal time to set the pots is late afternoon just before dark and then get back on the water at sunrise to check them after a good night’s soak, they have less change of being spotted by someone else in the dark.

Targeting a feed of tasty Whiting will be worth a go with some good quality fish being caught recently. You will be able to find some good spots to try up the Nerang River, Coomera River, Paradise Point, Pimpama River, Logan River, Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek and Currumbin Creek to hide out of the wind. Most of the spots listed above will have plenty of land-based option which consistently produce a feed of Whiting. Try to plan your trip between tide changes as Whiting will feed best when the tide is flowing, a tide change will slow the bite down and you will usually end up finding lots of Bream getting stuck into your baits. Whiting is a great species for the kids to target, Angus Van Latham (see photo in report) did well up the Nerang Reiver recently. You are best to leave the rod in the holder rather than holding onto it, when you see a bite just let the fish eat the bait for about 30-60 seconds. Whiting can take a while to chew the bait with their grinding plates, most fish are lost by striking too quickly a pulling the bait out of their mouth before they get a chance to eat. Live baits are the key to finding quality fish, best baits are Blood Worms, Beach Worms followed by Yabbies. Just remember to change the water regularly whilst you are fishing to keep your bait a fresh as possible. A light estuary out 7-10ft long fit spooled with 6-9lb mono, 6lb fluorocarbon leader and a sized 4-6 bait holder hook should do the job nicely.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week started off well with some nice Flatties taking our vibes and trolled Pontoon 21 crackjack lures. We also had some luck casting some MMD splash prawns around the flats and caught a heap of small Bream on surface. Even though the Bream were small it is always exciting watching surface strikes. Unfortunately, our fun was stopped short with rain falling in the catchment on the Tweed River and few days have been way too windy to fish.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the Nerang river fished well this week for some decent size Flathead, Giant Trevally, and Spotted Grunter. Samaki vibes in the new colours of grey ghost, sandstorm, and cleopatra tiger were working very well while jigging the deeper holes, as were the Magbite snatchbite 4 inch shrimps in clear holo and pearl shrimp colours. The Broadwater is fishing ok for Summer Whiting, Winter Whiting, Flathead, Flounder, Squire, Grassy Emperor, Tuskfish, Tailor, Trevally, Bream, Tarwhine and more, using yabbies, Ecogear ZX40 vibes, and the above-mentioned lures. This coming week is good tides for fishing the flats for Whiting, and the channels between the Seaway and Sovereign Island.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports Yellow Tail Kingfish and Amberjack on the 50 fathom for the couple good days of good weather mid-week also plenty of Dolphin Fish on the fads. A few Black Marlin still getting around spot x and along that line working the bait schools also few Mackerel showing up in close this week.

February 4, 2022

Some quality Mangrove Jack have been landed around the Gold Coast the past week which is good news for those angers that target these feisty red fish. Conditions have not been the best so far this season with lots of rain and cool southerly changes which can put them off the bite. You can try searching in the Coomera up around the weir area, the railway and highway bridges, Marinas and canals around Hope Island and Coomera which can hold good numbers of nice sized fish, there has also been a fair bit of bait fish in these areas which is a good sign. Fingers crossed we don’t get too much more rain and the cooler winds ease soon. Try casting or trolling lures along the rock walls and pontoons and around bridges this can be very rewarding when you get that hit from a Jack. The Tweed River has been fishing pretty well, also target The Nerang River, Runaway Bay Canals, Paradise Point bridges, Ephraim Island, Sovereign Island and the Gold Coast Seaway. Fishing with bait is a great way to temp a big Jack, also plenty of Estuary Cod and Trevally will respond to this method. Live Herring, Mullet, Garfish and Pike are fantastic bait, also Mullet Fillet and WA pillys will do the trick if you do not have a cast net or bait jig handy. The Gold Coast Seaway has produced some great catches of Mangrove Jacks again this week along with a few nice Jewfish. Schools of Jacks and Jewfish have been frequently hanging around the North Wall and the Pipeline area of the Seaway for the past couple of months in good numbers. Unfortunately, sharks are a big issue so fishing a heavier outfit 30 to 40lb will increase your chances of getting your prized catch past the tax man. Try to plan your trip around the top of the tide then fish the run out for best results, just always keep an eye on the swell as it can be very unpredictable area to fish if you do not have the experience. I would recommend to wait until this next weather change moves through and the sea settle down.

Big eye and Giant Trevally have been smashing bait schools in the Coomera River around River Links, West of the Highway Bride and Sanctuary Cove Arm of the river this week. Other good spots to look are the Runaway Bay and Paradise Point canals and bridges especially the well light up ones at night that attract bait schools, all have a look around Sovereign Islands and in the Nerang River. Surface poppers and stick baits will work well and are very exciting way to fish when you get a strike.

It’s that time of year to start having a bit of a look around for a feed of Prawns on the Gold Coast. From what I have seen fishos have been scoring a few feeds from up north around the Pine River but some of the Prawns have been a little on the smaller side. Given the rains so far this year fingers crossed we will be in for a good season if the rain starts to ease up a bit more from now on. Banana Prawns can be well spread out for now so searching a few different areas will be required. Try looking around The Powerlines, Rocky Point, Logan River, Russell Island, Macleay Island, Cabbage Tree Point and Jacobs Well. I recommend using a top pocket cast net as it is the best option. As the net sinks the prawns are pushed into a catch pocket in the top of the net, if you feel prawns in the net kicking around you need to pull on the rope a few times and that will make the prawns head into the top pocket. This makes emptying the prawns from the net an easy task then you can go straight back into casting at the school of prawns. Best to keep a keen eye out for other boats throwing nets that way you know you are in the general area. Tide changes are important when timing your trip, top or bottom of the tide will work for most areas.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this was a bit of a challenging week on the Tweed with the upper catchment receiving a lot of rain and the causeway at Bray Park bursting over due to the consistent rain from the elnina weather event.With some careful planning around the tides and blending the areas where the clear water meets the dirty water we caught a heap of fish. There was not a variety of species which I am normally searching for but at the end of the day you can’t beat a bend of the rod.Flatties of varied sizes with some nice quality fish around the 50cm mark were the highlight and an accountable number of Bream that were in a line up to smash our lures.The best lure this week were my good old reliable favourites the Pontoon 21 crackjacks trolled between a metre to 2.5 metre mark. Remember to troll with the tide when possible.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports he mixed it up this week between wading for Whiting on the shallow flats, and drifting the channels tea bagging Samaki vibes, Ecogear ZX40’s, and yabbies. The neap tides meant Whiting were spread out everywhere and not schooled up over the flats, but the fish we did catch were good quality. Most days we encountered Whiting in the high 30’s to over 40cm. There was a lot of fish in the deeper channels between the Seaway and Ephraim Island, with some nice Tuskies and Flathead. There is a lot of annoying Bream, Tarwhine and baby Squire however so you have to persist to get to the bigger fish. I like drifting while bouncing yabbies and Ecogear Isome red worms on the bottom, and jigging Ecogear ZX40’s coated in Sax Scent uv prawn, and Samaki 70mm vibelicious forktail vibes. The new Samaki colours are incredible, the strike rate I’m getting on them is phenomenal on a huge variety of fish.South of the Seaway to up the Nerang River is the place to be. Good night tides for chasing big Whiting from Sundale bridge to Capri. The rivers are still quite dirty from run off, best chance of Mangrove Jacks is on run in tides in the lower to mid reaches. Hopefully we don’t get more heavy rain too soon.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports out on the 50-fathom line there are still a few nice Snapper getting caught with few little Kingys and Amber Jack and also plenty of Dolly’s on the fads they have been a life saver the last couple of months. There are also still a few Marlin getting around working the bait schools a few Mackerel showing up in close this week

January 25, 2022

Reports of some good quality Mud Crabs being caught around the Gold Coast area the past week is good news for anyone keen to put the pots in for a soak and chase a feed. With the amount rain fall easing up a bit it will be worth heading back up the local rivers and setting the pots back up in all the feeder creeks and creek mouth entrances as the crabs that got washed out over Christmas and New Year’s should have made their way back up the rivers. Fresh bait is always the best choice, make sure you do check your bait regularly and change it out when required. A bait bag is another must have item as it stops small fish, crabs and eels from eating your all your bait until a good-sized Mud Crab gets to find it. If you are setting your pots during the daytime I would recommend trying to stay in the area and go for a fish that way you can keep and eye on them and avoid them being checked by other people. Putting the pots in late afternoon and re checking early in the morning gives you the best opportunity to catch a nice feed. Just make sure you are all up to date with bag and size limits in your local fishery https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/recreational/recreational-fishing-rules/crabs-lobsters Some good areas to try are the upper reaches of the Nerang River, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point, Canipa Passage, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek and the Logan River.

It’s been nice to see some good feeds of Whiting being landed this week, Wayne Young (see photo in report) has been doing very well the past few weeks putting in plenty of time and effort managing to land some very consistent catches of great sized elbow slappers in the Nerang River. Fishing during the night time has been the best option when targeting the better quality fish as they feed much better under the cover of darkness. During the day time it is worth trying your local sandbanks that have plenty of yabbie holes visible, you can pump some fresh yabbies on low tide then fish the same area with un weighted yabbies as the tide rises, this is a very productive and satisfying way to target Whiting and other species like Bream and Flathead and put together a great feed. Some other good spots to try are Coomera River, Pimpama River, Tallebudgerra Creek, Currumbin Creek, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point, Logan River and Wave Break Island. Picking the right tide times is important when targeting Whiting, as the old saying goes no run no fun and when targeting Whiting this is very true as they feed best when the tide is flowing at its fastest, once the tides slows to turn they will normally disappear and go off the bite until the flow picks up again. When fishing the rivers live Blood Worms are best followed by Beach Worms and Yabbies. Fishing light is the key to getting the bite, use a longer light estuary outfit 7-10ft in length spooled with 6-9lb mono, run a long 6lb fluro carbon trace and a 4 to 5ball sinker should do the job when the tide is running matched with either a size 6 to 4 baitholder hook.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the Tweed River is very muddy at present, best to fish near the mouth for Flathead and Whiting.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the Gold Coast Broadwater has been fishing well for good size Whiting on the banks, and Squire, Tuskfish, Tarwhine, Bream, Tailor and Trevally in deeper water. Live yabbies are best for Whiting, while Samaki soft vibe lures are working in the channels.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports there are still Plenty of Dolphin Fish hanging around most of the FADS off the Gold Coast at the moment. Also Black Marlin have been landed around Spot X and 5 miles north all along that lineusinglures and also using live bait works the best .On the 24s, Palm beach and Mermaid Reef anglers have reported a few Mackerel have been showing up.

January 20, 2022

Due to the large swell hanging around offshore, fishing has been left up to the most experienced anglers the past week with a few nice catches coming in. Paul Wilshire (see photo in report) decided to try his luck with a quick trip offshore early on Monday morning which paid off nicely landing a great sized Spanish Mackerel around the Palm Beach area trolling a dead bait. The Gold Coast Game Fish Club ran their light tackle masters comp on the weekend with teams doing well on the Saturday managing to tag and release a few Black Marlin on live baits and trolling lures. Due to the Tsunami warning Sunday’s fishing was cancelled due to safety reasons. After the next South Easterly blow settles down and the swell eases it with defiantly be worth chasing a Marlin as the clean warm water will be pushed in closer to the coast, most reefs and usual Marlin haunts like spot X have been holding large numbers of bait fish which should bring the predators in good numbers for the rest of summer season fingers crossed. Other pelagic species such as Dolphin Fish and Wahoo are a big bonus for those angler’s keen to chase a feed whilst out looking for Marlin, try your luck around the fads or any debris you may see floating around in the ocean as it can quite often hold good schools of predators. The best two methods when using live baits are slow trolling or dropping down a weighted live bait, Slimy Mackerel and Yakka’s are the best options for live baiters. For those keen to have a go at trolling I’d recommend to try trolling a range of skirted lures from 15cm to 25cm long should get a fish interested if you are working the right area. Leader size from 80lb to 120lb should work for most of the size fish you would normally encounter. Just make sure you have the most up to date forecast before heading out.

After the recent big swell offshore the fishing in the Broadwater adjacent to the Gold Coast Seaway area has been great with a good number of different species being landed this week. Fishos reported catching Tusk Fish, Snapper, Grassy Sweetlip, Spangled Emperor, Small Mouth Nannygai along with Bream, Tarwhine, Lessor Queen Fish and Flathead. Try drifting the main channel area from the Seaway Entrance towards Currigee and Crab Island, these areas contain plenty of gravel and rubble patches of reef areas which hold good numbers of fish feeding in the area. Drifting baits will work well, yabbies, prawns, white pilchards, mullet fillet, Wa pilchards, live herring and silver biddies will make great baits. For the lure fishos working soft vibes, metal vibes, micro jigs and soft plastics can be very rewarding and a great way to fish the area.

Great quality Whiting have been caught this week in good numbers around most sandbanks and edges of channels in the Broadwater, Jumpinpin, Currumbin Creek, Nerang River, Logan River and the Tweed River. Live blood worms, beach worms and yabbies make the best baits, these great tasting fish can be targeted quite successfully land based with the night time bite producing the best numbers of quality fish.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports what a great week this has been for many reasons- the border checkpoint is finally coming down, the weather was calm, and the fishing was fantastic.This week saw light winds and partly cloudy skies keeping the conditions comfortable and incredible numbers of fish smashing our lures. The species caught this week were Mangrove Jacks, Whiting, a few small Giant Trevally and a massive number of Flathead and Bream.Trolling slam lures around the 3.5 to 4 metre line worked well as did drift jigging Samaki vibelicous vibes and the Jacks and a few nice Flatties took a liking to the Samaki redic deep diving minnows.Darker coloured lures and golds got the best results due the water being a bit discoloured from all the rain we have had this summer.Well let’s hope everything stays pretty much the same so we can enjoy next week and until the end of the summer holiday period.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports some epic fishing on charters this week and much improved weather.The Nerang and Coomera River system weirs are overflowing, which has kept the upper to middle reaches dirty and fresh, pushing vast numbers of fish into the Broadwater. The rain we had during cyclone Seth has resulted in some amazing fishing fun everywhere from Sundale bridge to Coomera River mouth. I have been wading the flats some days and catching many big Whiting up to 42cm, plenty of Flathead 40-60cm, and big sea Bream. Other days during the small neap tides I have focused on the main channel North of the seaway, where we have caught over 20 species this week including Tuskfish, Snapper, Flathead, Whiting, Trevally, Squid, and Tailor on Samaki soft vibes, Ecogear ZX40’s, soft plastics, live yabbies, and Ecogear Isome red worms. Drifting through reefy zones in 5-7m depth is where the fish have been found actively feeding. I’m amazed how widespread the Sand Whiting have been, they are everywhere from the ankle deep shallows to 8 metres deep in the middle of the main channels.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports there has been plenty of Dolphin Fish still around all fads which is great news if you are chasing a feed. Also, good to see a few Black Marlin are on the 50 fathomline usinglures and also live baiting the usual spots. On the 24s plenty of Trag Jew and Silver Jew have been biting along with a few Mackerel.

January 14, 2022

It was great to see some sunshine and lighter winds last Sunday giving everyone a chance to finally get out on the water and go fishing without all the wind and rain that has been hanging around for weeks. Fishos did well managing to catch a few good eating sized Flathead throughout the Jumpinpin and Broadwater area. Jess Clarke (see photo in report) had some fun getting amongst a few nice sized Flatties at Jumpinpin last Sunday. The water quality even on the run-in tide was still very poor is most areas not adjacent to the open ocean entrances, there is a lot of fresh water moving through the system at the moment with plenty of distinct current lines with dirty fresh water meeting the salt water. Throwing soft plastics, weedless prawns and soft vibes around creek entrances, the edges of sandbanks and drop off in the channels did the trick producing some decent sized Flathead on both the run in and run out tides. When the water is very dirty try using some brighter colours plastics even white is a favourite among anglers as it seems to attract a bite when conditions are less than ideal. When working lures for Flathead the ideal rod is around 7ft long and 2 to 5kg set up rigged with 6 to 8lb braid and a 12lb fluorocarbon leader will work a treat on most of the fish you will encounter. If you are particularly targeting deeper water around the Jumpinpin Bar mouth or the Gold Coast Seaway, then stepping up to a 15 to 20lb outfit would be recommended.

After the big swells of the past weeks, it’s good to see that the Gold Coast Seaway is still fishing well for Jewfish for those keen to have a go at landing one of these fantastic fish. Unfortunately, Sharks remain a problem for anglers, the best advice is to try to land your fish as soon as possible as a prolonged fight will attract the hungry sharks in for a free feed of your hard earned catch. I do recommend using a bit heavier outfit around 30 to 40lb to help you land your catch as soon as possible. On the run-out tide there is still quite a bit of fresh water working its way out of the local rivers, this provides a good situation as bait fish will also usually move with this water making the current lines between salt and fresh a great spot to target a hungry predator. Anglers has also still been lucky enough to be scoring some good solid Mangrove Jack as bycatch which I’m sure are a very welcome addition. I find that drifting live baits is a very productive way to target Jew and Jacks. Live Yakkas, Pike, Mullet or Herring are the pick of the baits, due to experiencing strong currents whilst trying to fish its best to time your trip around as tide change with the bite time usually around an hour before and an hour after the tide change being the most productive.

The dirty water has stirred up the Bull Sharks this week seeing a few nice ones caught throughout our local canal and river systems. If you are keen to target one either land based or by boat the rig to use is fairly basic consisting of a plastic-coated nylon trace of aprox 1 to 1.5m in length of either 50 to 100 pound crimped to a suitable sized swivel on one end, then matched with either a size 6 to 8 circle or octopus hook depending on if are catching and releasing or wanting to keep a feed. A basic medium to heavy action rod 8 to 15kg matched with a spinning reel from 5000 to 6000 size spooled with 20 to 30lb mono or braid depending on your preference will handle most sized Sharks will usually encounter. You will find some good land-based spots on the Logan River, Nerang River, Southport Spit, Paradise Point, the Coomera River and Jacobs. If you have a boat, also try the Neverfails, Aldershots, Sovereign Islands, Tiger Mullet Channel and Canaipa Passage are all good spots to try your luck. Jumpinpin has also produced a few juvenile Hammer Head and small Black Tip Sharks being caught around the Bar entrance and Tiger Mullet Channel. For bait try using a small piece of Fresh Water Eel, Pike Eel or Mullet.

It’s been good news for those keen to chase a feed of Mud Crabs this week with the big tides and freshwater flush of the previous week doing its job and getting the Mud Crabs active and moving around looking for a feed on the Gold and Tweed Coast. Joe (see photo in report) put in some time and effort this week and came up trumps with a few nice bucks for a tasty feed. Try setting your pots around the Coomera River, Paradise Point, Brown Island, edges of the Aldershots, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point, Eden Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Logan River and the Tweed River. Best baits are fresh Mullet, Bonito, Chicken and Fish Frames.

January 7, 2022

Chasing a feed of Mud Crabs during the wild windy weather has been the best option for most fishos keen to brave the conditions up the protected creeks and estuaries of the Tweed and Gold Coast waterways. Ben White (see photo in report) did just that and came up trumps with a nice feed of Muddies. The rain fall has eased up a bit this week which was nice to see as we have had a drenching the past few weeks which has really stirred up the crabs. I would recommend having a look around the Coomera River north and south arms, Nerang River, Brown Island, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point, Eden Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Logan River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek and the Tweed River. It will be worth setting a few pots in varying depts of water to get a gauge on where the better-quality crabs are moving, there has been heaps of little ones around at the moment. Best baits are fresh Mullet, Bonito, Chicken and Fish Frames should all do the trick.

Another good option the past week has been targeting a feed of tasty Whiting up the protected rivers and canal systems of the Gold Coast. Trying to get out the wind can be hard but luckily on the Gold Coast we are blessed with plenty of options to find some shelter. Local anglers Wayne Young and Brett Van Latham (see photo in report) have been braving the wind and rain and managed to score some great feeds from the Nerang River including a big 43cm elbow slapping model seen in this report. Wind and tide always play a big part in choosing a good spot to fish, the best-case scenario is to try to plan your trip when the wind and tide are both running in the same direction this will give you the best fishing conditions available. If the wind is pushing against the tide, I always recommend using a second anchor to limit the amount your boat swings helping to not move the baits around too much making it a lot easier for the fish to eat the bait. A light estuary rod between 7 to 10 foot with a sensitive tip will work well matched with 6 to 9 lb main line and a 6lb fluorocarbon leader and a size 6 short bait keeper hook. The best areas to try are the Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Pimpama River, the Coomera River and the Logan River. Once the wind eases Wave Break Island, Paradise Point, Bedrooms, Jacobs Well and Tiger Mullet Channel should also produce quality fish. Best bait is live bloodworms followed by beach worms and yabbies.

At the time of writing my report the weather forecast was looking pretty good for fishos keen to head offshore on the weekend, just make sure you have the most up to date forecast before heading out. After the big swell and strong southerly winds, the water quality should have cleared up and the water temp would have increased as the warmer water gets pushed in closer to the coast. This is good news for angler’s keen to chase Spotted and Spanish Mackerel, before the blow a few fish had started to show up around Mermaid Reef, Palm Beach Reef, The Gravel Patch, The Bait Reef off the Seaway and the closer 18 fathom Reefs off the Seaway. An early start is a must, it will pay to hit the water before first light, once you have found a show on the sounder try to anchor up and start a burly trail and fingers crossed you will attract the fish to your boat. Try floating unweighted half and whole WA pilchards and live Yakka’s back into the burley trail. I always recommend casting a metal slug around the area to entice any passing fish towards your boat and waiting baits. When choosing a metal slug matching the hatch is very important, I recommend having a few different weights and sizes to try from 20, 30, 40 and even 60 grams for the larger Spotted and Spanish that are likely to have a crack at them. Bottom fishing should be good current depending after the swell has stirred up the 18 and 24 fathom reef areas, Snapper, Moses Perch, Tusk Fish, Trag Jew, Sliver Jew and Spangled Emperor should make up the bulk of the catch in these areas. Float lining is the best way to increase you catch rates by slowly feeding your baits down at a controlled speed which presents your bait in a much more natural way usually producing a hook up on the drop. Out wider on the 36 and 50 fathom line the fads should be holding some quality pelagic species like Dolphin Fish, Wahoo or even a Marlin. Also try trolling skirted lures around any bait schools you can locate as predators will normally be hunting nearby. Birds are a great sign as they will usually hover over a bait school that is visible from the air giving an extra pair of eyes to help locate a good zone to troll.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it was a bit of a rough week with constant high winds from the southerly direction and rain cells cutting in periodically giving us a soaking.Lucky enough the Tweed offers us areas to provide some protection from the wind and some spots to flick some lures. We did not reach our usual quota of variety or size but certainly caught some Flatties and a heap of Bream.The results came from finding the protected deep holes out of the elements and jigging Ecogear ZX 40 and Samaki vibes while drying ourselves up after being drenched from the rain.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports we have been braving the conditions but catching some very nice fish. Fishing the flats while anchoring and wading has been very successful for good hauls of Sand Whiting, Flathead, and Bream. The fish have been in very shallow water, sometimes only ankle deep with the smaller high tides. We have caught some fish on mmd splash prawns and soft plastics, but the bigger numbers of Whiting have come on live yabbies. It is the best bait in the Broadwater, and we usually catch between 20 to 80 fish a day on them, with many whiting over the 35cm mark and one or two a day close to and over 40cm. These fish are such good sport on ultra-light line, and excellent to eat. They make bream look pretty slack as a fighting fish.

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• Hir e a Tinnie
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December 31, 2021

It has been good to see a few nice Mangrove Jack showing up the past couple of weeks, the strong SE winds earlier in the week may cause them to shut down a bit but as the wind eases and the temperature heats up, they will be on the chew looking for a feed. A prime time is a tide change just before a summer storm approaches can get them really fired up. The Coomera River and the Nerang River has been holding some decent sized Jacks so far this season. You just need to put in the time and effort to be rewarded. If you are casting lures whether using hard body’s, surface lures or plastics you may need to pepper the same snag before you annoy a fish enough to hit your lure. Live and dead baits have been producing plenty of nice Jacks, just a matter of whether you can drag them out of the snags before they dust you up. Bye catch such as Estuary Cod and Trevally are quite common in these areas and great fun in the Jacks are playing hard to get. Some other good spots to look at are the Sanctuary Cove and Paradise Point rock walls, Sovereign Islands, Runaway Bay Canals and Bridges, Logan River, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well, and Cabbage Tree Point. If you find structure or snags and there is some bait in the area you are in the right spot to give it a go.

The Gold Coast Seaway has once again fished very consistently the past week producing some great catches of School Jewfish, Mangrove Jack, Cod and Trevally mainly on live baits. If you are thinking of fishing the area while the swell is up, you will need to be careful especially on run out tide as the swell and waves can be a bit unpredictable at times. Usually, the best time to fish the Seaway is an hour before and an hour after the tide change when the current eases up making targeting fish on the sounder much easier. A medium to heavy outfit spooled with 20-30lb braid should get the job done matched with 30-40lb leader, you will have to be a bit more aggressive with landing your fish as the Sharks have been a big issue lately swooping on your catch for a free feed. Best live baits are Yakkas, Herring, Mullet and Pike.

Targeting a feed of Crabs while the wind is up in the local rivers and estuaries is a great idea with a few nice feeds being caught the past week. We have had enough rain the past few weeks to get the Mud Crabs on the move which has been great, also some good numbers of Sand Crabs have been caught around the main channels and river mouths where the water quality and salinity better suits them. Try targeting the Coomera River, Nerang River, Paradise Point, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point, Logan River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek and the Tweed River. When it comes to bait fresh is always best, Whole Mullet, Bonito and Fish Frames work well. I always use a bait bag to stop little fish, little crabs and eels from destroying your bait, this will increase your chances of attracting crabs to your pots.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I had a very busy week and fished the Tweed River almost every day.Earlier in the week it was extremely hot and humid, and the water temperature reached almost 29 degrees and talking to Clint the upper reaches of the Nerang River was the same. When the water gets this hot it can cause some concerns especially for the Flatties but the trick is to fish the deep holes.The reason for this is our sounders read the surface temperature of the water but along the bottom of the deep holes the water is usually a bit cooler without the influence of the sun, so deep water jigging was the way to go with a combination of Samaki vibelicious and Ecogear zx 40 blades.The fish caught were Flatties , Bream, Whiting and Giant Trevally and on one morning my clients were running late so I had a quick fish and jigged up a nice little Mangrove Jack on the tide change. The water on the Tweed is still a little bit dirty from the rain but once it clears up I am looking forward to start chasing some Whiting on surface lures like the mmd splash prawns which is so much fun.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports a big week for me with a variety of charters, fishing day and night everywhere from Sovereign Island to Carrara. Wazza and I finally got out for a Jack charter, with Tim, Ari, and Mika joining us for an evening fish. The red devils were on the attack, and we landed four, and some big Bream and a Cod.Earlier on we fished the Broadwater with ZX40’s in the 440 colour and caught Whiting, Flathead, Squid, Flounder, Snapper.This lure is dead set nothing short of phenomenal on so many species, and so is the Samaki Vibelicious. Gun lures! Other days we fished the Nerang River and Gold Coast Broadwater with the above-mentioned lures and caught Trevally, Flathead, Tarwhine, Bream, Whiting, Squid, Tusk fish, Queenfish, Squire and Grassy Emperor.There are Mud Crabs on the move on the bigger tides, water temperature has varied from 24 degrees in parts of the Broadwater to 30 degrees up Nerang River.

December 24, 2021

We are very lucky on the Gold Coast with lots of land-based options offering the chance to target multiple species of fish. If you are looking to take the kids fishing during school holidays, I would recommend a nice sandy beach with facilities like toilets and a shop nearby. Some good spots to try are Paradise Point, Labrador Esplanade, Marine Stadium, Broadwater Parklands, Hope Island, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek and Jacobs Well. These areas will produce some good catches of bread-and-butter species like Bream, Whiting and Flathead which will put a smile on the kids faces. A basic little estuary combo will work fine, I recommend a running sinker rig and a size 4 or 6 bait keeper hook will take care of most species you will find. For bait options try Prawns, Squid, White Pilchards, Worms or Yabbies.

For anglers keen to catch a tasty feed, good sized Whiting have been around in numbers this week, customers have been landing a nice feed with some good sized elbow slappers on the chew. A few good spots to try are Canaipa Passage, Tiger Mullet Channel, Bedrooms, Coomera River both arms, Paradise Point, Wave Break Island, Pimpama River and the Nerang River. I recommend using live Worms and Yabbies are the best bait option. Another fun and popular method is casting small surface poppers and small surface walker stick baits in the shallows, Whiting are very aggressive feeders and will chase down your lure and smash it, just keep the lure on the move the whole time if you stop winding the fish will shy away and not hit the lure. I also recommend adding a set of stinger assist hooks to the back of the lure to help with the hook up rate.

Local fishos have been doing well scoring a few nice Bull Sharks this week in the Coomera River, The Broadwater Main Channels, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well, Logan River and Nerang River systems. The recent hot humid weather patten tends to stir the Sharks up as they search for a feed. It does not matter whether you fish during the daytime or night-time fishos have been getting plenty of hook ups. I recommend using a nylon coated wire trace between 50 to 100lb that should sort out most of the average sized Sharks you are most likely to encounter. Rigged with a size 6/0 to 8/0 circle or J hook and a sinker to get in onto the bottom. Fresh Water Eel and Pike Eel are my number one choice of bait followed by Mullet or Catfish make great baits, I also recommend using burley to increase your chances of finding your target species. Just be very careful when landing a Shark, even the smallest of pups have a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth to contend with.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports once again I spent this week guiding between the Tweed River and the Broadwater.Working the areas where the edges of the clear water met the dirty water after last week’s rain provided the best results.Fishing the fringes of discoloured water usually provide good results as these areas are where the bait concentrations are holding. Deepwater jigging as well as trolling produced a mixture of Flathead, Bream, Whiting, Giant Trevally, Moses Perch and Snapper.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports there is a range of great fishing options now after the rain. Fishing has been very good everywhere from the Gold Coast seaway to Carrara in the Nerang River. Bream in various sizes are in ludicrous numbers up the river in the brown run out tide water. We fished the Benowa to Carrara region this week with Samaki soft vibes and yabbies, and it was not easy to avoid the large numbers of Bream, but we caught some solid Whiting, Spotted Grunter, and Flathead.It is peak season for big Sand Whiting in the Broadwater until February next year, and there are large schools of these sporty fish on the flats. Fish around 27-40cm in size are common, and the average size increases in the lead up to the full moon. The mud and sand crabs will be in abundance at night time in Nerang river, the Broadwater, and Jumpinpin.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports there has been plenty of Dolphin Fish still around all the fads . Also good to see a few Black Marlin are starting to show up along the 50 fathom and also especially after this southerly wind the water has really cleaned up the water out there ,all caught on lures and also live baiting the usual spots. On the 24s plenty of Trag Jew have been biting along with some nice Snapper

December 10, 2021

Finding some clean water to fish in this week has been the key to anglers success around the Broadwater and Jumpinpin with some good catches being reported. The main deeper channels close to the Gold Coast Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar entrances have been holding pretty good schools of bait in turn a variety of species of predators have been landed in these areas as they hunt for a feed. Reports of Tailor, Dart, Big Eye Trevally, Giant Trevally, and a few good-sized School Jewfish have been the main species local fishos have landed this week. The incoming tide has produced the best results with the clean ocean water that has been pushed in by the southerly winds last weekend working its magic. Once the tide starts to run out the water quality gets pretty bad with plenty of fresh water run off making its way out of the local rivers. Try drifting the main channels on the last couple of hours on the incoming tide, I recommend working a variety of soft plastics, soft vibes and metal vibes around the bait schools this method will work well as the fish fire up closer to the bite time around top of the tide change. Drifting live baits will also work well, herring, silver biddies, garfish, mullet or pike are all good baits depending on what you can catch.

Whiting are still a good option to target if you are chasing a nice feed, the incoming tide has been the best time to target these fish in the rivers and local fishos have been scoring some good catches this week. Once the tide starts to run out and the dirty water shows up unfortunately so does the undesirable by catch of Catfish and heaps of undersized Bream being flushed out of the system. The Nerang River, Coomera River, Logan River, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point, Bedrooms and Wave Break Island are some good areas to have a look around. A light whippy estuary outfit is all you need, run 6 to 9lb main line, a long 6lb flurocarbon leader, 3 to 5 ball sinker and a size 6 short shank baitholder hook if you are using worms or a size 2 – 4 long shank bait holder hooks if you are using yabbies. A good tip is to leave the rod in the holder and let the fish bite and they normally will hook themselves, if you are tempted to strike at the fish you will 9 times out of 10 pull the hook away and not hook the fish. Live Blood Worms are the best bait followed by beach worms and yabbies.

Some good hauls of Mud Crabs have been taken this week throughout the Broadwater, Jumpinpin, Logan River and Russell Island areas which is a great sign as we get closer Christmas if you are on the lookout for some fresh seafood for dinner. The extra big high tides this week combined with the fresh water run out still moving its way out of the rivers have created some good crabbing conditions. Finding productive areas is a matter of putting out a few test pots in different areas and depths of water until you manage to find consistent numbers of crabs. It does pay to try and stay in the general area as other people may be tempted to check you pots and borrow your hard earnt catch. When crabbing I will take a fishing rod and have a fish around the same area. Similar spots as last week will all produce good numbers of Mud Crab throughout the season depending on the current conditions. You can try your luck around the North Arm or South Arm of the Coomera River, the Pimpama River, Paradise Point, Brown Island, Aldershots, Tipplers Passage, Canaipa Passage, The Never Fail Islands, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point and the Mouth of the Logan River will all be worth a try. Best baits are Mullet, Eel or fresh fish frames. Make sure you change your bait regularly as Mud Crabs prefer a fresh bait and will not respond as well to smelly old bait left in the pot for a few days.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports there has been plenty of dolphin fish still around all fads and also still good numbers of Snapper, Pearl Perch and Yellowtail Kingfish around. Also good to see a few Black marlin are starting to show up along the 50 fathom and also especially after this southerly wind the water has really cleaned up the water out there.

December 3, 2021

Mud Crabs are a great target species if you are keen to brave the rain and get out on the water and set the pots. Ben White (see photo in report) did just that and managed to come up trumps scoring a nice feed from the Coomera River earlier in the week. Large amounts of fresh water will tent to push the Mud Crabs out of the mangroves and narrow feeder creeks and make them move down the river in search of a bit more salt water. When setting your pots, I recommend putting a few test pots into some different depts of water and sections of the river, this will give you a better idea of where best to target once you check your results. After the extra rain this week I would recommend trying to target more downstream towards the river mouths as these areas will have a bit more salinity in the water making a more attractive area for the mud crabs to feed. A few spots to try will be either the mouth of the North Arm or South Arm of the Coomera River, Mouth of the Pimpama River, Brown Island, Aldershots, The Never Fail Islands, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point and the Mouth of the Logan River will all be worth a look depending on your location. If you are new to crabbing make sure you are up to date with the all the latest rules and regulations see link https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/recreational/recreational-fishing-rules/crabs-lobsters When crabbing i recommend using a bait bag as this tends to stop all the small fish and eels from destroying your bait before the crabs get a change to get into your crab pots. For bait I usually use Mullet, Eel or fresh fish frames. Make sure you change your bait regularly as Mud Crabs prefer a fresh bait and will not respond as well to smelly old bait left in the pot for a few days.

The open ocean entrances will once again be a good choice when planning a fishing trip over the weekend, the Gold Coast seaway Pipeline has produced a few nice Jew Fish and Trevally this week. Try drifting through the Seaway and in the main Broadwater channel is also a good option. Live Pike, Herring or Mullet are great live baits. For the lure fisho try large Zman Plastics, Micro Jigs and Switch Blades will do the job. Best to fish this area the hour before and hour after the tide change when the tidal flow slows down.

Customers that braved the rain have managed to land a feed of Bream and Whiting using Yabbies and Worms for bait. The Sandbanks closer to the ocean entrances around Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Paradise Point, Bedrooms, Millionaires Row and Tiger Mullet Channel are fishing well on the incoming tide with the better-quality water making its way in from the ocean outing a bit more salt into the system. Bream and Whiting are not really affected as much as other species by boating traffic and noise which makes them an ideal target on the bust Gold Coast waterways.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it was all about the Whiting on the flats, where we caught 40-50 fish a day on average, fishing with live yabbies. The water temperature has risen to 23 degrees on the banks, and with that the big Sand Whiting have come on thick, with many in the high 30’s and some over 40cm. After 100 mm rain fell some dirty water pushed out of the creeks, but this didn’t stop the Whiting, and improved the big numbers of Flathead feeding in the shallows. If it looks muddy then fish the run-in tides in the Broadwater banks and channels. Saturday 4 December is new moon, bigger tides will be in the early mornings. Big run, big fun but watch out for strong currents near the Seaway. The daytime and evening tides are a good size to fish the Broadwater channels and middle sections of the rivers.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it was an interesting week working through some pretty heavy rain showers on both the tweed and goldy.Even though we got a few drenching’s the fishing was still very good. The fish caught this week were School Jew, Flatties, Bream, Flounder, Whiting and Mangrove Jack.Drifting and trolling the deep channels in the lower reaches of the Nerang River produced some good fish as did jigging the deep water around the rock bars in the Tweed. The best lures this week were pontoon 21 crackjacks, Hurricane slams and Samaki vibes.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports there is still good numbers of Dolphin fish hanging around the majority of fads off the Gold Coast at the moment. If you are chasing a feed of reef fish there has been Snapper, Pearl Perch and Yellow Tail Kingfish around the 50-fathom line. Also its good to see a few more Black marlin have been showing up along the 50 fathom and also 24 fathoms especially after this southerly wind the water has really cleaned up out there, try trolling lures and also live baiting the usual spots. On the 24s plenty of Trag Jew have been biting along with some nice Snapper.

November 26, 2021

Weather permitting the fishing offshore has been pretty consistent the past week seeing some nice catches coming in from Fishos on the Gold Coast. The closer 18 to 24 fathom depth line has been producing some good mixed bags consisting of some big Snapper, Jewfish, Trag Jew, Tusk Fish, Moses Perch, Maori Cod and Tailor. An early start is important when targeting the close grounds as the fish seem to respond well to the dawn bite and it also doesn’t hurt to try to beat all the other boats heading out in search of some action. I always recommend spending some time sounding around the reef to try to find the most life possible to anchor on or drift around. You are looking for signs of bait fish and more solid fish arches which will indicate predators are in the area on the hunt. Floating lining is the most productive method of fishing and will usually always produce more quality fish that a paternoster drop style rig in the shallower depths as the bait is lowered in a more natural manner triggering a strike on the way down. Whole WA pilchards, large whole squid, mullet fillet, bonito fillet or live or dead yakka’s are my pick of the best baits to try. This time of year fishing the 36 and 50 fathom lines is very current dependent, if you can crack a day will little to no current the bottom fish should be great producing Samson, Amberjack, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Pearl Perch and Snapper. If the current is up it will be worth a look around the Fads as a few rat Dolphin fish have started to show up.

Fishing Jumpinpin the Broadwater or your local Rivers and Estuaries this weekend will depend on how much rain we have received during the week, at the time of writing the report the tale end of the week was looking to be the wettest with a large amount of rain due to fall. If you are looking to target a feed of Bream the rivers and estuaries will be your best bet after the rain as they seem to fire up and feed well. The Nerang River, Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point and the Logan River should all produce a feed. Try using Prawns, White Pilchards, Blue Bait, Mullet Fillet and Yabbies for Bream. Closer towards the ocean entrances it will be worth a look if you are looking at targeting some larger predators as they will frequent areas that have better quality water on the incoming and the fresh water pushing out of the system will tend to concentrate bait schools on the tide lines in turn you should find Flathead, Squire, Trevally, Jewfish and Tailor. Fishing live baits like Herring, Sliver biddies, Pike or Mullet should do the trick, if you prefer lures soft plastic between 3 to 5 inches should match the hatch along with soft vibes, metal vibes or micro jigs.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports we’ve been going hard chasing monster Whiting on the flats. We’re now in peak season for these magnificent fish until about February next year. Last summer on wading charters we caught around 30 Whiting over 40cm in length, and lost count of how many were over 35cm. The Gold Coast is a premium fishing destination for huge Sand Whiting and so far this summer is looking good again. The water temperature around some flats were as low as 20 degrees this week, which seemed to put the Whiting off. Once we found an area with temp of 23 or above it was game on. The channels have been quiet lately with smaller fish, we do need some heavy rain to flush things out. The almanac looks low on average this week, but if fish are hungry, they will eat.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports once again I spread the week out fishing both the Tweed and Goldy. The main species caught were Flatties with most fish being very good quality averaging around the 50 cm mark. The Flatties were smashing the slam minnows on the troll and were scoffing both zx 40’s and Samaki vibes bounced along the bottom in the deeper holes and channels. The other species caught were some nice Giant Trevally which are an amazing sports fish on light tackle. We also spotted some birds and baitfish being hammered which at first, we thought were Trevally but ended up being School Mackerel.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports there has been Plenty of Dolphin fish around all the fads this week , also still Snapper, Pearlys and Kingys around. It’s been good to see a few Black Marlin are starting to show up along the 50-fathom line on lures and also live baiting the usual spots. On the 24s plenty of Trag Jew have been biting along with some nice Snapper.

November 19, 2021

Quality School Jewfish around the 1m mark have been showing in the Gold Coast Seaway again the past week for those fishos keen to put the time and effort chasing these fantastic target species. Pound for pound they put up a great fight in the shallower water are a fun fish to chase. Live baits have been working best, try using Herring, Pike, Mullet, Silver Biddies and Yakkas which can all usually be caught in and around the Seaway area. Just like any fishing using your sounder to locate bait and predators is very important, keep your eyes peeled and make sure you mark areas worth a drift over or spot lock on to try your luck. Whilst targeting Jewfish in the Seaway you will also come across other species like Cod, Tailor, Trevally, Mangrove Jack, Kingfish and even juvenile Samson and Amberjack which are all great fun to catch. When fishing the open ocean entrances try to plan your trip around a change in tide, this will make targeting fish a lot easier with a reduction in tidal flow coinciding with a natural bite time for most species. A medium sized outfit around the 4-8kg will do the job on most of the fish you will encounter spooled with 15-20lb braid and a 30-40lb leader onto a set of snelled 5/0-6/0 hooks depending on the size of bait you manage to find. If you are using Herring or Silver Biddies a single hook will be sufficient. Jumpinpin Bar has also been producing some great Jewfish action with a few fish well over a metre also hitting the deck.

As the weather heats up during November it is a good time of year to start targeting Bull Sharks around the Gold Coast, there has been a few reports of fishos doing well on smaller to medium sized Sharks the past couple of weeks. Tackle set up is fairly basic for targeting the average sized Sharks you will come across, a medium sized rod around 7ft 4-8kg matched with a 5000 to 6000 sized reel, 20lb mono or braid and trace between 50-100lb usually do the job. When targeting larger Sharks, you will need to step up to a more heavier game fish set up spooled with 50-100lb line. Circle or J hook around 7/0 should work well baited with a piece of Fresh Water Eel, Pike Eel, Catfish or Mullet are all good options. You can target Sharks during the daytime or night time with a good success rate, boat traffic will not affect them or scare them away. Some good spots to try are are the Coomera River, Nerang River, Main Broadwater Channel, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well, Logan River, Upper Reaches of the Currumbin Creek and Tallebudgera Creek. Quite a few of these spots are accessible as land-based options and produce Sharks on a very consistent basis. Just remember the legal-size limit is 1.5m maximum length and a possession limit of 1 per person pr 2 per boat limit. Bull Sharks do eat pretty well, just make sure you do bleed it if you are planning on keeping one for a feed.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the tides have continued to favour fishing the shallow flats, and we caught good Sand Whiting, Flathead, Bream, and flounder. Best areas have been Little Crab Island and the Aqua bank. The Whiting haven’t been huge, but there has been plenty of fish around 30cm and up to high 30’s. Full moon is next Friday so we should see the bigger ones feeding in the Broadwater during the day, and up the Nerang River around council chambers at night. Water temp has been 22 degrees in the Broadwater and 25 up the Nerang River.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it has been a funny old week weather wise with shifting north to northwest winds and scattered showers. But with some experienced planning and hard work my clients and I managed to catch some nice fish on lures. With the wind blowing hard it was difficult to hold position and jig the deep holes but trolling Slam lures and drift jigging the channels with Samaki vibes produced some great Flathead. I am looking forward to some good tides and promising weather this week

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports the 50 fathoms grounds this week fished really well with current backing off producing some great hauls of fish including Snapper that have been chewing really well along with Pearl Perch, Kingfish, Amberjack, Tusk Fish and Pig fish.

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November 12, 2021

Last weekend the weather was much better than predicted seeing quite a few boats heading out offshore early to try their luck at chasing a feed. Local fisho Ben White was one of these anglers (see photo in report) and he did well coming up trumps with a nice big Jewfish for his efforts. The 18 and 24 fathoms reefs off the Gold Coast have continued to produce some great quality fish for those keen to put in the effort. An early start is important as first light can often produce some top-quality fish such as trophy sized Snapper, getting an early start can also see a lot less boat traffic from putting pressure on the fish. Make sure you have a good sound around and look for any signs of bait and fish archers before choosing a spot to fish, if you are anchoring up a burley trail will also help to fire up any fish around your boat to feed. When fishing the shallower reefs, a light set up is best, you will still be able to catch some extremely big fish on the gear but the lighter you go the better chance you have of getting the bite from a quality fish. I recommend using a 5 to 10kg outfit spooled with either 15 to 20lb brad and a 20lb mono leader will make your bait present much more naturally in turn resulting in a much better catch rate. On the above outfit we have landed some very big fish and the fight is great fun. Fishos have been landing a good mixed bag of Snapper, Moses Perch, Maori Cod, Trag Jew, Spangled Emperor, big Jew Fish, Tusk Fish and the odd legal Pear Perch. Quality bait is also a must, try using IQF WA Pilchards, large Squid, Bonito Fillet, Mullet Fillet, Tailor Fillet and also live or butterflied Yakkas.

Fishos report that good numbers of quality Whiting have been landed this week with the bigger tides around the Gold Coast seeing the popular Nerang River producing quality feeds, the best baits have been Bloodworms, Beachworms and Yabbies. If you are keen to target Whiting you will find that the majority of the sandbanks around Jumpinpin and the Broadwater which are good for pumping yabbies will usually also be holding schools of Whiting feeding during different stages of the tide. Most Whiting anglers will agree the old saying no run no fun for Whiting, if the water is flowing just keep moving around until you can locate better numbers of fish to target. Other popular spots are that regularly hold good quality Whiting are Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Paradise Point, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well Shoals, Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel and the Logan River. Fishing at night during the summer months the prime time to target the bigger fish as they tend to feed better after dark. Fishing ultra-light is the secret, a long 6lb fluorocarbon leader, sized 6 bait keeper hook, 4 or 5 ball sinker is a pretty standard rig for worms just upsize your hook a bit of you are using yabbies for bait. Bream are a common by catch when targeting Whiting, you may find if we have heaps of rain leading up to the weekend that Bream will be around the same areas in big numbers also.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week I mixed up the tactics with some shallow flats fishing for Flathead and Whiting, and some days fishing the channels and catching Tuskfish, Flathead, Flounder, Squid and Whiting.Ecogear Isome worms in red colour and XL size have been working exceptionally well on my charters. Cut each worm in half and use like bait on a no.4 size baitholder hook. New moon was last Friday, and there are some big day time tides. This means strong flow around the mouths, so unless you’re targeting the tide changes, try to find areas outside the main current. These areas include upstream sections of the rivers, the Broadwater between the spit and Sundale bridge, canals, lakes, and areas protected by points and islands. Water temperature in the Broadwater is still around 22 degrees and 24 around Isle of Capri. The water is very clear on the run-in tide so try natural and neutral colour lures, unless its cloudy, low light, or choppy conditions.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports, I have had a pretty big week of guiding and spent the first partof the week fishing the middle reaches of the Broadwater.The Broadwater once again produced a real mix bag of species on lures which included Flatties, Bream, Tarwhine, Flounder, Tuskfish, Whiting and even the odd end of season Squid.The best lures were Ecogear ZX 40s and Samaki vibelicous in around the channels in 4 to 5 metres of water. I also had the opportunity to do two trips back on my beloved Tweed River after a long spell due to the covid border issues.It was great to get back to the mangroves and cane fields and no boat traffic and the fishing was great. Deep water jigging with Samaki vibelicous lures in the middle reaches of the river produced some quality Flatties, Giant Trevally and a couple of School Jew and of course the ever-reliable Bream.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports the 50-fathom line was a bit hit and miss this week with the currents strong one day then the next really light, but with light current Pearl Perch we’re chewing really well, on 36s plenty of Trag Jew, Tuskfish, Snapper, Moses Perch and Blue Spot Flathead.

November 5, 2021

The Gold Coast Seaway has been producing some very consistent catches of School Jewfish from 70cm to 100cm in size the past week with plenty of local anglers enjoying landing these great fighting Fish, just keep in mind the minimum size limit is 75cm. From reports live bait has been the standout, live Pike, Herring, Mullet and Yakkas are a Jewfish favourite, it’s just a matter of sounding around until you can locate bait or a school of fish on the sounder and dropping your live bait down and fingers crossed you get the bite. Boat traffic will be an issue on the weekend, you will have to be prepared to get rocked around the whole time by the boat wakes on vessels coming in and out the Seaway, the boat noise does not seem to put the fish off the bite as they are used to all the traffic. If you are lucky enough to get out mid-week it can be a lot more peaceful with a reduced amount of traffic on the water. Try to time your trip around a tide change to maximise your chances, best to fish the hour before and the hour after a tide change as this is a natural bite time for fish. There has been some big Flathead in the Seaway lately, if you hook one of the big breeders try to handle it with as mush care as possible until you can release her back to the water. There will be plenty of good eating size male fish around if you are after a feed. Lures can be very affective on the Jewfish and Flathead, try using large plastics with a heavy jig head, metal vibes and large soft vibes will all be worth a try if you are marking fish on the sounder.

As we get closer to Summer and the weather starts to heat up more consistently, we should start to see better numbers of Mangrove Jack being caught. Jacks really like those warmer humid conditions which tends to fire up their feeding pattern making them hit bait more aggressively. We are fairly lucky on the Gold Coast as we have plenty of great spots to target Jacks from either land based or by boat. Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River and the Canal systems south to Broadbeach, Runaway Bay, Paradise Point, Coomera River and Logan River all being prime locations with plenty of structure for these hard fighting predators to lay in wait for a bait fish to swim past and nail. After the recent rain most of the rivers would have got a bit of a stir up which in term causes the bait to move around, if the rain eases up and we get a few more sunny days in a row it will be worth checking out your local system. Man-made structures Jetty’s, Bridges, Rock Walls along with natural snags like sunken trees all make a great spots to have a look, if you can see or catch bait in the area you are looking in the right spot. Live or dead bait is my preferred method of fishing for Jacks, Mullet, Pike, Herring, Garfish and Silver Biddies are all on the top of my list. For those keep to put in the casts try a mixture of 3” to 4” soft plastics and hard body lures. You will encounter plenty of other species when fishing for Jacks like Trevally, Cod, Jew Fish and even the odd Barramundi. If you are prepared to put in the time you may just be rewarded this Summer with that trophy Mangrove Jack.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports Although the Gold Coast Broadwater is taking it’s time to warm up, with the water temperature sitting around 22 degrees this week, it is still fishing well for Flathead, Winter Whiting, Sand Whiting, Bream and the usual variety. Nerang river is getting up to 26 degrees now, with some dirty water from recent rain lingering on run out tides. I have been taking guests out wading the shallow clear flats and catching nice Whiting, Flathead and Bream on ultra-light tackle and 3 lb line. It’s such a fun and enjoyable way to fish and I’ll be doing lots of these trips over summer.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports on the fads Dolphin Fish having been holding well and on the 50s there has been some quality Kingfish, Samson Fish and Snapper. Also Snapper are still biting in close on the 18 fathoms where there has been good catches reported.

October 29, 2021

Weather permitting the fishing action offshore has been pretty good lately with some nice feeds of mixed reef species being landed. If you are keen to get up early and have a good look around on the sounder both the 18 and 24 fathom reef areas off the Gold Coast Seaway have produced some top-quality catches. You often see large numbers of boats all anchored up in a small area, I will tend to drive away from those areas and look for a bit of a lump or broken ground adjacent to the main reef as these spots will quite often hold the better-quality fish. Locating bait is key, if you find bait on the sounder or locate some decent fish arches the hungry predators won’t be far away. I still recommend using burly on the shallower reefs as it does help to draw in and keep fish around the area you are fishing, just a small consistent trail will usually do the job whether it is a burly bomb or cubes just don’t feed then too much. I find that when you land a decent Snapper 9 times out of 10 it will spit up a good mouthful of burly which is an indication it is doing the job nicely. This time of year, as it starts to warm up the current can be a bit unpredictable and can often been running at a decent pace, just adjust your sinker size according to conditions, if the current is slow use the smallest sinker possible to float your baits down a lot more naturally. Over the past week I have seen some good hauls of Snapper, Tusk Fish, Trag Jew, Moses Perch, Maori Cod, Tailor and big Jewfish off the 18 and 24’s fathoms reefs. Out winder on the 36 and 50 fathom lines current depending you should score a good feed of Snapper, Pearl Perch, Trag Jew, Tusk Fish, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Samson, Amberjack and a few little Dolphin fish from around the fads. Best baits are WA Pilchards, Large Whole Squid, Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet, Tailor Fillet and Live or Butterflied Yakka’s.

Inshore after the rain Bream have been around in good numbers in the Nerang River, Coomera River, Paradise Point, Pimpama River, Logan River, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Cobby Passage and Cabbage Tree Point. Bream are one species that tend to fire up after a good flush out of fresh water hitting any bait washed down river. Try using Prawns, Squid, Mullet Gut, Mullet Fillet, White Pilchards and Yabbies.

There have been plenty of good-sized Whiting getting around the past couple of weeks with some great feeds being caught. The usual spots like the Nerang River, Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Logan River, Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well and Cabbage Tree Point have all been fishing well for some quality fish. Good bait is the key, live Blood Worms, Beach Worms and Yabbies are the best choice and can all be gathered in and around our local area or bought from a tackle shop. A light estuary outfit between 7 to 10 foot in length spooled with 6 to 9lb mono and a 6lb fluro carbon trace with a 4 to 5 ball sinker and a small bait holder hook is the way to go. Just remember let the fish bite for a long as possible before trying to strike and will help to increase your catch rate.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the Whiting really fired up in numbers this week, the rain we’ve had probably helping. In the channels there are Winter Whiting everywhere, thousands of them.We had a fun day with Odette and her mates from the Southport RSL fishing club, catching over 80 fish on Ecogear Isome worms, and yabbies. On other days I fished the shallows for Sand Whiting, which is great fun on ultra-light tackle. We also filmed a segment on Whiting wading with Paul Burt for his show “Step Outside with Paul Burt” which will be coming up on tv soon, on the 7mate channel, and online. This coming week the tides will suit my flats charters, and there is good Flathead and Bream turning up over the banks as well as the big Sand Whiting. Almanac is low this week but that means nothing if the fish are hungry. The water temperature is rising again after it fell in the Broadwater.

October 19, 2021

Local fishos have reported some great catches of good-sized quality Jewfish coming from both the Gold Coast Seaway and the Jumpinpin Bar entrances over the past week. After the rainfall this week it will help to flush out the bait and the predators which will be waiting around the open ocean entrances ready to pounce on any bait schooling up in that area. Tide lines around the entrances will be a good spot to target, they can be identified by a distinct colour change in the water quality as the dirty water meets the cleaner ocean water, these areas often produce some great fishing options. While drifting the Gold Coast Seaway keep am eye on the sounder for bait and predators to target, live baits will work well along with a well-presented soft plastics or vibes on the Jewfish. Try the same tactics at the Pin Bar Mouth around the deeper holes and you hopefully you will be rewarded for your effort. The best times to fish for a big Jewfish is the last hour of the run in and the first hour of the run-out tide being the most prime bite time as the water flow decreases making it easier to get you baits down deep. A medium to heavy outfit may be required rigged with either 20 or 30lb braid and 30 to 40lb trace should do the trick and knock over the larger fish.

Flathead have still been around in good numbers, weed has been a bit annoying at times depending on where you are fishing, hopefully the rain will help to flush the system out making targeting these great fish a little bit easier and less frustrating. In the Broadwater try around the Gold Coast Seaway in the deeper channels and also the rock wall edges where there has been good numbers of male fish 40 to 55cm in length hanging around the big females getting ready to spawn. Also try around Wavebreak Island, Crab Island, Paradise Point, Brown Island, Aldershots and Tipplers Passage. Jumpinpin has been producing plenty of Trophy sized fish to catch and release and plenty of good eating sized Flathead if you are chasing a feed. Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Bedrooms, Crusoe Island, Kalinga Bank, Short Island and Jumpinpin Bar Mouth have all been fishing. I recommend targeting the tops of shallower sandbanks and the edges of the shoreline when the tide is high, big fish are being hooked in ankle deep water at times where they lay in wait for bait fish to swim past. As the tide falls work your way off the banks and target the edges, drop offs and then the deeper channels until you find where the good numbers of fish are holding. For the lure fishos a combination of hard body lures, soft plastics rigged on both weedless and jig heads depending the depth of water you are targeting or soft and metal vibes are all exciting ways to target Flathead.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports an interrupted week with stormy weather, but the rainfall will bring a welcome flush to our estuaries, triggering the food chain and bringing on Jacks, Whiting, Flathead, Jewfish, Bream, Grunter and plenty more variety. There were stacks of Winter Whiting on the days I fished in the Broadwater, and huge numbers of quality Bream and Tarwhine in Nerang river. Yabbies were the best offering, and the Ecogear Isome worms, and blades were in form too. I’m looking forward to smaller tides this week to fish the Broadwater more for the big Sand Whiting which are turning up in numbers.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports the fishing has been a little bit on a bit quiet at times with Dolphin Fish starting to show up on the fads if you are lucky also Snapper, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack and Samson Fish were chewing really good on live baits, WA pilchards and jigs out on the wider reefs. If the current is too strong on the 50s try the 36s and 24s for feed of Trag Jew and Snapper.

October 8, 2021

The Gold Coast Sport Fish Clubs Flathead Classic was a great success despite some extremely tuff fishing conditions due to strong winds and rain, some fantastic fish were caught and released during the competition including a 94cm Flathead at Jumpinpin taking out the biggest fish on the comp. The classic saw 176 teams with 425 anglers managed to catch and release 5043 Flathead on the Gold Coast over the 3-day event which is a fantastic effort to all involved. It will be worth heading out over the weekend in search of a Flathead, there are a few methods that will work best if you are keen to give lures a crack. Finding a nice edge of a sandbank, gutter or creek mouth will be a great sport to throw around some soft plastics. I recommend using a plastic around 3 to 4 inches in lengths rigged on a 3/0 hook and a jig head weight of either 1/4 to 3/8 of an ounce should work well. Trolling hard body lures around 50 to 70mm in length in 1 to 1.5m of water along the edges of sandbanks or shallow channels will do the job, keep an eye out for bait fish in the area and you should be in with a good short and landing a few nice fish. Crab Island, Wave Break Island, Brown Island, Aldershots, Never Fail Islands, Jacbos Well, Tiger Mullet Channel will be good spots to have a look.

Tailor have been around in good numbers along the Surf Beach gutters the past few weeks with Lucy Hammond (see photo in report) having a great session on South Stradbroke Island over the long weekend landing 12 good quality Tailor using WA Pilchards as bait. With a smaller swell around over the weekend checking out your local beach gutter early morning or late afternoon into the evening will be worth a go with some nice fish on offer. WA Pilchards, Bonito and Mullet Fillet rigged on gang hooks will temp a bite if the fish are around. If you prefer to cast lures you may like to try metal slugs from 25 to 45 grams, it may take a few casts to work out what size bait fish the Tailor are feeding on before you can match the right sized and weighted lure. Also surface poppers and stick baits should do the trick of the fish are fired up in feeding mode.

Reports of quality Whiting have been coming in this week with local fisho Brett Van Latham (see photo in report) coming up trumps landing a great feed of big Whiting on a recent trip in the Nerang River which is great news as we head into summer. The recent rain will be a good thing for the local rivers and estuary systems giving them a bit of a flush out after such a dry spell. Other spots to try will be Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek and the Logan River are all known as good producers of quality Whiting. Live Worms and Yabbies make great bait.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the weather forecasts have been badly out again with the weather often turning out better than expected during our fishing days.

The 30mm of rain we’ve had will only help what is already a bumper Flathead season. Rising water temperatures will bring on the monster Whiting in the Broadwater. There are still some School Mackerel in the Broadwater. There looks to be some great weather this week and new moon falling on Wednesday which will see some good fishing. I fished the Flathead Classic at Jumpinpin for the first time with Wazza this week and we had a great comp. We were lucky enough to finish 2nd in the 2-man team division, catching and releasing 83 Flathead in three days. Most of the fish falling to Ecogear Balt 3.5 inch soft plastics on 1/4 oz 3/0 jigheads. I ran some charters around Crab island and we caught heaps of Flathead, Winter Whiting, Sand Whiting, Tarwhine and Bream. I was surprised how many solid Sand Whiting were feeding in the deeper channels. Best bait as always were live yabbies, while Samaki vibes and Ecogear Isome worms were smashing the fish too.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports in close on the 24 fathoms the Silver Jew have been on the chew all fish ranging 12kg to 18kg whilst out on the wider reefs a few little Dolly’s have been showing up on the fads.

October 1, 2021

Flathead have been around in fairly good numbers this week with Fishos reporting they are finding some nice fish during school holidays. Flathead are a good option for kids to chase, they will tend to lay in wait ready to ambush bait that swims past. Kids will usually score a fish as they tend to wind their rod in and out a lot and that’s great to get a Flathead to bite. If you’re having a go land based I recommend to move around a bit if you’re fishing off the beach or a rock wall so you are targeting a different patch of water as Flathead will tend to lay in wait head into the tide. Drift fishing in the boat is a very effective method to keep the bait or lure on the move until you can find where the fish are sitting. My favourite methods for catching Flathead are throwing Zman 4” StreakZ curl tails and 3” MinnowZ rigged on a 3/8 or 1/4 ounce 3/0 jig heads and also working soft or metal vibes when fishing in deeper water. For the bait fishos try Herring, Silver Biddies, Prawns, White Pilchards, Blue Bait and Yabbies.

Ben White (see photo in report) reported some nice big Snapper and solid Jewfish coming from the close reefs off the Gold Coast during a weather window last weekend which is good news for local fishos keen to hit the reef for a quality feed. Jew Fish will tend to school up so if you find one you have a good chance of landing multiple fish if they are on the bite. Float lining is my preferred method of presenting baits and will often produce a bite on the drop which an exciting way to fish. When targeting Snapper or Jew Fish I recommend using live Yakkas, large WA Pilchards or Squid, Mullet Fillet and Bonito Fillet should temp a bite. Large Soft plastics are also worth a try with plenty of larger Snapper and Jewfish falling victim so a well worked plastic it found irresistible. A good mixed bag of fish have been coming off the 18 and 24 fathoms reefs including Trag Jew, Snapper, Jewfish, Maori Cod, Tusk Fish, Moses Perch and the odd Cobia. The 36 and 50 fathoms reef current dependent have also produced a mixed bag of Pear Perch, Snapper, Tusk Fish, Cobia. Amberjack, Samson and Yellow Tail Kingfish.

Quality Whiting are being caught in good numbers throughout the Gold Coast and Jumpinpin as we transition into warmer months. October should see some good schools of fish moving around for anglers to target a tasty feed. Land based fishos can get into to the action with plenty of options to try on Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Gold Coast Broadwater esplanades, Nerang River, Jacobs Well and Logan River all being great spots to catch a Whiting from the shore. Live Worms and Yabbies are the best baits, run in or run out tide should not matter too much if the fish are around, they will just be feeding in different depths of water. The most important thing is tidal flow, if the run is too slow the fish will not be biting well, just the right flow and they will usually go into feeding mode. The old saying no run no fun definitely applies to chasing Whiting. Fishing light is the key, try using mono as the main line 6 -9lb is heaps, 6-8lb trace and make your trace as long as possible for best results. It has been great to see all the kids get out and score some fantastic catches of Whiting over holidays.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports wonky weather again this week with wind from all directions, fish don’t like sudden change too much, so it has been challenging. We always keep trying and moving until we find active fish in their bite window. The snot weed has mostly cleared which is great to see, hopefully it stays away for the Flathead Classic. Flathead have been the main species caught on our boats this week, with Sand Whiting, Winter Whiting, Flounder, Tailor, Squid, Blue Swimmer Crabs, Mackerel and Squire making up the rest of the daily catch.There has been a lot of small male Flathead, with the bigger girls harder to find. They’ll come on as the water warms again. The Ecogear Marukyu Isome biodegradable worms have been catching heaps of Whiting, Flathead and Squire on my charters this week.

September 21, 2021

Quality Whiting have responded well to the warm spring weather with some great catches being landed in the rivers around the Gold Coast. Experienced Whiting Fisho Wayne Young had a great trip last Friday night landing a good feed up the Nerang River with one monster Whiting going 43cm on the ruler. If you are prepared to put in the time and effort there are some great quality fish around at the moment. Live bait is a must to land the better-quality fish, Blood Worms, Canal Wrigglers, Beach Worms and Yabbies are the best options. A longer rod around 7 to 10 ft with a sensitive tip will help to hook the fish, 6 to 9lb main line with a long trace of 6lb fluro carbon leader, 4 to 5 ball sinker and a small bait holder hook matched to suit the bait you choose to fish with should do the trick. Finding fish can be difficult at times, this is where persistence pays off, just keep moving from bank to bank until you start to land a few fish as when they come on the bite you put plenty in the esky in quite a short time. Best spots are the Nerang River, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Wave Break Island, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point and the Logan River should produce a feed if you put in the time.

Anglers have been getting stuck into some quality Flathead this week, the Northerly winds can make the bite hard at times. There have been plenty of boats out pre fishing for the Flathead Classic later this month. While targeting Flathead there has been plenty of Tailor getting stuck into the schools of White Pilchards as well. Extra big low tides combined with the full moon has made finding fish in the gutters and drop offs a bit easier, on high tide you will have to cover more ground to find fish, they will sit in as little as a foot of water if there is bait to be had on the tops of sandbanks. Snot weed has increased a bit more the past week in the Broadwater and around Jumpinpin making working lures and plastics hard and frustrating for Fishos. Jumpinpin has fished well around Kalinga Bank, Bedrooms, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Eden Island, Jacobs Well and Cabbage Tree Point. The Broadwater has also been holding Flathead around the Never Fail Islands, Aldershots, Brown Island, Crab Island, Wave Break Island and the Gold Coast Seaway. The North and South arms of the Coomera River, Pimpama River and Logan River have also been worth a look

Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week was challenging with constant strong winds gusting in from the west northwest but as we do we always catch fish.The species caught this week were Flathead, Bream, Whiting, Trevally, Pike, Tailor, Squid and Snapper. The best results came from finding as much shelter and protection from the high winds as possible and jigging a combination of Ecogear ZX 40 and Samaki vibe lures.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports like Smithy tough going this week with the wind and fluctuating temperatures, but we caught Squire, Flathead, Squid, Sand Whiting, Winter Whiting and the usual Bream and Tarwhine.It’s good to see big numbers of bigger Winter Whiting in the Broadwater again. This species doesn’t have a size limit and usually 20-25cm in length around here but make a delicious feed if you catch several them. They are mostly found anywhere from Sundale bridge to Sovereign Island in water 2-6 metres deep, and easily caught on yabbies and zx blades. They’re great live and strip baits too for flathead and snapper. The sand Whiting are increasing in numbers everywhere, especially near where the big dredgers are working. Snot weed is coming through thick on the run-out tide, the trick is to fish the last of the run in tide, first of the run out, and keep moving to avoid it just as the fish and crabs do. It’ll get worse in coming weeks with Northerly winds and will make for tough fishing in the Flathead classic. We have some good almanac readings this week, hopefully it lines up with good fishing. I’ll be mixing it up with Samaki vibes, ZX blades, Fish arrow plastics, and yabbies, whitebait. Fishing Southport, Labrador, Runaway Bay, and all around Sovereign Island.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports the 50 fathoms was a bit hit and miss this week with the currents strong one day then the next really light, but with light current Pearl perch we’re chewing really well. On the 36s there has been plenty of Trag Jew, Parrot, Snapper, Moses Perch and Blue Spot Flathead.

September 17, 2021

September School Holidays are here already, this a great time to get the kids out of the house and spend some quality time in outdoors and go fishing. Kids of all ages will enjoy the fun of casting the rod and then the anticipation of landing a fish, even catching your own bait like pumping yabbies is an adventure especially for the young ones. Keeping it simple is the key, you don’t need fancy rods and reels. A basic light estuary outfit will do the job for most of the fish species you will expect to encounter whilst fishing on the Gold Coast, 6 to 9lb main line, 8 to 10lb trace, 3 to 4 ball sinker and a hook size between size 6 to 2 to suit your bait of choice . Land based fishing is good option on the Gold Coast and a great way to get the kids started. Spots like Paradise Point, Runaway Bay, Labrador, Hope Island, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River and Jacobs Well all offer public jetties, parks or sandy beaches which make good fishing spots. Some of the target species you can expect to land are Bream, Tarwhine, Whiting, Flathead, Moses Perch, Tailor, Flounder and Trevally just to name a few. Some good baits to use are Prawns, Squid, While Pilchards, Worms and Yabbies for the above species. Another option is to put on a soft plastic for kids that tend to wind their rod back in as soon as you cast it out, they will have a good chance at a quality Flathead or Trevally jumping on. If you get any nice catches make sure to email in your photos for me to put in the paper.

Offshore anglers have managed to score a few nice fish over the past week until the wind picked up, unfortunately at the time of writing the report the weather for the weekend is looking like we will see pretty strong winds and the increased swell making conditions very average. Once the swell drops and wind eases it will be worth a look for a nice feed of reef fish. In close the 18 and 24 fathom reefs will be worth a look for some big Snapper on the dawn bite, float lining live Yakkas, WA Pilchards, large Squid or Mullet Fillet should to the trick. In close due to fishing pressure the lighter the tackle set up you can use the better your chance at a big fish as they can be very tentative at times. The 18 and 24’s has also been producing a mixed bag of Trag Jew, Mauri Cod, Moses Perch, Jew Fish and the odd Cobia. Out wider on the 36 and 50 fathom reefs current permitting we have seen some good catches of Snapper, Pearl Perch, Tusk Fish, Jew Fish, Yellow Tail King Fish, Amberjack and Samson Fish.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I have not been able to do my Tweed Report for some time now as I live in Qld and fish the Tweed.This has inspired me to think outside the block and look for some new grounds apart from the Broadwater that Clint and I know so well.The Gold Coast is surrounded by both natural and manmade waterways and my present area of operation that I am still learning is throwing up some great structure and some great fish on lures.The main fish that my clients have caught have been Bream with some nice quality fish being boated. The species that I have found not in numbers, but very good quality have been Flathead which are always great fun on the end of a lure.The absolute highlight of my newfound grounds are the Giant Trevally that reside in this area and the fish we caught this week were around the 50 cm mark which are fantastic on light tackle. We had one beside the boat today that was massive and after nearly 30 minutes of playing it surfaced beside the boat and towed us along before destroying the trebles of the little Pontoon 21 lure.I am going to go a bit heavier in equipment this week as i have also been demoralized on the reef areas i have found and my guess it is the red devil the Mangrove Jack.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports like Smithy I have been fishing the calm waters of the Gold Coast estuaries this week, everywhere from Chevron Island to Jumpinpin.

There has some Arrow Squid still at the Southern end around Southport, and large numbers of big Flounder widespread. These superb table fish are easily caught on vibes lures anywhere there’s sand. They will readily strike at Samaki vibes and Ecogear ZX40 lures. I like to bleed them on capture, then straight on ice. Like any fish this greatly improves their edibility. Then scale and gut, rub whole in a mixture of tapioca flour, salt, pepper and a bit of garlic powder, then fry in a pan with olive oil. Amazing! The Dusky and Bartail Flathead are small to medium size this week. The bigger girls will be in the seaway feeding up. Water temp has been hovering around 20 degrees, and the water is nice and clean of weed at the moment. Run out tide is fishing best in the channels. Best areas: Sovereign Island, Ephraim island, Labrador, Southport, Cronin island.

September 10, 2021

The Flathead bite over the last week has been a bit tuff at times with the wind affecting the bite and looking at next week with hot northerly’s forecast that trend may continue unless you manage to find an area where they are schooled up as the Flathead move closer to the Gold Coast Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar Mouth for breeding season late September early October. When things are slow just keep moving around to your favourite spots that have produced in the past and put in a few casts, troll or just look for signs of bait on the sounder that may help to hold fish in that area. If you haven’t had a bite or landed a fish in 30min its time to move on to the next area and try it all again until you get lucky. This time of year, targeting the deeper channels that lead out to the Pin Bar or Gold Coast Seaway is a good idea, if you locate bait on the sounder, you will often find Flathead sitting under the bait. Heavier soft plastics, soft vibes and metal blades are the go-to for deep water, once you manage to find a lure that is a match for the bait fish they are feeding on you should start to score a few fish. Large numbers of fish can be caught in a small area this time of year, if you are lucky to catch and release a big female Flatty you can be pretty confident that there will be plenty of smaller male fish in that area to target for a feed or just catch and release depending on yourself. Some good spots to try are the Currigee Channel heading towards the Seaway, North and South side Seaway rock walls, SeaWorld Channel, Sovereign Islands towards Runaway Bay Marina, Kalinga Bank, Bedrooms and the Pin Bar Mouth should be holding some quality Flathead at times.

As the weather warms up quality Whiting have been showing up in good numbers throughout the Broadwater, Jumpinpin, Nerang River, Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek, Coomera River, Pimpama River and the Logan River. Whiting will tend to feed in certain areas for a while, then just shut down and move on to the next bank and then return back to where they started later in the tide. The main factor to catching Whiting is tidal flow, they are definitely a species where the saying no run no fun applies. Making the most of a good bite is important, try to fish a couple rods per angler to increase your chances of landing more fish. If the bite slows up don’t be afraid of moving to the next spot for a look as you can always come back later, and you should be in with a chance if the Whiting return. Target a few depths of water by fanning your casts around the boat or off the shore until you can find a depth that the fish are schooling in, dropping a good fish can also be a reason for the school to go quiet. A light outfit will be perfect, 6 to 8lb main line, a long 6lb fluro carbon leader, a suitable sized sinker from 3 to 5 ball to keep your bait on the bottom in the bite zone. Best baits are live bloodworms, beach worms and yabbies.

Clint and Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the Flathead really fired up this week, as well as some Tuskfish, Flounder, Squid, Sand Whiting and Winter Whiting. The small daytime tides allow for a bigger bite window for the Flathead which have been hunting between the Seaway and Sovereign island. Run out tides currently produce the best results in term of size and number, we usually release fish over 60cm, and keep a few in the 40-50cm range for customers. The best lures have been Samaki vibes in whitebait and pearl shrimp colours, as the fish are feeding on small baitfish. Our custom colour new hardbody which we have named “Candyman” is also catching lots of fish. The Sand Whiting are definitely moving downstream, we have been catching some good ones on yabbies. New moon is on Tuesday so we will see a spike in feeding activity between now and a few days after the moon.

September 3, 2021

For the offshore fishos the hot Snapper bite continues with some consistent catches of big Snapper coming from the close reefs off both the Tweed and Gold Coast. Keeping an eye on the sounder is the key, keep looking until you can locate a good bait school or life to target. Bait holding around the reef will intern attract predators like big Snapper, Cobia and Jew Fish. Picking the current has been a bit of a lottery with constant changes daily, you will just have to adjust the size of your sinker to suit the flow. I always recommend getting a burley trail going to help draw in and attract the target species and then holding them in your strike zone, just a consistent amount but too much to fill them up. A good mixed bag of Pearl Perch, Moses, Tusk Fish, Maori Cod, Trag Jew, Spangled Emperor have made up the bulk of other species being caught. On the 36 and 50 fathom reefs reports of good catches of Snapper and bonus Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack and Samson to give your arms a stretch. For those anglers heading out to the wide grounds for a troll you will always be in with a chance of landing a big Blue or Stripped Marlin and this time of year Yellow Fin Tuna can start to show up.

The warmer Springtime weather conditions will start a transition from cooler to warmer water in the estuary systems stirring up a few of our favourite target species like Mangrove Jack, Estuary Cod, Trevally and Bull Sharks. Again, bait schools will play a big part in the number of predators on the hunt for this time of year. Herring, Mullet and Garfish all make great live bait, if you locate schools of bait, it will be worth targeting that area. I have noticed quite a few Bull Sharks free jumping in the rivers, canals and main channels on the Broadwater and Jumpinpin the past few weeks indicating they are starting to get active; it will be worth targeting them. When you are targeting Bull Sharks freshwater Eel makes the best bait followed by Mullet or Bonito, a medium 20lb set up will handle most average sized Sharks, 50lb to 100lb nylon trace matched with a 6/0 to 9/0 hook will do the job nicely.

Anglers have been scoring some good quality Flathead this week on soft plastics and soft vibes. While targeting Flathead there has been plenty of Tailor getting stuck into the bait schools as well. The early morning low tide has made finding fish in the gutters and drop offs a bit easier, on high tide you will have to cover more ground to find fish, they will sit in as little as a foot of water if there is bait to be had on the tops of sandbanks and along the mangrove edges. Jumpinpin has fished well around Kalinga Bank, Bedrooms, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Eden Island, Jacobs Well and Cabbage Tree Point. The Broadwater has also been holding Flathead around the Never Fail Islands, Aldershots, Brown Island, Crab Island, Wave Break Island and the Gold Coast Seaway.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports seeing as I can’t cross the border and fish the Tweed River, I have spent the week trying some different waterways.Apart from frolicking around the Broadwater I fished Currumbin Creek which is my local waterway and the Mermaid Waters canal systems.Using a combination of jigging and trolling lures we caught some Flathead, Bream, Whiting, Flounder, Tuskfish and Gt’s. As it has been for the most of winter the Broadwater provided my clients with an abundant amount of good quality Squid.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the Gold Coast Broadwater is fishing well for Dusky Flathead, Bartail Flathead, Flounder and Squid.This time of year, the Flounder are at their biggest size with the adult fish spawning in the Broadwater. They are delicious to eat and easily caught on Samaki vibes, Ecogear blades, and yabbies.Best areas to catch them are the main channel next to Ephraim Island, North Currigee and Labrador to Southport along the Western shoreline. I did a charter at Jumpinpin this week and we had a ball catching Tailor and Flathead.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports some great catches of Snapper and Pearl Perch this week on the 50 fathoms on mullet and floating pillies, also on the 36s Parrot, Trag Jew, Moses Perch and in close on the 18s plenty of big Snapper. The secret is light line and leader and very light sinker.

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Useful links:
• Hir e a Tinnie
• Marine weather forecast
• Stay up-to-date with Qld fishing rules

August 27, 2021

Anglers were greeted with great conditions last weekend, combined with the opening of the Snapper and Pearl Perch season saw big numbers of boats heading offshore in search of a feed. Local Fisho Ben White (see photo in report) and his mate Paul headed out to the 36-fathom line and were rewarded with an awesome 85cm trophy Snapper. There were plenty of reports of big Snapper over 80cm also coming from the closer reefs around the 18 to 24 fathom lines off the Seaway which is great news for those keen to put in the time. An early start is a must when targeting Snapper, the dawn bite is usually the most productive, in saying that you can be lucky enough to catch big fish all day long but timing your trip with a sunrise, sunset or tide change with certainly increase your changes. Big fish have been around for along time and they can be very smart, bait presentation combined with a light enough set up to be able to land a big fish can make all the difference to hooking that big Snapper. Float lining is the preferred method as it gives you perfect control to send the bait down at a slow speed to get that big hit on the drop which anglers live for. Sinker size should be as light as possible to get the bait down, Snapper will rise in the water column and follow the burley trail back to the boat. I will quit often use no sinker if the current is down, you will be amazed at how many bit fish will hit a non-weighted bait. Live baits, WA Pilchards, Big Squid, Bonito Fillet and Mullet Fillet are my go-to choices of bait. This time of year there is a great mixed bag of species on offer like Snapper, Jew Fish, Trag Jew, Moses, Tusk Fish, Maori Cod, Cobia, Spangled Emperor, Pearl Perch, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Samson and Amberjack. I did hear the current was raging out winder on the 50-fathom line making getting a bait down and extremely difficult task, there were even a few Black and Stripped Marlin landed.

Flathead have been quite active leading up to the full moon, some great sized fish in the 80cm range have been caught and released along with plenty of good eating size fish between 45 to 55cm range. Big female Flathead are starting to show up more consistently as we head closer to the prime breeding time in September/October. The big females will attract quite a number of smaller males which are a good size fish if you want to keep a couple for a feed, just remember the rules in Queensland minimum size is 40cm and maximum size limit is 75cm. Drifting with bait is a good way to cover ground and find Flathead if you not used to using lures. Yabbies, White Pilchards, Blue Bait and strips of Mullet Fillet make great baits. For the lure fisho’s trolling hard body lures along the Mangrove lined banks of Islands and edges of Sandbanks is a great method as Flathead will sit head into the current waiting for bait fish to swim past. Trolling against the tide is not recommended as the fish will have to turn to attack your lure and will 9 times out of 10 result in no hook up. Some good areas to try your luck are Bedrooms, Tipplers Passage, Paradise Point, Aldershots, Never Fails Islands, Wavebreak Island, Crab Island, Kalinga Bank, Tiger Mullet Channel, Cabbage Tree Point, Currumbin Creek and the Logan River Mouth.

Clint and Brad report we’ve both been fishing the Gold Coast Broadwater this week with Squid once again dominating the catch leading up to full moon on Sunday. We have also caught some Bartail Flathead, Dusky Flathead, Flounder, Winter Whiting, Tarwhine, Bream, Trevally, and a few Sand Whiting. Next week the Sand Whiting should continue to increase in numbers, and the Squid and fish will appreciate feeding during the smaller tides in the Northern Broadwater and Seaway.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports Snapper have been bitting well for us this week you do have to work hard for them especially when the current gets up, but they are all great size 3 to 5kg fish and plenty of them, we have also been catching stripe and black marlins while fishing for Snapper. On the 36s still plenty of Snapper, Tuskies and Trag Jew and also on 24s plenty of Trag and Reef Flathead.

August 20, 2021

I was lucky enough to get an invite with my good mate Wayne Youngy Young last weekend to chase a feed of Whiting which I always enjoy, Wayne did the hard yards and gathered some prime bloodworms for bait. We headed up the Nerang River just before dark for a look at a few spots and managed to find some nice fish feeding which was great. We normally fish an area for about 30min and if it’s quiet move on until you locate schools of Whiting feeding. Try to cast your rods into a few different depths of water to cover as much area to locate the fish as possible. Well positioned lights in the boat will make spotting the bites on your rods a lot easier so you don’t miss the fish. A light whippy estuary outfit is recommended, spooled with 6 to 9lb mono line, matched with an extra-long 6lb fluro carbon trace and a size 6 baitholder hook works well. A large sinker is recommended current depending to help keep the bait in the bite zone, I normally use a 4 to 5 ball even in very shallow water. The best fish we landed was 37cm and we ended up with a great feed to split between us to top off a great night’s fishing. Whiting are one of those species you can catch all year round with a pretty good success rate once you have located them. Some other good spots to try are Wave Break Island, Paradise Point, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel and the Logan River. Best bait is bloodworms, beachworms and yabbies.

Bream have been on the chew this week making them a great target species for anyone keen to have a crack land based or head out in the boat for a session. We have plenty of public jetties, parks with rock walls and beaches with weed beds to try your luck land based, these types of spots are a good starting point as they provide a bit of shelter and will attract bait for the Bream to feed on. In the boat try your luck around Jumpinpin like Tiger Mullet Channel, Kalinga Bank, Whalleys Gutter and Cobby Passage and Short Island. Also the Coomera River, Pimpama River, Nerang River, Currumbin Creek and Tallebudgera Creek have some great options for locals to try. Prawns, White pilchards, Mullet Gut, Squid, Mullet Fillet or live Yabbies will be irresistible to a hungry Bream.

Fishos reported schools of Tailor with some good-sized fish amongst them have been caught around the Jumpinpin Bar mouth on the last of the run in and the first of the run out tide the past week. Also try the beach gutters along South Stradbroke Island they produced good numbers of nice fish. Throwing metal slugs, surface walkers and poppers is a fun and very visually rewarding way to target Tailor with some awesome bite action to fire you up. For the bait fishos WA Pilchards, Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet rigged on ganged hooks always does the trick

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports after the lockdown ended, I fished the Broadwater for some Squid, Flathead, Flounder, and Winter Whiting. Ecogear ZX40 in colours 411 and 440, Ecogear Dartmax 3.0 squid jigs in colours D01 and D08G were the best performing lures, while live yabbies never fail as well. The snot weed is still around in areas North of the seaway, especially on run out tides.This coming week is lead up to the full moon on 22 August, hopefully the Mackerel turn on as well as Flathead, Bream, Whiting, Tuskfish, Tailor and Squire.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports with the Snapper and Pearl Perch closure over, best to try the 50s,36s and 24 fathoms using floaters and plastics, also on the 24s the Silver Jew have been biting really good on the live bait.

August 13, 2021

Those lucky enough to sneak a day off during the week after lockdown was lifted were treated to some pretty good Flathead fishing around the Broadwater and Jumpinpin areas. If you can manage to find an area clear of snot weed there were some good catches of multiple fish on offer for those keen to put in the time. You may have to try a few areas until you manage to find a productive spot, the last of the run-in tide and the first of the run out is usually the best time to try and avoid the larger concentration of snot weed that can make fishing very annoying at times. As the tide drops the paddock for the Flathead to hide gets smaller as they move out of the feeder creeks and off the sandbanks and into the easier areas to target. Creek mouths, deep drains and edges of mangroves and sandbanks are all prime territory to have a cast and try your luck. Soft plastics around 3 to 4 inches long rigged of either 1/4 or 3/8 of an ounce sized jig heads make a good all round lure for our local area. Soft Vibes from 40mm to 65mm are again the perfect size to match the majority of smaller bait fish profiles that Flathead will tend to feed on. Hard body lures like the Zerek tango shad are very popular amongst Flathead fishos, try and stick to the right size lure for the line class you are fishing to help with hook up rate, trolling with the current is best as Flathead will lay head into the current waiting for an easy feed to swim past and pounce on. Trolling against the tide will result in a poor hook up rate as the fish will have to turn to attack the lure. There is nothing wrong with keeping a nice feed, just try to handle the larger fish to be released with care to make sure they live to fight another day. Some more common spots to find a Flathead are the Nerang River, Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Currigee, Brown Island, The Aldershots, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point, Tipplers Passage, Pandanus Island, Kalinga Bank, Tiger Mullet Channel and the Logan River are all worth a look depending on wind direction.

With the wind easing and the swell dropping on the weekend for those keen to brave a few showers of rain on the forecast heading offshore will be well worth the effort. Some good quality Jew Fish should be on offer from the close reefs primarily the 18 to 24 fathom depth tends to fish the best. Or Live baits are a good go to followed by the humble WA pilchard, Mullet fillet or Bonito Fillet will all temp a bite if you are lucky on the day. Sounding around an area is a must, some anglers just head straight to a GPS mark, this may work occasionally but keeping an eye on the sounder for life is the kay to finding better quality fish. I would rather sound around for 30 minutes to find the best show than fish a baron area hoping something good might swim past. You should find a bit of a mixed bag on offer including Tusk Fish, Moses Perch, Trag Jew, Maori Cod and Cobia. As you head wider out to the 36 or 50 fathom line you will encounter bigger Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack and Samson fish which will all stretch your arms. Just keep in mind all Snaper and Pearl Perch must be released during the closure.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports with the Snapper ban being on, targeting big Jewfish has been good in the closer reefs using live baits and also dead bait and plastics east of the seaway and also picking up the odd Cobia.

August 6, 2021

Bream will be a great target option this time of year and have been very active during the Winter breeding season. If you are keen to get the kids out for a fish Bream are the perfect option. We have a very diverse waterways system giving us plenty of spots to target Bream on the Tweed and Gold Coast either land based or from the boat. Land based fishing is a great family option and is an easy as fishing off your local jetty, rock walls or bridges are all good spots to start looking. I always recommend using burly to attract the Bream and hopefully you will come up trumps. A few spots to try are the Nerang River, Gold Coast Seaway Rock Walls, Broadwater Parklands Jetty, Grand Hotel Jetty, Paradise Point Jetty, Coomera River Bridge Fishing Platform and the Jacobs Well. Those lucky fishos that have access to a boat can try their luck in the Gold Coast Seaway, Wave Break Island, Paradise Point Bridges, Runaway Bay, Coomera River Bridges, Dux, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Short Island and Logan River are worth a look. Mullet Fillet, Mullet Gut, White Pilchards, Squid, Bonito Fillet, Prawns and Yabbies are a good bait options to try.

With some nice weather conditions on the way pending lockdown restrictions, it will be worth planning a trip offshore as fishos have reported some good catches off the Gold Coast and Tweed Coasts prior to this week. There is a good mixed bag on offer this time of year on the close reefs like Moses Perch, Tusk Fish, Trag Jew, Maori Cod, Jewfish and Cobia. Tailor have been schooling up on the 18 and 24-fathom reef off the Seaway, Cobia will be in the area targeting these schools. Legal sized live Tailor will make the perfect bait to temp a big Cobia, I recommend when targeting Cobia to run your lines at different depths by using a balloon to control the depth you fish at. To set your fishing line deep use a sinker and just let it down to the depth you prefer and then attach the balloon and let it drift back behind the boat, I also recommend having an unweighted Tailor on the surface as well. On the 36 and 50 fathom line you should find the hard fighting Yellow Tail Kingfish, Samson and Amberjack as well as the other species listed earlier to keep you busy. Not long to go now and you will be able to target Snapper and Pearl Perch again in Queensland waters.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports before lockdown the fishing was quite tough, but we caught some nice big Arrow Squid. They have been more active in the mornings then heading deeper and harder to catch as the days go on. Ecogear ZX40 lures have been catching as many Squid as the jigs. North of Wave Break to Sovereign Island the snot weed has been very annoying, making it hard to fish with lures. Otherwise, the odd Flathead, Mackerel, Tailor, Whiting, Flounder and Bream have been around. Next week is lead up to new moon, which should see bigger catches of squid and fish. So often a slow week is followed by a better one.

July 30, 2021

Reports of Flathead being caught in better numbers this week is good news with some decent sized fish starting to show up. Baitfish schools are a good sign around Jumpinpin and the Broadwater at the moment giving the Flathead plenty of feeding options and areas to hold as we get closer to breeding season. Fingers crossed we get a bit of a flush out for the system as the dreaded snot weed has been pain when targeting Flathead on lures. Try drifting with baits to cover ground and find Flathead if you not used to fishing with lures. Yabbies, White Pilchards, Blue Bait and strips of Mullet Fillet will all do the job. Flathead have a very abrasive mouth and will tend to wear through trace line pretty quickly, so I recommend at least 12lb trace when using bait in case they swallow the hook. For the lure fisho’s if you can manage to dodge the snot week trolling hard body lures along the Mangrove lined banks of Islands and edges of Sandbanks is a great method as Flathead will sit head into the current waiting for bait fish to swim past. I recommend not to troll lures against the tide as the fish will have to turn to attack your lure and can often result in them missing the lure and not hooking up. Try your luck around the Bedrooms, Tipplers Passage, Paradise Point, Crab Island, Aldershots, Never Fails Islands, Kalinga Bank, Tiger Mullet Channel, Whalleys Gutter, Cabbage Tree Point, Currumbin Creek, Kalinga Bank, Coomera River Mouth, Brown Island, Logan River and the Tweed River.

It has been good to see reports of anglers scoring a nice feed of quality Bream from the Broadwater and Jumpinpin this week. Numbers have been ok during the day but fishing at night is still the prime time for landing the larger quality fish. Spots that produced have been Short Island Huts, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Perrys Hole, Whalleys Gutter, The Never Fails, Tipplers Passage and Tiger Mullet Channel, Wave Break Island, Lands End, the Gold Coast Seaway and the Nerang River. Best baits are White Pilchards, Blue Bait, Prawns, Mullet Fillet, Mullet Gut and Yabbies.

Once the weather settles Tailor will be on most beach fishos radar again with some great catches being landed during the past couple of weeks on the Tweed and Gold Coast beaches. Tailor have been schooling in good numbers in the beach gutters from the Tweed north to the Gold Coast Seaway making them a great target species for a nice fresh feed of fish. For best eating quality I do recommend that you bleed the fish when caught. South Stradbroke Island has been a standout seeing some good quality Greenbacks landed of baits and lures.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the run of good Flathead has continued, as is typical this time of year at Tweed river. They are responding well to trolled minnow lures such as Pontoon 21 crackjacks through the shallows.After cold snaps they are sluggish in the morning then wake up as the day goes on. There has been some good sized out of season sand Whiting as well.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the days the weather behaved we caught lots of School Mackerel and Squid in the Broadwater, and also some Flathead, Flounder, Bream, Tailor, Trevally and Whiting. The Mackerel and Tailor will take white pillies, small pillies, fast cranked small metals and trolled deep diving lures. Look for bait balls on the sounder around the 6-7 metre depth and work the area when the tide is running. For Queensland school mackerel I like using 10 lb Platypus Platinum main line, 12 lb fluorocarbon leader with small, ganged hooks and a no. 3 ball sinker. They are incredibly fast and aggressive fish.Amazing fun on light tackle! Remember their minimum size is 50cm and possession limit of 10. Be very careful handling them too, they have super sharp teeth. The razor gang seem to have scared the arrow squid out of the deeper water and into shallower water.

July 23, 2021

The cool strong westerly winds did thetrick on the Tailor last weekend flattening out the beach breaks giving fishos greatconditions with very little swell seeing some awesome fishing action with plentyof great quality Tailor being landed. South Stradbroke Island was a primelocation with multiple schools of Tailor roaming the beach gutters in search ofbaitfish to feed on. Finding a good spot to fish is the first step to success, locatinga good gutter to try your luck is especially important when targeting Tailorfrom the beach. A good gutter is pretty easy to spot, you will notice asandbank at the back of the gutter, deep water between the sandbank and theshoreline and an inlet at one end where the water enters and outlet at theopposite end where the water flows back out to sea. It is still a great idea tokeep an eye on the sky up and down the beach for birds diving on active schoolsof fish feeding. Multiple methods of fishing will all work well on certaindays, trying a few different types untilyou find what gets the best results is always recommended. Casting baits likeWA Plichards, Mullet Fillet and Bonito Fillet rigged on gang hooks is veryaffective and probably the most popular method amongst a majority of beachfishos. Casting lures such as traditional Metal Slugs, Stick Baits both sinkingand floating and also surface poppers is becoming very popular and can sometimesturn the fish on the bite if they are not interested in the more common baitsused. Keep an eye on the forecast and when you see a Westerly on the way andthe swell drop get rugged up and give it a go.

On the offshore scene since the Snapperand Pearl Perch closure has taken effect, we have been seeing some greatcatches of big Jewfish coming off the close reefs off the Gold Coast which isgreat news for local angler’s keen to get out and target a feed. Live baits, WAPilchards, Mullet Fillet and Bonito fillet have all done the job if you canfind a good show on the sounder to target. When fishing the 18, 24 and 36fathom reefs you will have a good chance of landing multiple species to put amixed bag together for a feed. Jew Fish have been around in good numbers, fishoshave also been landing Spangled Emperor, Moses Perch, Trag Jew, Maori Cod,Cobia, Yellow Tail King Fish, Amberjack and Samson to name a few.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports Tailorfor the first time in over a month were almost non-existent but good numbers ofFlatties made up for that. The Flathead were taking our vibes jigging in thedeep holes and were also abundant drifting as well as trolling in the shallowsand channels.The run-out tides produced the best bite times but ingeneral Flathead always seem to favour the draining tides. We also caughtseveral small to medium sized Bream with the odd big one also smashing thelures.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports some mixed weather this week as hasbeen the norm for the whole winter so far. The morning before the wind comes uphas been the best time to catch Flathead and big Arrow Squid. This coming weekis the lead up to full moon next Saturday, which means there will be goodfishing to be had.The mornings tide sizes are ideal for the Broadwater,the afternoon ones are bigger which suit the rivers. Flathead, Tailor, Mackerel, Arrow Squid, Flounder and Bream activityshould all pick up suddenly then drop off on and a few days after full moon.Flathead are preferring the run-out tides to hunt at the moment. The ideal timeto catch Squid is last three hours of run in, first two hours of run out. Bestsquid jigs will be Ecogear Dartmax, Daiwa Emeraldas nude, and RUI’s, all in 2.5and 3.0 sizes.Best blades will be Ecogear ZX40 colour 440, Pro Lure V42in whitebait, and Samaki Vibelicious forktail 70mm in whitebait and gingersquid colours.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports On the 50s Kingfish and Amberjack getting caught on jigs and live baits even pilchards , bottom bashers on the 36s have been working well on Tuskies, Trag Jew, Moses Perch and also Silver Jew.

July 16, 2021

The large swell last weekend and early in the week stirred up thebait and feed for predators making the Gold Coast Seaway a great option forFishos to target a wide range of species including some more trophy sized Snapperwhich have been landed over the past month. Keep in mind that Snapper are nowoff limits until 15/8/2021 in Queensland waters. Anglers have also been landingsome quality Jew Fish, Trevally, Tailor, Bream and Flathead just to name a few.The best time to fish the Seaway is an hour before and an hour after a tidechange giving you a good bite time when the tide eases making It easier totarget schools of fish on the sounder. I recommend mixing it up a bit by tryinga few different methods, live bait, dead bait, soft plastics, vibes and jigswill all work well at times.

Reports of some good catches of Breamat Jumpinpin during the week is good news for fishos keen to bag a feed, bestspots have been Pin Bar Mouth, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Tiger MulletChannel, Whalley’s Gutter, Dux Anchorage, Short Island Huts, Perrys Hole and Little Rocky Point. The Broadwater has alsofished well around the Gold Coast Seaway Walls, Wave Break Island, Rock Wallsaround canal entrances at Runaway Bay, Marine Parade Labrador and Lands EndBiggera Waters. Try and keep aconsistent burley trail going, sometimes once you start catching fish youforget to burley and the fish will go off the bite. My favourite bait is MulletFillet also try, Mullet Gut, Prawns, White Pilchard, Hardy Heads and Yabbies.This time of year, large schools of White Pilchards and Hardy Heads can befound around the Broadwater and the Pin making these ideal baits.

Tailor have been harassing baitschools again this week in the main channels running off the Gold Coast Seaway,Jumpinpin Bar, Crusoe Island, Whalleys Gutter, Tiger Mullet Channel, JacobsWell and the Neverfails. There has also been quite a few Trevally with theTaoilor school making casting a bit of a lucky dip. Keep an eye on the sky forbirds working bait and feeding fish, you can also try towing some shallowdiving lures around until you locate a school of Tailor to cast at. Oncelocated and feeding surface lures and metal slugs are the way to go.

The Snapper and Pearl Perch closure for Queensland waters is now current. Click here for more information.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports thefishing over the past few days has produced good numbers of fish and a greatvariety of species. Flathead were once again on fire with the boat averagingover 20 fish a day and even though we did not get any trophy sized fish thequality was averaging around the 50cm mark.Tailor were also in numbers and were easily located by keeping aneye out for the birds dropping and feeding on the bait schools.Somequality Bream were found by dropping Ecogear ZX 40 lures to the bottom underthe bait schools where they were schooling and feeding on the crumbs of baitsinking to the bottom under the Tailor.Theother species we caught by jigging zx40 and Samaki vibes in the deep holes wereJewies and some small GTs and some hard fighting Luderick which are not normallure takers. We also caught and carefully released a few bass.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the run-in tides aredefinitely providing the feeding periods at the moment, with the water turninga murky green and weedy on run out, and cold. Strange for this time of year buteverything has been out of whack with fluctuating temperatures and rain. Stillthere has been some reasonable days and exciting catches. The aggressive Arrow Squidcontinue to be heaps of fun on my charters. I have been mixing up the jigcolours a lot, depending on the time of day and tide. Whites and fluorescentcolours seem to work well early, then natural, green and orange when the sunsup higher. If cloud comes over then its necessary to change colours again toattract the squid to attack.The fishingand crabbing has been slow at times, but the speedy Mackerel made a welcomeappearance. When these guys hit it is a big adrenalin rush, their first runmaking our light reels scream. As the water clears with bigger tides and thebait fish enter the Broadwater in bigger numbers so will the Mackerel schoolsincrease.

July 9, 2021

We have seen plenty of Tailor showing upthis week around the Broadwater and Jumpinpin which is great news for Fishos. Keepan eye on the sky for birds picking up bait fish that the Tailor schools pushtowards the surface as they feed. You will also see splashes on the surface whenthe school is active, if the fish are deep on the bait, it is best to troll adiving lure that will get you down into the strike zone as amongst the action. Generallythe rising tide is the best time to target Tailor as they tend to prefer betterquality water, but in saying that you will also find them far up the rivers andestuary’s hunting in dirty water at times. Surface fishing is great fun beingable to watch them smash a popper or stick bait on the retrieve, I also enjoycasting metal slugs which work very affectively on surface fish or you can alsolet them sink in the Tailor move to deeper water making them a good all-purposelure option. Some good spots to start looking for Tailor are the Gold CoastSeaway, the main channel north of the Seaway up to Sovereign Islands, JumpinpinBar entrance, Crusoe Island, Mouth of Whalleys Gutter, Kalinga Bank, ShortIsland, Tweed River and Tiger Mullet Channel. Tailorare a great feed eaten fresh, just make sure you bleed them for best eatingquality.

Whiting are a great option to target atthe moment with some pretty nice quality fish coming from the local rivers,Broadwater and Jumpinpin. The Nerang River has fished well with local fishosscoring some top-quality feeds lately, other spots producing are TallebudgeraCreek, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Wave Break Island, Tiger Mullet Channel,Bedrooms and the Logan River all worth a look. A light estuary outfit will dothe trick, 6 to 9lb main line, 6lb fluorocarbon leader and a size 3 to 5 ballsinker depending on current flow. The best baits are Blood Worms, Beach Wormsor Yabbies.

Keep in mind the Snapper and Pearl Perch closure for Queensland waters is fast approaching. For more information, click here.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports Tailor and plenty of them were onceagain attacking every lure we put in the water. These fish enter our riversevery winter but this year they are in plaque numbers which isfantastic.This is a direct result of the huge amount of rainfall we have hadthis season. Speaking of rain I can here it hitting the roof now at thetime of writing and going by the forecast it might stay with us for the nextfew days.Some nice quality Flathead also committed to our lures earlierthis week as did a heap of small Bream.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I hadsome good Flathead and Squid fishing earlier this week. I do hope we don’t gettoo much rain on the coast, the water is just getting to the ideal clarity inthe river and Broadwater. If it gets too dirty it’ll delay the good Tailor andSchool Mackerel fishing. Run out tides might need flashy looking lures andsquid jigs for the bites. A drop in temperature should stop the snotweed blooming though, which was starting to appear around crab island. In anycase I’ll be rearing to go early next chasing fun for my charter guests. Newmoon is Saturday week, so the lead up should be ideal for targeting big Tigerand Arrow Squid, Flathead, Flounder, big Bream, Winter Whiting, Sand Crabs,Squire, Mackerel and Tailor.

Gavin from Sea Probe FishingCharters reports on the 50 fathom line there has been plenty of Yellow TailKingfish and Amberjack getting caught on jigs and live baits and evenpilchards, also plenty of top quality Snapper getting caught on floatingpilchards and bottom bashers.

June 30, 2021

With the first week of school holidayscoming to an end I hope you managed to get the kids out of the house for afish. Bread and butter species are a great target for kids of all ages to trytheir luck, conditions have been a bit average at times but luckily, we haveplenty of options to hide out of the wind and fish. The main species to targetare Bream, Whiting and Flathead which are all an option fishing land based orby a boat if you are lucky to own one or have a mate willing to take you out. Allthe above species are around in good numbers through the Gold and Tweed Coastwaterways, a light estuary or kiddies combo is all you need to have a go. Arunning sinker rig works fine, use a trace around 40cm long of 8lb to 10lbleader, size 3 or 4 ball sinker and match this with size 2 to 4 bait holderhook and you have a very versatile rig to catch most species. Your local jetty willbe a good spot to start trying as they are a great structure that attracts baitand intern predators like Bream, Flathead and even Trevally. Try not to castout to far away as the fish will be usually right and your feet. Sandy beaches witha few weed beds adjacent are another good option to try as they will hold goodnumbers of Whiting, Flathead and Bream. The Tweed River, Currumbin Creek,Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Broadwater Esplanades, Paradise Point,Coomera River, Jacobs Well and Cabbage Tree Point are some spots to try yourluck. Yabbies make great fresh bait and are fantastic fun for the kids to pump,also try using Worms, Prawns, Squid and White Pilchards.

Jumpinpin has been fishing well latelywith a good mixture species showing up like Bream, Squire, Flathead, Tailor,Trevally and Jew Fish being landed by local Fishos. Jumpinpin Bar mouth hasbeen a good spot to try your luck on the run-in tide for Tailor, Squire,Trevally and big Jewfish chasing the bait schools in the deeper water. Also trysearching around Crusoe Island, Kalinga Bank and Short Island will all be wortha look. Some good-sized Squire have also been landed hanging around the Breamschools at the moment, a good burly trail is a must when targeting Bream andwill help to attract fish and keep them feeding for longer periods extendingthe normal bite time. A few spots to try are Kalinga Bank, Short Island, CrusoeIsland, Whalleys Gutter, Tiger Mullet Channel, Little Rocky Point and the PowerLines.

Keep in mind the Snapper and Pearl Perch closure for Queensland waters is fast approaching. Click here for more information.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it has been another busy week on thewater with some massive catches of fish each day.Once again, the Tailorwere in plague proportions and these fish are very good quality with most beingover the 40cm mark and even the odd 50cm model.Trolling slam 47 luresworked a treat with multiple double hooks ups all week and casting MMD splashprawns across the surface worked as well. These fish are explosive to watchwhen they crash a surface lure.To mix things up we also utilized therun-out tides and caught a heap of Flatties drifting with some Ecogear zx40 andSamaki vibelicous lures.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it seems to start earlier every year,but the snot weed is already appearing around crab island. Fish the run in tideNorth of the seaway, and run out tide South of the seaway.

Decentsize Dusky Flathead were also a welcome catch in the Gold Coast Broadwater, aswere the increasing numbers and size of Flounder. Like the Flathead they areeasily caught on Ecogear ZX’s and live yabbies. The School Mackerel started toarrive this week too. They are amazing fun to catch on light tackle too, withwhitebait and small metal lures the best offerings. They have a 50cm minimumsize limit. The next few months are my favourite time of year in the Broadwaterif you have the right conditions, with a day starting off with Mackerel mayhemof sometimes over 50 hooked in the first two hours, then moving onto catchingdecent size Flathead, Arrow Squid, Tuskfish, Flounder, Squire, Tailor, WinterWhiting, big Bream, Blue Swimmer crabs, and many more. There is also some big Flathead, and School Jewfish to be caught in theNerang River on lures, and Whiting on bait. So much fun to be had in paradise!

June 25, 2021

The cool Westerly winds late last week werea blessing giving anglers the opportunity to hit the surf beach and try theirluck for a Tailor before the strong Southerly kicked in. It has been great tosee consistent catches of good-sized Tailor so far this winter. Some good spotsto try have been Burleigh Heads, Narrow Neck, Main Beach, Marina Mirage northto the Pumping jetty and South Stradbroke Island all producing Tailor. The besttide to fish has been the incoming tide as the gutters start to fill with waterthe bait fish head in for shelter and the predatory Tailor have been hot ontheir heels ready to feed. Trying to time the tide with an early morning orlate afternoon session will increase your chances of success as these are primebite times to chase Tailor. Bait fishing is extremely popular, using a basicset of gang hooks, either wire or mono trace and a running or restricted sinkershould do the trick. Best baits are WA Pilchards, Bonito Fillet and MulletFillet will all work. If the Tailor are very active and in feed mode you cancast either metal slugs, surface poppers or stick baits for great results, thisform of fishing is exciting when you can watch the fish smash a lure. There havealso been some great catches of Tailor coming from the Tweed River, Gold CoastBroadwater and Jumpinpin area at the moment.

Fishos are reporting some goodquality Flathead being caught at the moment, with the cooler weather set in Irecommend starting to search the shallow water which will be slightly warmer athigh tide on the top of sandbanks throughout the Broadwater and Jumpinpin is agood game plan. As the tide starts to fall, I would then start working the edgesof the sandbanks, creek and drain mouths and the deeper gutters betweensandbanks these areas should produce quality fish. Being mainly ambushpredators Flathead will lay in wait ready to nail any bait fish that swims pastand hopefully your lire or bait. Always keep an eye on the sounder for baitschools and signs of fish as you never know what might show up when you arefishing. Try throwing soft plastics, working metal vibe lures, soft vibes ortrolling diving lures to cover ground. Drifting live or dead baits is a veryaffective way to fish and cover ground. Flathead will rarely pass up an easy feed drifter past its nose.Some good spots to look are Wave Break Island, Nerang River, Paradise Point,Aldershots, Never Fail Islands, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point, Bedrooms,Kalinga Bank, Canaipa Passage, Mouth of the Logan River and Browns Bay.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters this was an interesting week on the water withsome fluctuating weather and tidal movements around the new moon.With abit of transition and a constant awareness we managed to find huge schools ofgreat quality Tailor. These fish are normally more reliable and easier to findin July but reports along the NSW coastline is that they have been moving fromsouth to north quicker this season.This isdue to the immense amount of rainfall we have had this year and most of themigration and spawning habits of our fish species have occurred earlier thannormal. The Tailor have got favourite holding spots in the river every year andthe tipto find them is to keep an eye out for where the birds are workingwhich we call our eyes in the sky.Apart from catching massive amounts of Tailorin the last three days we caught some nice Flathead and of course some Breamthat are consistent all through winter.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week yet again the Arrow Squid were in goodnumbers. The fish were down in size, but their activity and quality will spikein the lead up to full moon. Ecogear Dartmax 2.5 and 3.0 size squid jigs havebeen smashing the Arrow Squid. These lures have the ideal sink rate for theGold Coast Broadwater and catch more than anything else. When the squid are ina shy mood, I’ll leave a rod in a holder with the jig just drifting along justabove the sand, while I jig a zx40. This often stirs up the squid and they thengrab the squid jig.Even better, we catch plenty of Squid and a bigvariety of fish on the zx’s themselves, all in the same areas. Friday 25 June is full moon, and there are kingtides at night. No doubt this week leading up to it the fish will feed hardbefore they spawn. The only issue is how hard the wind blows, makingit tricky to fish the Broadwater. There is good cover in Westerly breezes andoften early morning is calm this time of year. Otherwise, Flathead and big Breamwill be available in the river. Hotspots for big Bream will be the seaway reef,the main channel markers around Southport, TSS reef, and the Benowa holes. Live Yabbies will workamazing, as will Whitebait, Ecogear ZX40 and 43’s, Samaki70mmVibelicious. If you want to try for good size Tailor troll some Slams in theseaway to South Currigee area, particularly early morning and late afternoon.

Gavin from Sea Probe FishingCharters reports the 50 fathoms still holdingKingfish and Amberjack mostly taking live baits and jigs is the best optionalso some nice Snapper out there also just floating pilchards with 5 ballsinker. On the 36s still Snapper, Trag, Tuskies and Moses Perch on the 24s and18s plenty of Silver Jew, Cobia and Snapper on live baits and plastics, Thereis also still the odd Marlin getting around out wider if you’re looking to havea troll.

June 18, 2021

Last weekend I headed out offshore onSaturday with Wayne Young and my daughter Bec, the local 18 fathom reef off theGold Coast Seaway looked like a parking lot with heaps of boats there beforefirst light chasing a feed of Snapper and reef fish. We decided to head out to 45mmark to avoid the crowds, there was not a lot to look at on the sounder, but wefound a small show to drop on. We ended up with a few nice Moses and Tusk Fishon sunrise. After the bite slowed down, we headed back into the 18-fathom areawhere a few of the boats had thinned out, we found a good show of bait and fishand anchored up and started a burly trial. The Snapper we found were small, butwe ended up doing well with Bec landing a big Spangled Emperor around the 5kgmark which went hard pulling heaps of string, Wayne scored a great sizedJewfish around 13kg and his new PB Moses one of the biggest I have seen off theGold Coast. We ended up scoring a great feed at the end of the day, the bestadvice I can give is keep an eye on the sounder be patient and wait until youcan find something worth fishing on rather than settle for a basic show. The 18 and 24 fathom reefs will fish wellduring winter with plenty of species on offer like Snapper, Spangled Emperor,Jewfish, Moses, Tusk Fish, Trag Jew, Cobia and Maori Cod to name a few. The 36and 50 fathom reefs will also fish well as long as the current is not up too much,you will find the above species along with some big Samson, Amberjack andYellow Tail Kingfish. Float lining is my favourite method to target qualityfish allowing you to present your baits much more naturally giving you the bestchance at the bigger quality fish which can often be wary. Some good baits areWA pilchards, large Squid, Mullet Fillet, Bonito fillet and live Yakka’s allwork well.

Winter is a prime time for Breamfishos to get out and chase a feed, keen anglers that are ready to brave thecold nights out on the water should be rewarded with great catches of Bream. Some good spots to start looking will beTweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Wave BreakIsland, Gold Coast Seaway, Tiger Mullet Channel, Perrys Hole, Short Island,Cobby Passage, Kalinga Bank, Cabbage Tree Point, Jacobs Well and the LoganRiver. A burley trail is a good idea when targeting Bream, it will keep them interestedand, in the area that you are fishing. I recommend using Mullet Fillet, MulletGut, Bonito Fillet, White Pilchards, Prawns, Squid and Yabbies.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports onceagain it was a bumper week on the Flatties with some Bream and the odd juvenileJewie making up the rest of the catch.Early in the week we mainlyjigged the deep holes but for the last three days we turned our attention tofishing the very shallow areas of the river. The reason for the change intactics was due to the very cold weather that came in that crashed the watertemperature to 16 degrees.When this happens, I fish the shallower wateras the sun warms the water up quicker and this is where the Flathead were ingood numbers. Trolling and casting Pontoon 21 crackjacks provided the bestresults over the shallows.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports Arrow Squid are getting bigger, withsome nice Tiger Squid around too. The green/gold and white/ silver EcogearDartmax jigs are working best, and the RUI jigs in natural green, and whitecolours. Get out there and get a feed of Squid,they are delicious! I cooked some on the bbq grill the other day. Two minuteseach side, amazing. Best areas this week were Southport, Wavebreak island, andRunaway Bay. There is also Tuskfish, Flathead, Flounder, Winter Whiting,Bream and Tailor, on the bite in the Broadwater. There are some big Snapper andJewies feeding in the seaway at the moment.

June 11, 2021

Flathead seem to love the cooler weatherand have started to show up in numbers with Fishos landing plenty of good fishthroughout the Gold and Tweed Coast waters. I headed out for a look with mydaughters last Sunday around the Jumpinpin area, we had a good day catching andreleasing 22 Flathead and kept one fish for dinner. I was using a mixture ofZman 4’ Strekz curl tails soft plastics and Zerek fish trap soft vibes whichseemed to work a treat. There are plenty of small fish around ready to nail alure and a few larger quality sized fish as well. You may need to move around abit until you can find an area worth targeting, in the deeper water keep an eyeon the sounder until you can locate enough bait and cast you lures and work thevibes until you get a hit. On the run out tide you can work the entrances ofdrains, if you see pelicans feeding in that area it is a great sign there isbait present and Flathead will be there cashing an easy feed. Whether you are casting,or trolling keep in mind that Flathead are an ambush predator that will tend tolay in wait with their head facing into the tide waiting for the bait fish toswim past, when you cast or troll try to target your casts up current or trollwith the current for best hook up results. Jumpinpin is a great area to targetFlathead, try around Jacobs Well, Neverfails, Whalleys Gutter, Tiger MulletChannel, Cabbage Tree Point, Canaipa Passage and the mouth of the Logan River.In the Broadwater, some good spots are Tipplers Passage, Aldershots, BrownIsland, Paradise Point, Crab Island, Wave Break Island and the Nerang River.Drifting baits is also a great way to target Flathead, just remember to use abit of trace line as their mouths are very abrasive and when they thrash theirheads from side to side, they will wear through your line very quickly and bustoff.

Reports of Tailor around Jumpinpin andthe Broadwater has seen fishos landing a few nice fish, size of the fish hasvaried from small choppers up to some quality larger fish showing up. Find thebait or birds and you will be in with a good shot and scoring a fish. There hasalso been some smaller Queenfish in the same areas which are great fun fish toland. Clean water has held the best fish, I recommend targeting areas closerthe open ocean entrances like Jumpinpin Bar and the Gold Coast Seaway. The last2 hours of the run-in tide will be the optimum time to target, trolling hardbody lures until you can find the right signs is a good way to cover ground.Once you locate the fish you can then try casting surface lures, shallow diversor metal slugs at them.

With a good forecast on the way for theweekend heading offshore will be on the cards for anglers, the cold weathershould help with the Snapper bite. Fishos have reported some good catches ofSnapper, Cobia, Jewfish, Moses, Trag Jew and Tuskfish from the local 18 and 24fathoms reefs off the Gold Coast. The 36 and 50 fathoms areas will also befishing well for Samson, Amberjack, Snapper, Cobia and Tuskies.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the fishing on the Tweed slowed downslightly this week with slower tidal flow on the back of last weeks fullmoon.Regardless we still caught some nice fish with jigging the deepholes with vibes being the best technique. The species we caught included somenice quality Flatties as well as Bream and a bunch of small Jewies.In fact, we caught over 10 jewies on one charter andnot one of the fish were over 50cm but this is a good sign of a healthy riverto see these juveniles in such good numbers.I predict some really goodfishing for this oncoming week with the tides picking up again on the lead upto the new moon.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week was unusual on theBroadwater, with the fishing quite shut down, but some good Squid around. Thewater in the Broadwater has been a murky green colour which seems to be coldwater coming in from offshore. This sudden change can put some fish off, so wehave had some days when catching Squid with jigs was the most productivetactic. The fish we have been catching, mostly on Ecogear ZX40’s smeared inSmithy’s UV prawn Sax scent, have been on the small side with Flathead,Whiting, Flounder, Bream, Tarwhine the most common.The fishing will pickup this coming week as we get closer to new moon, and the water temperature andcolour stabilises. We should see some nice Tuskies and bigger Flathead,Flounder, Tailor, and Whiting then. Arrow Squid have been the main target, andare best targeted on the last half of run in tides through until the first halfof the run out. I’ve been finding the Ecogear Dartmax 3.0 squid jigs mostsuccessful because of their slightly faster sink rate.It pays to givethem a quick spray of Ecogear Egimax scent spray once a day too. Don’t spraytoo much on or it deters the squid. The RUI 3.0 jigs work nicely too in theGold Coast Broadwater. Squid are a lot of fun tocatch and even better to eat. I find it very addictive when they suddenly latchon to squid jigs then lunge to try and escape. Fight the bigger ones gentlywith a light drag or they will get off the hooks. Yesterday we started to catchsome big Tiger Squid which is very good to see. They seem to like weed bedareas and rock walls, and a slow wind and pause retrieve. Best areas to fishand Squid have been the Western channel next to Wavebreak Island, Labrador,Lands end area, and Runaway Bay to Hollywell. Find sandy areas with undulatingbottom and the Squid and Fish will be there. Squid move around a lot hunting food,so it pays to cover ground to find them.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports Plenty of Snapper, Tusk Fish, Pearl Perch, Moses Perch, Yellowtail Kingfish, Amberjack and Maroi Cod biting all along the 50 and 36 fathoms using Wa Pillies, Mullet and jigs for the kingys.

June 4, 2021

Jewfish will be a prime inshore targetspecies during winter on the Tweed and Gold Coast, now that the weather hasstarted to cool down and the nights are very cold you will find that Jewfishwill start to get active with the bigger tides at night the best time to targeta big, prized fish. With plenty of mullet schools starting to show up theschools of Jewfish will be hot on their heels feeding up big. Targeting a bigJewfish inshore is a bit of an art and nothing like catching them offshore onthe reefs where they will tend to just crunch your smaller baits and hook upeasily. Inshore big Jewfish are much more wary and very particular how theywill take a bait like a large whole Mullet, patience is the key to success andmany anglers will put in plenty of cold nights until they are lucky enough tocome up trumps. Live bait is the best option, try to catch your live Mullet inthe area you are fishing if the bait is hard to find usually the Jewfish willalso be, like any form of fishing find the bait and you will find the fish. Acast net is the best way to collect live Mullet, keep them live by changing thewater regularly or using a live bait tank. I will generally fish these liveMullet baits un weighted on a set of 2 x 9/0 snelled Gamakatsu hooks rigged ona 60lb leader and 15kg main line, I cast out and leave the reel in free spooland weight for a run, the key is to be patient and let the fish run for quit abit before trying to set the hook as they will tend to play with the bait anddrop it as soon as they feel weight in the shallower inshore waters. The bestspots to try will be the Tweed Bar Rock Walls and river mouth, Jumpinpin Bar,Gold Coast Seaway and Wavebreak Island. Put in the hard yards and hopefully youwill land that 20kg Jewfish.

The cool winter nights are herewhich is great news for the Bream fishos keen to chase a feed. Those coldnights are usually the best for finding better quality Bream in numbers. Some good spots to start looking will be theTweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Whalleys Gutter, Tiger MulletChannel, Perrys Hole, Short Island, Cobby Passage, Kalinga Bank, Wave BreakIsland and The Gold Coast Seaway. When fishing land based just look to fishnear structure like Jetties, rock walls, snags and bridges. Burley is importantwhen chasing Bream, a lot of fishos will have a secret brew they use, Irecommend stimulate or Wilson burley pellets.Just keep a regular trail going, do not feed them too much just enoughto keep the fish interested. Some the best baits will be Mullet Fillet, MulletGut, Bonito Fillet, White Pilchards, Squid, Prawns and Yabbies.

Squid numbers will start to increaseduring Winter, they are fun to catch and even better to eat. The Gold and Tweed Coast waters will hold amixture of Arrow Head and Tiger Squid being the larger of the two species. Try using a Squid Jig between 2 to 3 incheslong until you find the size that works the best. If you are land-based try looking for jettiesand boat ramps that are well lit up, the lights will attract bait fish whichwill also attract the predatory Squid.Paradise Point, Grand Hotel, and Southport Bridge are just a couple ofspots to try your luck.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports wemainly focused on jigging the deepest holes in the Tweed River, and the varietyof species was bizarre and so was the number of fish we caught. Using the sametwo lures the whole week being Ecogear zx40s and Samaki vibelicous we caughtFlatties and Bream which are to be expected, and also some good quality Jewies,Giant Trevally and even a couple of Australian Bass.It goes toshow that by having the right lures and the right technique and veryimportantly having an abundance of bait in these deep pockets of water allthese species are happy to come together to feed.Other highlights for theweek were the double hook ups with one client fighting a Bass and the otherwith a Flattie, and the rush of fighting a Jewie and a Giant Trevally at thesame time that were both spooling off line and running in oppositedirections.We somehow managed to land bothfish which was amazing and let’s hope this crazy action continues thisweek.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports he had some very good fishing leadingup to the full moon, then the fish were a little off on the moon with thebigger fish more intent on breeding than feeding. The Squid were more shy, inless numbers and smaller than they were last week. With their big eyes theywere hunting all night under the brightness of the full moon, then less hungryduring the day. A variety of zx’s and Squid jigshelp catch a bag of Squid in the Gold Coast Broadwater. Every day is different,and it pays to keep mixing it up. Try having three different shades at least ofjigs, from darker solid colours to natural and transparent.My favouritejigs are Ecogear Dartmax 3.0 which sink a bit quicker than most jigs, this isgreat for the Broadwater.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports weather permitting the fishing onthe 50 fathoms and 36 fathoms have been very good with a mixed bag of reef fishincluding Snapper, Pearl Perch, Parrot Fish, Pig Fish, Moses Perch and alsoTrag Jew all caught on Mullet, Pillies and Squid. Also in close on the 24s and18s have been cobia starting to show up in decent numbers.

May 20, 2021

Sand Crabs have been around in good numbers for those keen to throw the pots in, the water has cleared up well and with a cooler water temp the Sandies have been on the chew. You will find Sand Crabs throughout the Broadwater and Jumpinpin areas, they tend to hang around the edges of the main channels and also weed beds on the drop offs from Sandbanks, these are good areas to try your luck and set the pots. When putting the pots out it pays to drop pots in different depths of water until you can get a gauge on where the better numbers are hanging out to target. Fresh bait is best, whole millet or fish frames make great bait, I recommend using a bait bag of some description to stop little fish and eels from destroying the bait before it gets to attract the crabs to the pot. When Sand Crabbing you can check your pots fairly regularly, it pays not to leave your pots unattended as some people can’t seem to help themselves and think it’s ok to check other people pots. I will take a fishing rod and fish around the general area and try to catch a feed of fish to go with a nice feed of Sandies. Make sure you know the rules before giving it a go.

Reports of some good quality Tailor onpatrol in the Broadwater and Jumpinpin the past week is great news if you enjoychasing these fun sports fish. As the bait schools build during the coolermonths Tailor schools should increase in size and numbers and are great fun totarget when the bite is on. To locate Tailor start looking for birds workingbait pushed to the surface or locate bait sitting deeper on the sounder. I tendto find the best time to target Tailor is early morning and late afternoon and thelast 2 hours of the run in tide as the water is at its best quality. Trolling amixture of deep and shallow diving lures is a great way to target fish, onceyou get a bite you may be able to switch to surface styles lures or metal slugsdepending on how aggressive the fish are. We tend to land a few fish whileFlathead fishing but they can be very hard on the soft plastics and vibe lures biteoff and very common. Some good spots to try will be the Gold Coast Seawayentrance and main channels leading south towards the Nerang River mouth and Northof the Seaway towards Currigee and Paradise Point will hold some good schoolsat times. Also try around the Jumpinpin Bar mouth and South towards the JacobsWell turn of, Crusoe Island, Kalinga Bank and Canaipa Passage.

Bread and Butter species like Bream,Whiting and Flathead are a great target choice at the moment, live yabbies willmake great bait for all the above species. Bream will be found right throughoutthe Gold Coast and Tweed waterways making them a verry accessible target from theshore or on the water. Whiting will be found around the most sandbanks andsandy shorelines on high tide and in the channels surrounding the bank as thetide falls, Flathead will also be found in the same areas. Worms and Yabbies arethe best bait for Whiting whilst Flathead will take most bait presented likeWhite Pilchards, Prawns, Mullet Fillet, Yabbies to name a few and will alsorespond to well to soft plastics, hard body lures and vibes.

Brad from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports good conditions made it ideal for deep water jigging with aheap of fish caught in the 8 to 14 metre holes in the Tweed River. As alwaystake the time to find where the bait is holding with your sounder before youstart jigging for the best results.Flatheadtook the main stage again this week in fact we caught over 30 fish today ofvarying size and all were released. Other species caught this week were a heapof Bream and a couple of Giant Trevally.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports theGold Coast Broadwater is still fishing well for Tuskfish, Flathead, Flounder,Tarwhine, Bream, Sand Whiting, and Winter Whiting. The Arrow Squid arestill not around in numbers, but I suspect they’ll come flooding in as thewater clears further and gets colder this coming week. We have had someglassed-out days which does make fishing slower in the shallows.Like lastweek, pumping yabbies in the morning can make a difference to your catch rateon the calm days. On charters I keep working the zx blades all day to draw inthe fish which then snap up the yabbies offered by my guests.

Gavin from Sea Probe FishingCharters reports the fishing on the 50 fathoms and 36 fathoms have been verygood with a mixed bag of reef fish including Snapper, Pearl Perch, Parrot Fish,Pig Fish, Moses Perch and also Trag Jew all caught on Mullet, Pillies andSquid. Also, in close on the 24s and 18s there has been cobia starting to showup in decent numbers.

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May 14, 2021

With cooler weather on the way, trying your luck at catching a feed of Squid is a good option for Fisho’s keen for a feed of Calamari. With the water quality getting back to normal now is the time to try, you can target Squid during the daytime or night-time. I prefer to pick an incoming tide for water quality in the Broadwater closer to the Seaway. You will tend to find the smaller Arrowhead Squid hanging in the deeper water closer to the bottom and the bigger Tiger Squid hanging out in the shallows around sandbanks with weed beds proving shelter and food for the Squid. I recommend an average sized Squig Jig between 2 to 3 inches long depending on what they are feeding on. Metal blade vibration lures work well in the deeper channels near the Seaway south to Marina Mirage area. Land based fishing can be better at night, the key is to find somewhere that has good lighting on the water. Light will attract bait fish which will in turn attract the predatory Squid. Some good land-based spots are Paradise Point Jetty, Grand Hotel Jetty and boat ramp, Sundale Bridge Jetty, Marine Stadium Jetty and the Gold Coast Seaway Rock Walls will all produce some quality Squid.

The Broadwater is holding plenty of bait at the moment, bait fish and prawns have been schooling up in the shallows on high tide then making its way into the deeper the channels as the tide runs out. Keeping an eye out for bird activity is a good way to track bait and find predators to target. Some of the species that have been showing up are Flathead, Bream, Tailor, Tarpon, Squire and Trevally to name a few. A mixture of soft plastics and metal vibes have has worked well to tempt a bite.

The Gold Coast Seaway has been fishingwell for school sized Jewfish, these fish have been continually active the pastfew months. Unfortunately, Sharks (The Tax Man) have been a constant issuelaying in wait to steal your catch before you get a look in. Mullet schoolshave started to appear in bigger numbers which is great news as we head towardswinter which is their breeding season. The Mullet schools will attack theattention of the bigger Jewfish average size 13kg up to 25kg you just neverknow what sized fish can show up. Try cast netting the larger Mullet andupgrade your gear and put in some extra time on the cold nights around theSeaway and Wave Break Island and you just may land the fish of a lifetime.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports unfortunately, due to the rain onWednesday and some family commitments I only got to spend two days on thewater. The good news is that the fishing was fantastic and so was the weatherwith perfect mild temperatures and little to no wind. The water temperaturedropped from 22 degrees to 19.5 and this made fishing the deep holes a bit offthe pace but by working in shallower water and areas that were draining off theshallow flats that were warmed up from the sun the fishing was very good.This is a handy tip through winter that fish willoften migrate and move into areas of the river that has warmer pockets ofwater. The main catch was once again a bundle of Bream which is going to be aconstant reliable species through the next two months, and we caught a heap ofFlathead and although there was no trophy sized fish the quality wasawesome.The other species we caught were a few Giant Trevally which wecaught trolling around the edges of where the birds were bombing the baitschools forced to the surface by the GTs. The best lures this week were pontoon21 crackjacks, hurricane slams and the ever-reliable zx 40s.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the fishing was mostly great thisweek, and we had some perfect weather typical of this time of year.Somerain in between will keep the good fishing times rolling on! I had 82mm onWednesday and Thursday in the rain gauge here at Bundall. The run-out tiderunoff will be a bit dirty still near creek mouths. Water temp sitting around 22 degrees, tons of bait fish and prawns arepresent in the rivers and Broadwater which attracts many predatory fish. Thatrain set back the arrow squid activity, but it should not take long to clearwith the new moon next Wednesday causing bigger tides. I’ll be looking for thearrows on the run-in tides in the channels and on the Broadwater reefs. Bestareas to fish, anywhere there’s water haha, literally fish everywhere.

Gaven from Sea Probe FishingCharters reports fishing has been red hot this week starting out on the shelfcatching Blue Marlin, we caught 4 out of 8 all around 150kg using lures from 8inch to 15 inch. On the 50 fathoms was also good bottom fishing with Snapper,Pearlies, Ajs, Kingies and also few Dollies around the fads.

May 7, 2021

Local Fishos have reported somegood quality early season Bream have been showing up after all the rain hasgiven the local rivers a massive flush out last month. There are still plentyof small ones around at the moment but as we head closer to Winter larger Breamwill start to school up in big numbers in preparation to spawn throughout theWinter months. I recommend using a light estuary outfit spooled with 9lb monoline attached to a long 8-10lb fluorocarbon leader depending on the type ofsnags you are fishing; a size 3 or 4 ball sinker and a size 2 or 4 bait holderhook should do the trick. Some great spots to try for a feed is around ShortIsland, Tiger Mullet Channel, Crusoe Island, Kalinga Bank, Logan River, JacobsWell, Coomera River, Nerang River, Paradise Point, Wave Break Island and theGold Coast Seaway. Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet, White Pilchards, Mullet Gutand Yabbies are great bait. A good burly trail is important when chasing Bream,try using a pellet type option from Wilson Fishing or Stimulate will do thejob. As we step closer to winter, all the early signs for a great Bream season arehere which is good news for anglers keen to try their luck.

Some nice Tailor have come fromthe surf gutters along South Stradbroke Island the past couple of weeks whichis great news as we head closer to prime Tailor season during the cooler monthsahead. Once the Westerly winds turn up it will be a great time to hit yourlocal surf beach gutters for a look. The swell is tipped to drop for theweekend, a beach fishing session at your local would be a good idea. We havebeen landing some extra big Greenback Tailor for the past few weeks offshore onthe local reefs, these schools will tend to move closer to the mainland and intothe gutters to feed. Try using a set of 3 x ganged 4/0 hooks with a 20lb monotrace and start with a 5 ball sinker, this will have to be adjusted accordingto the sweep in the gutter. Whole WA Pilchards will make great bait along withMullet Fillet. If the Tailor are thick you may need to change to a wire traceto stop bite offs but try mono first as they can be quite picky sometimes andyou bait will present muck more naturally. I have had reports of a few smallerTailor being landed in the main Broadwater and Jumpinpin channels on the lastof the run-in tide, try towing some smaller hard body lures around and if yousee birds diving or some top water action try throwing metal slugs for aresult.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports onceagain Flathead have dominated the catch with trolling working well as jiggingthe deep holes with Samaki vibes and Ecogear ZX40’s.The deep holes havealso produced a couple of small school Jewies and the odd Giant Trevally. Thetrevally have really hung around this season as usually they start to slow downby now with the water temperature starting to drop and then they come back onthe chew around October. As always, Bream have been in great numbers, but thequality has been mainly average but at the end of the day it is always good tohave a bend in the rods and a fish on the lures.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports somefantastic fishing this week in the Gold Coast Broadwater and Nerang river withthe best days producing 70 plus fish per session. Live yabbies have beenabsolutely slaying heaps of fish, along with the ever-reliable Ecogear ZX40 andSamaki vibes, always with Sax scent goldprawn smeared over them. The fishingwas best around the full moon, I took the big fella Tino from the Gold CoastTitans/ Queensland Maroon, and his brother Iszac who is a promising footyplayer himself, Tino’s partner Jordan, and her Dad Cam who is visiting from NZ.What a great day it turned out to be with everyone catching plenty of fish. Onthe windier days we headed upstream, where it was hard to get past thewidespread, rampaging, aggressive Bream with some big fat ones amongst them.There are some decent Flathead around when you can avoid the Bream hittinglures. You could literally catch 200 Bream a day if you wanted to. We releasedthem all as it is the start of their breeding season. Neap tides will begood to fish the seaway and Jumpinpin mouth area this week, especially afterthe rain. Expect good Jewies, Bream, Snapper, Tailor, Flathead and the odd Jackand Kingfish. Also, good tides for Arrow Squid in the deeper channels on therun in. I’ll be teasing them up with ZX40’s then dropping the new EcogearDartmax squid jigs amongst them.

April 30, 2021

Withthe water and air temp cooling down and plenty of bait fish and small prawnsaround Flathead have started to show up in better numbers throughout the Goldand Tweed coast waterways the past couple of weeks. Try looking around the topsof sandbanks on the high tide and target the edges of the weed beds with softplastics or hard body lures, also casting lightly weighted yabbies should work aswell. As the tide drops work the edges of the sandbanks and then the deeperwater and you should find Flathead laying in wait for bait moving off thesandbank. Another great spot to look for action is any small creek entrancesleading into a main waterway or gutters and drains leading off a sandbank.These are perfect ambush areas for Flathead to lay in wait to catch an easyfeed swimming past. Soft vibes and metal blades will work a treat in deeperwater and drifting baits are all great options to entice a bite. Try your luckin the Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, WaveBreak Island, Brown Island, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well and theLogan River for a feed of Flathead.

Onceconditions settle heading offshore will be well worth a look with some greatcatches reported last weekend. I headed out for a look with Wayne Young on Saturday,and we managed to scratch up a good feed of Snapper, Moses Perch, Tusk Fish,Maori Cod and Trag Jew fishing in 45m of water off the Gold Coast. There wasplenty of hard fighting Bonito around which make great bait and are also surprisinglygood eating fresh. Float lining WA Pilchards, Squid, Bonito Fillet and liveYakkas did the trick for us, finding ground with life to fish is the key tosuccess. I’d rather sound around for half an hour and find life to fish on thanjust put a mark in the gps and try your luck just because the area has producedin the past. The 36 fathom line has had a bit more current this week, the 50 fathomline has been the better option with some great quality Pear Perch, Snapper,Amber Jack, Samson, Yellow Tail King Fish and Tuskies being landed.

As we transition into May the night-timetemp has started to drop, this should start to stir up some better qualityJewfish around the Jumpinpin area. It will be worth a look during the daytimeand night-time in the Jumpinpin Bar mouth around a tide change, Kalinga Bank,Canaipa Passage and Marks Rocks in the Logan River. Live Pike, Herring andMullet are a great option. Also a nice fillet of Tailor or Mullet should do thejob. Best time to target a Jewfish is aprox 1 hour before and 1 hour after atide change as they fire up as the current drops off. The Southport Seaway hasbeen fishing well for Jew for the past couple of months, as the water cools, weshould see some bigger fish starting to feed on the mullet schools in this area.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the mornings started off with a slightly chilly lightsouth westerly wind blowing but as the sun came up the wind dropped off andleft us to fish in the warm sunshine.The best results this week came fromfishing the deep holes on the run-out tides with the Samaki vibelicous lures.We caught an unbelievable amount of particularly good quality Flatties aroundthe 50cm mark as well as the odd bigger fish. There was also the odd, niceGiant Trevally lurking in the same holes and of course the ever-reliableBream.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports a goodfishing week at the Gold Coast with some nice Jewies, Flathead, Tuskfish,Whiting, Flounder and others caught on charters. We found the Jewies bydrifting through bait schools located in the Seaway and Nerang river with thehelp of my ever-reliable Humminbird fish finder. There are plenty of sharksaround though ready to tax your catch. There were heaps of bait ballsand prawns along the entire Western channel between Grand hotel and Sundalebridge, with Flathead, Sand Whiting, Winter Whiting, Flounder, and Tailorfeeding there.Some solid Tuskfish turned up around Runaway Bay in thedirtier water on the run out tide. The water isfast clearing with the bigger tides leading up to full moon, hopefully thearrow squid start turning up over the next week.

Gavin from Sea Probe FishingCharters reports plenty of fish Still biting, Snapper, Amberjack, Samson fishand Pearlies all along the 50 fathom line, try using live bait, jigs,pilchards, squid and mullet for bait. On 36s still Snapper, Parrot and Trag andtry on the 18 and 24 fathoms for the Sapper, Jew. Spanish Mackerel also on the18s and 24s, try down rigging with live bait this a a great option to try yourluck.

April 23, 2021
It’s great to see the local rivers starting to clear up after the rain with a return of most normal target species being landed by keen fishos. Whiting have started feeding again in better numbers with some good catches reported, I also managed to catch and release 30 nice Whiting fishing last weekend in the Pirtek Fishing Challenge with the kids. Try your luck in the Coomera River, Nerang River, Pimpama River, Logan River, Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek and Currumbin Creek. Make sure you cover all depths of water when fishing until you can find the best spots to target, you can do this by fishing several rods and casting some in the shallows and some in the deeper channel until you can find where the fish are feeding best. I did find that we encountered plenty of Bream, Tarwhine, and Grunter which are great fun for the kids to land in between Whiting. A light estuary combo is best, match this with a long 6ln fluorocarbon leader, size 4 sinker and a size 6 short shank baitholder hook if you are using worms for bait or a size 4 long shank baitholder if you are using yabbies should do the trick.
Offshore the local reefs have fished well with some good catches coming in from the local 24 and 18 fathom reefs this week. Local fisho Wayne Young did well last weekend putting his sister Pam onto a quality Reef Mangrove Jack and some nice Moses Perch (see photo in report). Ben White also had a great day on the water landing a couple of big hard fighting Cobia (see photo in report) which is a great sign as we head into the colder months. As the water cools and the current drops heading out wider will be the go and target the 36 to 50 fathom grounds, you should find some good Snapper, Samson, Amberjacks, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Pearl Perch and Tuskies on offer. A mixture of jigs and live baits and dead baits will work well in the deeper water, I do prefer to float line when using bait.
Chasing a feed of Sand Crabs will be worth a go as the water clears up, try targeting the edges of the weed beds and the drop offs on the edges on the main channels for a feed. Fresh fish frames and whole mullet will make great bait. When setting your pots it will pay to stay in the area and have a fish so you can keep an eye on your pots as some people can’t seem to do the right thing and will help themselves to your hard earnt feed.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports well finally we have had a week of good weather with the sun shining and very light winds prevailing. The story of the week has been bio masses of Bream destroying our lures with constant double hook ups all day. We have been catching up to 50 Bream a session and it hasn’t mattered whether or not we were trolling slams or Pontoon 21s or drifting with Samaki vibes it has been about getting constant double hook ups. Most of the Bream have been small to average in size, there were some nice quality ones in amongst the huge numbers of them. I have also been watching the commercial Mud Crabbers lifting in their pots and the pots are bursting at the sides full of Bream it is hard to believe how many bream can fit in one crab pot. We also managed to catch a few Flatties with a couple of nice quality ones coming on board. The tides ae good for the coming week so I will be sounding around the deep holes and hopefully might pick up a few big Jewies.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the Broadwater fished ok this week with lots of medium sized fish. The water has cleared heaps, almost to the point where the run out tide fishes better. This coming week the almanac looks poor which should mean good fishing haha. The past week has been all about sounding around to find the bait then dropping lures and yabbies straight below. It’s been good to see lots of healthy Tusk Fish as well as plenty of Flathead, Whiting, other fish, and a few crabs. Neap tides are around this coming week which will give us a chance to fish the seaway for Jew, and the middle of the deepest channels for longer periods with yabbies, Ecogear ZX40 and 43 blades, Pro Lure blades, and Samaki Vibelicious soft vibes.

For everyone that fished in the Pirtek Fishing Challenge I hope you had a great time. The results will be available on the website on Saturday 1/5/2021.

April 16, 2021

With a great weather forecast on offer last Sunday I was lucky enough to get an invite from Wayne “Youngy” Young to head offshore on the Gold Coast for a look after all the rain last week. Conditions were fairly good early before the southerly wind change pushed through a bit earlier than forecast making conditions a little tuff with wind against current. The dawn bite was a bit slow with only a couple of Snapper showing up, there were plenty of smaller fish around ready to destroy the baits. Once the wind came through and just before the tide change the burly had done its job and some quality fishing started to hit the deck, we ended up landing a great mixed bag of Jewfish, Maori Cod, Snapper, Moses Perch, Pearl Perch, Tailor and even a juvenile Red Emperor which was a welcome surprise. This is the 4th Red Emperor we have landed on the 24-fathom reef in the past month, it would be great to catch an adult one on the Gold Coast. Wayne scored the fish of the day landing a quality Jew Fish 113cm long and around 14kg in weight on a fairly light set up outfit. The weather forecast is looking ok so far for this weekend with light winds predicted early before blowing up later in the morning making a early start for a go if you’re keen. Best baits were WA Pilchards, large Squid, Bonito Fillets and live Yakkas.
As our waterways start to slowly clean up after the massive fresh water flush targeting bread and butter species like Bream, Whiting and Flathead are all a great target option for a feed on the Tweed and Gold Coast. These species can be targeted by everyone weather you are land based or if you have a boat or Kayak and can venture out. A few locations worth looking at land based are Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point Beach, Coomera River Highway Bridge, Santa Barbara, Jabiru Island, Paradise Point Jetty, Lands End Biggera Waters, Grand Hotel Jetty, Marine Stadium and the Nerang River. On the water try around Currigee, Paradise Point, Wave Break Island, Nerang River, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well and the Tweed River. I recommend using burley when targeting Bream, a pellet burley like Stimulate or Wilson Pellets will work well. The best bait for Whiting is Worms or Yabbies, for Bream and Flathead try Prawns, White Pilchards, WA Pilchards, Mullet Fillet or Yabbies.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this time last week the water was just starting to come good with the fish comprising of some nice Flatties, Giant Trevally and Mangrove Jack smashing the lures but since the rain came back and turned the river into a mess once more. With the sun out we headed down towards the mouth of the river and managed to find a bit clearer water on the last two hours of the run-in tide and caught a few Bream and Flatties but once the tide turned the muddy water flowed down and the bite went off completely. The good news for this week’s report is that the rain has gone, and the tides are gaining every day giving us more time to keep the bite period going. Enjoy the sunshine over the weekend and fish the run-in tide near the mouth of the river and you should catch some fish but please be careful as there are trees and debris floating around everywhere.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it looks like the end of wet season now, and more stable weather ahead in the next week. We are flat out with charters and looking forward to it. My charters have added on options of crabbing and Go Pro 9 filming of the day. The water temperature in the Nerang river is averaging 23 degrees, I ran a charter yesterday with Rod and Ryley and although the water was muddy on the run-out tide, we caught about 25 fish and some nice Blue Swimmer Crabs. Included in the catch were Flathead, Bream, Whiting, Flounder, Trevally and the usual Tarwhine. Best areas to fish were Runaway Bay and the reef just inside the seaway and East of Wavebreak in 9-10 metre depth. Yabbies, prawns, and whitebait work well. Dirty water lures are getting the most bites, and these include Samaki Vibelicious 70mm forktails in Ginger squid and Motor Oil UV colours, and Ecogear.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports try for Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack, Samson Fish and Snapper all along the 50-fathom line try using live bait, jigs, pilchards, squid and mullet. The 36-fathom line has produced good quality Snapper, Pearl Perch, Trag Jew and Tush Fish. It is also worth a try on the fads for Dolly’s with pilchards and live bait. The 18 and 24 fathoms reefs are worth a look for Jew Fish and cobia will start showing up in the next couple of months.

If you have any photos you would like to share, please email us.
Useful links:
• Hir e a Tinnie
• Marine weather forecast
• Stay up-to-date with Qld fishing rules

April 9, 2021

Given the amount of rain that has fallen and combined with our last massive fresh water flush the water quality with be again very average for the next couple of weeks throughout our local waterways. With a good forecast on the way for the weekend at the time of writing my report heading offshore will be the best option to chase a mixed bag of reef species off the Tweed and Gold Coast. The water quality will still be very average on the close Mackerel Reefs of Mermaid and Palm Beach making chasing these toothy critters difficult until the system has time to get back to normal. Start looking around the 18 and 24 fathom reefs where you should find Snapper, big Jew Fish, Trag Jew, Moses, Tuskies, Maori Cod and the odd Cobia. Get the burley trail going and try float lining a mixture of baits including WA Pilchards, Squid, Mullet Fillet and Live Yakkas will do the trick if you can find a show to anchor on. Current depending try your luck venturing out wider to the 36 and 50 fathom reefs for similar target species including the arm stretching Yellow Tail Kingfish, Samson, Amberjack or some extra tasty Pearl Perch. Live baits will work best on these species.

For the inshore Fishos keen to try your luck Bream will again be a top target choice due to their resilience to fresh water, they just seem to feed hard after any amount of rain we receive. Bream can be found in just about all waterways around the Tweed and Gold Coast either land based or out in the boat making them very accessible to everyone. Either man made or natural structure will be a good spot to target the humble Bream as they tend to school up in these areas as they will usually attract small bait fish and jelly prawns with are a natural bait source for the target species above. I recommend using a fairly long 8lb fluro carbon leader around the snags to give you a chance if there are some bigger fish around, a size 2 – 4 bait holder hook and a size 3 to 4 ball sinker tied to a main line of around 9lb mono is a pretty good all round tackle choice. Best baits are something that will hold on after getting picked at by numerous smaller fish until something bigger can come along and crunch your bait, the bigger older fish can be quite wary and often let the little ones have first crack. My first choice of bait is Mullet Fillet, then Bonito Fillet followed by Mullet Gut, Prawns, Squid, White Pilchards and Yabbies. Try the Mouths of the Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Gold Coast Seaway Rock Walls, Runaway Bay Canal entrances, Rock Walls at Paradise Point and the South Ars of the Coomera River, Jacobs Well, Jumpinpin Bar Entrance along Kalinga Bank and the Powerlines.

Mud Crabs will again be another go to after the recent rains, local Fishos did very leading up to and over Easter scoring some good feeds. The extra deluge will keep on flushing the Crabs out of the upper reaches of the rivers and push them out into the main channels. Finding them after the rain can be a bit difficult, again it’s a matter of hunting around, soak your pots around the river mouths and also along the deeper channels in search of Crabs that are on the move. Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek, Nerang River, Mouth of the Coomera and Pimpama Rivers, Never Fails Islands, Jacobs Well, Canaipa Passage, Russell Island and the Logan River Mouth will again be the go-to spots to start your hunt depending where you live on the Coast.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the upper reaches of the Tweed River are still very muddy and unfishable but hopefully if the rain holds off the fish will start moving back up the system following the increase in salinity coming in from the ocean. By careful planning and taking advantage of the big run-in tides that we have had around the full moon we have had some really good fishing. I have been motoring down towards the mouth of the river and fishing the distinct current line where the clean ocean water is pushing back the dirty flood water. These types of areas are a major feeding zone for fish and even the birds are bombing the water along the current line taking advantage of the abundance of baitfish pinned to the area. The birds have been the giveaway for me where the current line is while travelling down the river. The main species that have been smashing our lures are Bream with big numbers of small Bream flopping on to the deck of the boat but in amongst them have been some crackers either side of the 40cm mark. These big Bream are great sport on small lures and light gear with the best lures being the zx 40, Slam 47 and Samaki vibelicous. Trolling and deep jigging the same area has also produced some nice Flatties and the odd Grunter as well as a few Big Eye Trevally.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports after a break and some postponed charters due to bad weather I did my first charter last Friday in three weeks. I headed out with regular customers Jonathan and his Dad Colin, and with the wind blowing SE 20-25 knots early we ventured upstream to the middle reach of Nerang river. As soon as the tide started running in the fish turned on wherever we found bait patches on the fish finder, we had a ball catching over 30 fish on lures and yabbies, with Flathead up to 60cm, lots of Bream, Grunter and Whiting. Best lures were Ecogear ZX40 in 418, 440, 447 and best bait was live yabbies. Usually after Easter the weather settles and we start to see beautiful days and my favourite time of the year to fish with quality Flathead, Squid, Flounder, Tuskfish, Blue Swimmer Crabs, and many other species on offer.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports after another period bad weather again hopefully the fish are still firing where we left off when we get back out there. Try for Kingys, Amberjack, Samson fish and Snapper all along the 50 fathom line using live bait, jigs, pilchards, squid and mullet. Also worth a try is the fads for Dolly’s with pilchards and live bait and 18 and 24 fathoms for the Jew and Cobia will start showing up in the next couple of months.

April 2, 2021

School Holidays are here and getting the kids out and about and trying their luck at catching a fish is a great idea for parents looking for something new to try. Experience is not necessary, just call into your local tackle shop and I am sure they will be all too happy to give you all the advice on the right bait, tackle and a few spots to try your luck at catching a fish with the kids. I recommend a basic light estuary combo with 9 to 12lb line, a running sinker rig with a size 3 to 4 sinker and a size 2 to 4 bait holder hook will do the trick on the normal bread and butter species you will find on offer like Bream, Flathead and Whiting. A few good spots to try either land based or by boat are the Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Marine Stadium, Broadwater Parklands, Main Channel near Seaworld, Grand Hotel Jetty, Lands End, Runaway Bay Canal Entrances, Paradise Point Jetty, Coomera River and Fishing Platform under the Highway Bridge, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point and the Logan River. Try your luck at pumping yabbies as they are great bait, also try using Prawns, Worms, White Pilchards or Mullet Fillet.

Mud Crabs have been around in fairly good numbers again this week with locals scoring a great feed for Easter, the rain did its job and flushed out the rivers and creeks stirring up the Mud Crab population. The waterways will be busy even if the forecast is not the best, I recommend where possible try not to leave your crab pots unattended for too long as unfortunately some people just can’t help themselves and are tempted to share you hard earnt catch. Try dropping your pots around the river mouths and also along the deeper channels in search of Crabs that are on the mover, it may be a week or two before they start to move back up into the upper reaches of the Estuaries, this is also dependant on how much extra rain we receive. Some spots to try are the Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek, Nerang River, Mouth of the Coomera and Pimpama Rivers, Never Fails Islands, Jacobs Well, Canaipa Passage, Russell Island and the Logan River Mouth.

Before the Southerly wind hit and the swell picked up the close reefs were fishing pretty well with local Fishos scoring some great catches of big Jewfish, Snapper, Moses, Trag, Tuskies and some extra-large Tailor. Both the 18 and 24 fathoms reefs off the Seaway produced well, once the weather settles it will be worth a look.

Do not forget about the Pirtek Fishing Challenge which is held on 17th and 18th of April this year which is a new format for this competition. It is a fantastic event and all money raised goes towards prostate cancer research. Click here for more details and how to enter. There are some awesome prizes on offer, and everyone gets a hat and brag mat, also this year all the junior entries receive a free packet of soft plastic lures which is a great bonus.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports our local river catchments got some of the biggest rain of these floods. It will be too muddy to fish up the rivers at this stage. Around the seaway will be the place to be and on the run-in tide. The tides are getting bigger with lead up to full moon which means you will need to focus your efforts an hour each side of high tide. At other times try along the edges of the main channel from the spit to marina mirage in that 4-6 metre range, and on all the yabby banks from Wavebreak to Southport. Yabbies will work well as bait, and flashy and dark coloured vibes. The run-out tide does produce water that is too fresh and dirty. Water is still overflowing from Hinze dam.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports after the recent rain the reefs were firing out on the 50 fathoms plenty of nice size Snapper, Kingys and Ajs were on the chew using live bait for the Kingfish and Amberjack and using mullet and WA pilchards for the Snapper. In the closer reefs Mackerel were a no show but some nice Silver Jewfish were on the chew making up for it on live slimeys and yakkas.

March 26, 2021

After hundreds of millimetres of rain has fallen on the Gold Coast the past few days when to choose to head out for a fish is a bit of a gamble with lots of debris being flushed out of all the local rivers becoming a hazard to any boats using the waterways. I recommend if you are keen to get out on the water you will need to be extra vigilant when navigating all waterways including both inshore and offshore grounds and keep an eye out for trees, logs and any other form of rubbish floating around that may pose an issue.

Water quality will make a big difference to catch rates this week with a massive amount of fresh water being dumped into your local systems. It will take quite a few days and multiple tide changes before we will see the water improve in any way. When you finally get out for a fish, I recommend looking for clean water and tides lines where the fresh water meets the salt around the bar entrances will increase your chances of finding some quality fish. A large amount of bait fish and prawns will be washed out of the rivers and estuary systems and will school up along the tide lines and closer to the ocean. The Gold Coast Seaway has fished well before the rain hit so it will be worth a go towards the last 2 hours of the incoming tide which will hopefully bring in some quality water from the ocean. Try your luck between the pipeline and Wave Break Island where there is a bit of scattered rubble. This area has produced some nice Squire, Bream, Tarwhine, Juvenile Spangled Emperor, Moses, Tusk Fish and Trevally. Using a mixture of metal and plastic vibes or drifting baits like White Pilchards, Prawns, WA Pilchards or Yabbies has been successful. Also try the North Wall to the pipeline to see if the Jew Fish and Mangrove Jacks are still on the chew. There will also be plenty of Bull Sharks in the same area on the hunt for a feed. If you are keen to check out the waterways toward the Northern end Jumpinpin Bar will be the place to look as most of the fish species will be chasing a hit of salt water, this area will produce a variety of species including a few nice Bream, Tailor, Trevally and Jew Fish.

Mud Crabs will again be the perfect target species after all the rain, with such a big flush out it may take a few trial drops before you manage to locate a feed. I recommend starting by setting your pots around the river mouths where they meet the main channel, depending on the catch rate try either deeper water or the edges to find out where most of the Crabs are. A few nice crabs have come from the mouth of the North and South are of the Coomera River and the Pimpama River. Also try the Logan River, Nerang River, Russel Island, Canaipa Passage and Cabbage Tree Point. Whole Mullet and fish frames make great bait. I recommend changing the bait regularly, you will catch more crabs with fresher bait.

At this stage the weather forecast is finally looking good this weekend for heading offshore, with light winds and a small swell on the way it will be worth a go. The close reefs may be affected by the freshwater flush like Mermaid and Palm Beach so chasing Mackerel in close may not be the best option. I would start looking around the 18 to 24 fathom areas for signs of life like bait fish and predators to have a drop on. These areas should produce a mixed bag of fish including Snapper, Moses, Tusk Fish, Jewfish, Trag Jew, Tailor and Morwong. Depending on water conditions Spanish Mackerel will also be a target species worth trying for, if you can locate bait the predators should be if that general area. If anchoring I always recommend the use of burley as will make a big difference when it comes to holding the fish you sounded up and also drawing in fish down current of your boat. Unfortunately, it can also attract in unwanted pests like sharks which have been particularly bad lately attacking unsuspecting anglers hard earned catch of the way up.

If you’re looking for a fun weekend of fishing with the family or mates, I recommend you look at the Pirtek Fishing Challenge which is held on 17th and 18th of April this year which is a new format for this competition. It is a fantastic event and all money raised goes towards prostate cancer research. Click on this link for more details and how to enter. There are some awesome prizes on offer, and everyone gets a hat and brag matt, also this year all the junior entries receive a free packet of soft plastic lures which is a great bonus.

March 19, 2021

One target species that loves the rain is the good old Mud Crab, given the amount of rain we have had this week it makes then the perfect choice to target a tasty feed this weekend. Fresh bait is recommended, try using either whole mullet, fish frames from your last catch or raw chicken will all do the trick. I always recommend using a bait bag, it makes baiting the pots a lot easier and also stops little fish, eels and hopefully Mud Crabs from stealing you bait but will allow you longer to attract the Mud Crabs you are targeting. Try scattering a few test pots around your local rivers until you find an area holding better numbers of crab, some good spots to look are the Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek, Nerang River, the main Coomera River and both North or South Arms, Pimpama River, Tipplers Passage, The Never Fails, Cabbage Tree Point and the Logan River. Just make sure you are up to date with the rules and regs before heading out.

The Gold Coast Seaway has been producing some cracking catches of Jew Fish, Mangrove Jack and Trevally fishing the North Wall and Pipeline on the last hour of the run in and the first hour of the run-out tide, live baits have been working best. When we see a large swell offshore it tends to stir up the feed and the Seaway will fish well seeing quite a range of species on offer. You will often land a great mixed bag of Spangled Emperor, Squire, Grassy Sweetlip, Painted Sweetlip, Moses, Tusk Fish and Bream. Just keep an eye out for larger swells rolling through the area. Fishing between the pipeline and the East Side of Wave Break Island is popular spot drifting over the rubble with baits, lures or soft plastics can be extremely rewarding.
When the weather eases and the swell drop hitting the local reefs will be a good option with a great mixture of reef species and pelagic species on offer. Unfortunately, the Tax Man (Sharks) have been around in larger than normal numbers taking their fair of unfortunate anglers prized catches. The local 18 and 24 fathoms reefs have produced a good mixture of Snapper, large Jewfish, Tusk Fish, Trag Jew, Moses and plenty of great sized Spanish Mackerel. The 36 fathoms reefs will also fish well current depending producing Snapper, Tusk Fish, Cobia, Samson, Amber Jack and the fads are still holding plenty of Dolphin Fish.

Coomera Houseboat Holidays customers have scored a mixed feed of Bream Flathead and Whiting from the Sandbanks and channels around Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Coomera River, The Never Fails, Curtis Anchorage, North Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well around the shoals, Logan River and Canaipa Passage. Bream really love the fresh water flush and should be around in good numbers, using a bit of burly is great idea to fire them up and keep them around the area you are targeting. Yabbies are great all-round bait, the kids will have fun pumping them. I’d also recommend Worms, Prawns, White Pilchards and Mullet Fillet to catch a feed.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports this week the Black Marlin have been very quiet, the bait has disappeared along the outer reefs but still worth having a troll or sounding around for the bait balls. Out on the shelf there has been a few Blue marlin showing up in depths from 300m to 1000m trolling 8 to 15 inch lures work best. On the 50 fathoms for reef fishing the current has been a bit strong at times to fish it but when it has died off for us there has been great catches of Snapper, Kings, Ajs and Samson Fish. In close Mackerel have been still biting 18 and 24 fathoms.

Hope you have a great week! If you have any catches or photos you would like to share, please email us.
Useful links:
• Hir e a Tinnie
• Marine weather forecast
• New Qld fishing rules

March 12, 2021

With a decent weather forecast on the way this weekend Prawns will be on the menu for plenty of Fishos with good reports coming in most days this week from lucky anglers able to sneak out mid-week. Grab your top pocket nets and head up towards Jacobs Well for a look around the moored boats, from there head north to check out either Cabbage Tree Point, Little Rocky Point, Powerlines, Logan River, Lamb Island, Karragarra Island and the Salt Works at Macleay Island will all be worth a look for a feed of fresh Banana Prawns. Tide changes are always important especially when looking for Prawns in deeper water, they will usually pop of either top or bottom of the tide making this the best time to target them. It can be over as quick as it starts sometimes so it is worth getting to an area and sounding around for a while before the tide change for signs of life. Looking for other boats casting is a tell tail sign you are in the right area, just remember your manners as it can get hectic in amongst multiple boats all casting at the same time. Make sure you are up to date with all the rules before you hit the water.

For those anglers itching to get offshore at this stage theforecast is looking ok, depending on the strength of the N/NW winds and the amountof the current it will be well worth a look at the 18 and 24 fathom reefs whichshould fish well for Snapper and Jewfish on the dawn bite. Plenty of burleyshould do the trick to attract a few nice fish around your boat, some good-sizedSpanish Mackerel will also be on offer in the burley trail so remember to packsome wire trace just in case. Other bottom species on offer are Tusk Fish,Spangled Emperor, Moses, Trag, and Cobia. The fads out on the 36 fathom lineeast of the Seaway will be worth a look with a few nice Dolphin Fish and some bigWahoo have been caught this week. Heading South of the Seaway to check out theGravel Patch, Palm Beach Reef and Mermaid Reef will be worth a look with somegood consistent catches of both Spotted and Spanish Mackerel have beenreported. Sharks have been a big issue lately, trying to land your fish as soonas possible is the key to losing your catch to the Tax Man. Just make sure youhave the most up to date forecast before heading offshore.

If you are keen to get the kidsout on the water locals report they have been landing a decent mixed bag ofBream, Flathead and Whiting from the Sandbanks and channels around ParadisePoint, Crab Island, Coomera River, The Never Fails, Bedrooms, Tiger MulletChannel, Jacobs Well around the shoals, Logan River and Canaipa Passage. Therain mid-week has fired up the Bream population that seem to thrive after anyfresh water flush. Yabbies are great all-round bait, the kids will have funpumping them. I’d also recommend Worms, Prawns, White Pilchards and MulletFillet to catch a feed.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters the Tweed has experienced heavy showers in the mornings this week. When we could go out, there were some Mangrove Jacks and Mulloway about. It looks like the rain is staying away this week which will give the river a chance to start clearing and the fishing to fire up.

Clint from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports it looks like the rain is stayingaway this week which will give the river a chance to start clearing and thefishing to fire up. In the Broadwater there are mainly smaller Tuskfish, Squid,Flathead and Flounder around.

March 5, 2021

I was lucky enough to take advantage ofthe great weather last Saturday and head out with Wayne Young and Bec for a fishoffshore on the Gold Coast. We were greeted with light winds, small swell andvery little current giving us some of the best fishing conditions offshore Ihave seen for a long time. The plan was to hit the water at 5am and fish the 18fathom reefs east of the Seaway for a feed of reef fish. After sounding aroundfor a bit we found a nice show of fish worth anchoring on, the first thing Itry to do is get the burley trail started to give us the best opportunity tokeep the fish we are targeting in the strike zone and also attract any fish inthe area in for a look. Wayne had the first bait in the water and he wasrewarded getting hit on the drop with a great quality Snapper around the 3kgmark hitting the surface, Bec was next in line with her first drop producing ahard fighting Jew Fish hitting a was presented WA Pilchard floated down on aset of ganged 5/0 Mustad Tarpon hooks. From there we had plenty of actionlanding good numbers of Snapper, some Pearl Perch, Maori Cod and even ajuvenile Red Emperor. Bec then landed an even bigger Jew Fish after a 5 minute battle,it tried to give her the run around but she did very well on 20lb braid. Keepingthe burley trail going did the job extending the bite window going for close to2 hrs, we even used old prawn shells which quite a few fish spat up whenlanded. A school of Spanish Mackerel then moved in and we ended up loosing afew too many rigs to the toothy critters, Bec did well tempting one to strikeon a metal slug jigged off the bottom, after a fairly long fight on a big Macunfortunately she pulled the hooks. Once the wind eases and the swell drops itwill be worth go on the local reefs for a mixed bag of fish.

A few nice Bream and Whiting have been showing up in theBroadwater and Nerang River this week, try fishing the edges of the sandbanksaround the southern end of the Broadwater using live yabbies pumped of thesandbanks. Whiting and Bream tend to move around a bit at times, you will catcha few then they go quiet for a while. If you have not caught any fish for abouthalf an hour just move around and try another spot close by and see how you go.I recommend 6lb fluro carbon leader, and either a 4 – 5 ball sinker to keep thebait in the bite zone, worms and yabbies are the best bait. Also try ParadisePoint and Runaway Bay esplanades land based as these areas can produce a greatfeed. Around the Pin it’s worth a look around Pandanus Island, Tiger Mullet Channeland Jacobs Well Shoals.

The recent rain has been great for everyone after a feed of MudCrabs with the local rivers producing a nice feed for those keen to get thepots in the water. The Coomera River, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Cabbage TreePoint, Canaipa Passage, Logan River, Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek and theCurrumbin Creek all worth a look if you live local. Try using a bait bag if youhaven’t before as it helps to some the pickers and vermin from stealing yourbait this in turn this gives you a much better chance to entice a nice Mud Crab into your pots.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it has been a challenging week for both Clintand myself with the huge volumes of freshwater from the consistent rain squallssince Xmas. On the Tweed I have worked the lower reaches of the river on thebig run in tides to take advantage of the oceanic water pushing back the dirtywater purging down the river. With a combination of trolling Pontoon 21 luresand Slams as well as jigging the ever-reliable Samaki vibelicous and Pro Lureblades we caught a heap of fish. The main species were a lot of small Bream butin amongst them were some great quality Flatties and some ripper Grunters whichare also known as Javelin Fish. Hopefully this week I can get back in the swingof things and bump of a few off of my favourite critters on lures, the mighty MangroveJacks.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports a variety of charters this week, and a varietyof fish caught. We fished everywhere from the shallow banks to 20 metres deepin the seaway. The banks have been quieter of late, with the bigger whiting andschool Flathead absent. The reef and channels in the Broadwater are holding alot of fish, but they aren’t big. This will change when the water cools. OnThursday I did a charter with Shane and his son Brody. It was a big day and wecaught plenty of livies at first on Ecogear ZX40 blades. We then fished theseaway area, catching one nice school Jew, dropping others including more Jew,a big Tailor, and a Bull Shark which put up a big fight before biting through100 lb leader. The full moon was on Saturday and the big tides made it trickybut we caught over 60 fish for the day and 20 species, on zx’s, Yabbies, and BeachWorms. In such hot conditions deeper water 5-7 metres is the go. Best areaswere Crab island, Lands End, and near Seaworld.

Gavin from Sea ProbeFishing Charters reports Marlin out wide have been on and off in the last week we hadgreat session in 50m of water landing 5 Marlin out of 11 bites all on lures andlive baits also Dolphin fish around the fads have been on and off as well. Onthe 50 fathoms a few Snapper, Kingys and few Pearlys have started showing up.In close 24s,18s, Mermaid, Palm Beach and the Gravel Patch Spottie and SpanishMackerel have been taking pillies, live baits and hard body lures.

February 26, 2021

The drop in wind and swell has givenFishos an opportunity to sneak offshore and try their luck for a SpanishMackerel during the week with local anglers like Paul and Hunter Wilshire (seephotos in report) coming up trumps managing to troll up a couple of great sizeSpanish Mackerel. Some great methods to try are trolling hard body diving luresaround 15 to 18cm long is popular along with trolling well rigged dead baits orslow trolling live baits will temp a bite if the fish are around. Searching forbait fish is the key to finding predators, keep an eye on the sounder andhopefully you fill find an area holding bait that is worth putting in some time.Some good spots to try are the Bait Grounds off the Seaway, Mermaid Reef, PalmBeach Reef, the Gravel Patch and the local 18 – 24 fathoms reefs off SurfersParadise will be worth a look on the weekend.

The Gold Coast Seaway has been fishingwell during the week with some nice size Jew Fish, solid Mangrove Jack and alsogood numbers of Flathead being caught on live baits drifted from the North Wallto the Pipe Line area. Herring, Pike, Mullet and Yakkas all make great bait. JewFish and Mangrove Jack will hit hard and put up a great fight, making sure youhave the right gear to target the fish is important or you will end up gettingbusted up pretty easily. A light offshore outfit would be a good starting point,a rod around 8 to 10kg spooled with 20 to 30lb braid should be able to put thebrakes on most of the fish you are likely to encounter. Try to target a tidechange, best to plan your trip to fish and hour before or a hour after the tidefor best results.

Mud Crabs have been a good target species with a bit of freshwater in the system from the recent rain and storms. Try setting your potsaround the river mouths where they meet the main channel, depending on thecatch rate try targeting a few different depts of water deeper water until you manageto score a few good sized Muddies. A few spots to try your luck are the mouthof the North and South are of the Coomera River, Pimpama River, the Aldershots,Logan River, Nerang River, Russel Island, Canaipa Passage, Jacobs Well, TigerMullet Channel and Cabbage Tree Point. A bait bag is a good idea making it abit harder for the small Crabs, fish and eels to steal the bait giving moresoak time to entice the larger male crabs into your pots. Mullet, fish framesand raw chicken all make good bait.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports he has been catching school size Flatheadaround the Chinderah area on Samaki Vibelicious vibes Pearl Shrimp colour, anda few Mangrove Jacks trolling Atomic hardbody lures.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports some Flathead, Whiting, and Bream on the edgesof the main channel of the Gold Coast Broadwater on Ecogear blades

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports still plenty of Marlin out wide on lures and live bait also plenty of Dolphin fish around the fads ,in close 24s, 18s, mermaid palm beach and gravel patch Spottie and Spanish Mackerel have been taking pillies, live baits and hard body lures.

February 19, 2021

Given the forecast chasing a feed of MudCrabs up the rivers will be a great option if your keen to brave the rain, MudCrabs should be getting stirred up with the recent downpours and be on the movelooking for a feed. Try your luck setting the pots up your local river orestuary, sometimes the rain can flush a bunch of little ones out, but you willusually be rewarded with some good-sized bucks for your effort. Unfortunately, somepeople cannot help themselves and are tempted to take your hard earnt catch,try to stick around the area and keep an eye on your pots just in case. Usefresh bait for best results, whole Mullet, fish frames or pieces of raw chickenare all a great choice. Some good spots to have a go that are protected fromthe wind are the Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek, Nerang River,Coomera River, Pimpama River and the Logan River.

On the fishing front Bream will be agood target choice with rain on the forecast, Fishos have plenty of land-basedoptions to try your luck and plenty of sheltered waters ways if you want tohave a go in the boat. A simple running sinker rig combined of sized 4 baitholder hook, a long 8 lb trace and a 3 to 4 ball sized sinker on a lightestuary outfit is all you need to have some fun. Bream are a great targetspecies to get the kids out of the house and have a great time landing a fish.Some suggestions of where to have a look land based will be trying your localjetty that is protected from a SE wind direction, get a bit of burly on the goand it fingers crossed it will not be long until your hooked up. Some good baitoptions are Mullet Fillet, Prawns, Yabbies, Squid and White Pilchards.

Another good option will be chasing aBull Sharks up the rivers and creeks, the rain will flush them out and theywill always have a crack at a well-presented bait given the opportunity. Amedium sized estuary combo will do the trick on most of the bullies you willencounter, 15 to 20 lb line is plenty, match this with about a meter of nyloncoated trace between 60 to 100 lb, size 6 to 8 hook and a running ball sinker sized4 to 5 is all you need to give it a go. My favourite bait is freshwater Eelfollowed by Pike Eel, you don’t need too much just a small piece of Eel willwork great just make sure you good hook exposure to help with the hook up whenyou get a run. The Nerang River, Coomera River and Logan Rivers are all primeBull Sharks grounds worth giving a go.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it was a bit of a tricky week with massivetides and strong blustery south easterly winds blowing. The big tides combinedwith the wind put the shallow areas over depth and stirred up the bottom makingthe water discoloured and unsuitable for topwater fishing.The good newsis that the conditions are looking great for next week and I expect some greatresults fishing with our surface lures once again. The success we did have thisweek came from trolling some deep diving minnows on the tide changes for acouple of Mangrove Jacks.We also drifted some soft and metal vibes in theprotected areas out of the wind and caught some Flatties, Bream and Whitingwith the new Pro Lure V42 vibe working very well.

Clint from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports a tough week of fishing, I’m not afan of big tides. There were some Flathead and Bream in the Nerang river thatwe caught trolling Pontoon 21 crackjacks and Slams. Fished some banks yesterdayfor some Whiting, Flathead, Tarwhine and Bream but they weren’t around innumbers and a lot of small fish. I’m looking forward to smaller tides thiscoming week to fish the Broadwater reef and banks. I will be mixing up thelures with Samaki Vibelicious, Ecogear Zx’s and Pro Lure V42 blades, plus liveyabbies always work amazing if presented well. I use whatever catches as manyfish as possible for my guests.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports the current is still very strong out wide, but still Plentyof Mahi Mahi on all the fads and also Marlin from the 24s to the 50 fathoms onlures and live baits. In close Mackerel trolling lures and pilchards workingthe best. Once the SE wind eases and the swell drops it will be worth giving ita go.

February 12, 2021

Bottom fishing for a Snapper,Moses, Parrot, Trag or Jew will be an option this week depending on the currenton the local 18, 24 or 36 fathom reefs.Hopefully, the Southerly wind during the week has pushed in some cleanwater onto the shallow reefs also bring the Spotty and Spanish Mackerel withit. For those anglers keen to chase sports fish trolling or live baiting for aMarlin, Wahoo or a Dolphin fish is a great option after the blow. Some luckyboats that braved the swell last weekend were rewarded with some great Marlinfishing action with some boats catching and releasing over 10 Marlin per boat, thatis a fantastic effort and memorable days fishing for the lucky crews involved.

The windyweather has not deterred fishos from chasing Mangrove Jack in the riversprotected by the wind, live baits, mullet fillet and butterflied whole mullethave been working a treat in the Coomera River.Other sports to try are the Rock walls near the Sanctuary Cove in themain river and then work your way down the south arm are producing some goodJacks, Estuary Cod and Trevally this week. From Jabiru Island East towards Paradise Pointis a good spot to try along with Sovereign, Ephraim Island the Nerang River. The Gold Coast Seaway has seen some Mangrove Jackaction with the larger fish starting to school up and feeding before headingout to the reefs before the weather starts to cool down. Anglers targetingJacks this week have managed to catch and release the holy grail fish of alifetime Gold Coast Barramundi with one fish going 1.2m in length from theCoomera River on a live Mullet. When fishing you just never know what you willland, put in the time and effort and you can also be rewarded.

Coomera Houseboat Holidaycustomers have managed to hide out of the wind and score a few nice Flathead,Whiting, Bream, Sand Crabs and Mud Crabs this week. Good spots out of the SEwinds have been Tiger Mullet Channel both eastern and western end, TipplersPassage, Coomera River North Arm, Pimpama River, Crusoe Island North Side,Perrys Hole, Slipping Sands and Coby Passage. These areas will be much betterto fish over the weekend as the wind eases and turns more N/NE. Prawns andYabbies have been a good all-round bait for most species. White Pilchards aregreat for Flathead and for Whiting worms and Yabbies have tempted some qualityfish.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week has fished well on the Tweed but veryearly morning starts were required for the best results.The reason forstarting early was to time the tide changes and at the moment the watertemperature has been climbing to 28.2 degrees by the middle of the day. Whenthe water gets that hot the best results come from fishing the deep holes wherethe water is slightly cooler on the bottom.This week produced some Mangrove Jacks that took a liking to somedeep diving minnow lures trolled in tight to structure. These hard-hitting fishare one species that do like the warm water and will stay on the bite foranother couple of months.Fishing the deep holes produced some nice Flattiesas well as some Whiting and Bream. The best lures this week have been stradadredge and atomic shiners as well as Samaki redics and the ever-reliable Samakivibelicous.

Clint from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports the mighty Mangrove Jacks have beenfrothing and aggressive this week with the hot weather and water temp sittingaround 29 degrees. It takes a lot of effort and attention to detail tosuccessfully target these amazing fish, but when it all pays off it is sorewarding. This is peak time for the jacks so if you want tohave a go at night the only dates still available this season are 19th and 24February, then 4th and 25th March. This week I’ll be chasing big Sand Whitingagain in the Gold Coast Broadwater in the mornings, as well as a variety offish in the deeper cooler channels on Samaki vibes, Ecogear ZX’s, and Pro LureV42.

February 5, 2021

Mud Crabs are always a great option to chase after a bit of rain, and this week has seen a bit more activity which is good news. Coomera Houseboat Holidays customers managed to catch a feed during the week. Catches are a bit inconsistent at times with a mixture of small and female crabs to pick through until you are lucky enough to score some good-sized bucks. Try the Coomera River both arms, Pimpama River, Logan River, Cabbage Tree Point, Tiger Mullet Channel, Cobby Passage, Jacobs Well, Canaipa Passage, The Neverfail Islands, Brown Island and Tweed River.

Trevally have been harassing baitschools in the Coomera River around River Links, West of the Highway Bride andSanctuary Cove Arm of the river. Other good spots to look for Trevally are the RunawayBay, Paradise Point and Nerang River canals and bridges. Most bridges on theGold Coast are pretty well light up at night making them a great spot for baitto school up and predators to be ambushing a feed. Surface poppers stick baitsand metal slugs will work well.

The Gold Coast Seaway has produced somegreat catches of Jew Fish and Mangrove Jacks again this week. Schools of Jewfishand Jacks have been hanging around the North Wall and the Pipeline area of theSeaway. Try to pick a time to go fishing around a tide change, live baits arethe best way to temp a bite.

Bream have been around in good numbersafter the rain, they seem to get ravenous and feed on just about anything youthrow at them. They are a great option for the kids to chase with plenty of land-basedspots to choose from on the Gold Coast. Try your luck at the Paradise PointJetty, Jabiru Island Jetty, Boykambill Jetty on Hope Island, Coomera RiverHighway Bridge Platform, Canal entrances along the Esplanade at Runaway Bay,Broadwater Parklands, Sundale Bridge, Nerang River and the Jacobs Well Jetty.Try using Prawns, White Pilchards, Mullet Fillet or Yabbies should do thetrick.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week we had some early starts toutilize the tide changes around the lower reaches of the river.Thelocations I was looking for on the tide changes were very pronounced spotswhere there was a distinctive current line with clean ocean water meeting thedirty water. These spots are ideal feeding areas for all fish that are presentat the moment as there is still dirty water coming down from the Tweedcatchment after recent heavy rainfalls.We could not keep a lure in thewater without getting double and triple hook-ups from mass schools of Bream butunfortunately although it was fun there was not a lot of size in them. We alsomixed it up and combined some deep water jigging and deep water trolling andcaught some Flatties and nice Mangrove Jacks.The water is getting clearer by the day and provided we do not receiveany more rain the surface fishing will be right back on track nextweek.

Clint from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports a crazyweek of mangrove jack fishing with 14 caught and released in my boat in fivecharters. This is peak season around here until March.I’ve been fishing 29 of the past 30days, and while the water has been busy there’s always somewhere to get awayfrom the crowd. The Whiting fishing has been ok but should pick up over thenext week. There was plenty of Tuskfish, Flathead, Whiting, Flounder, Tarwhineand Bream on the reef surrounding Crab Island. The Whiting have copped aserious flogging over the holidays at council chambers and need time torecover. Even the best anglers are only getting small bags. Same for the crabs.This week thebig full moon tides drop off which will suit flats fishingnicely. The upper river reaches are best on the bigger tides for Jacks andTrevally.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports plentyof Marlin along the 50-fathom line trolling using live bait and lures. Still DolphinFish on the 36 and 50 fathom fads and Spotted Mackerel and Spanish Mackerel inclose at Palm Beach and Mermaid Reef. Bottom fishing still Trag Jew, Snapperand Silver Jew biting in the close reefs.

January 27, 2021

Australia Day was a busy one on the water with heaps of people enjoying the great weather. Fishos that hit the water early saw some great action until the traffic picked up stirring everything up. Looks like we may see a bit of swell and a South Easterly change as we head towards the weekend. Let’s see what’s been on the chew.

The Gold Coast Seaway has been the place to be if you are keen tochase a Jewfish lately with consistent catches of school sized fish around 75cmto 90cm being landed by local fishos. Jewfish have been schooling up in bignumbers here for the last couple of months and really come on the bite the lastweek. If you can combine an early start before all the traffic hits and a tidechange you will be in with a great chance of landing the illusive Jewfish.Tidal flow is a big issue when attempting to fish the Seaway, if you can timeyour trip and hour before and after a tide change you should get a nice bitewindow to try your luck. Live baits like Pike, Mullet, Herring, Diver Whitingor Silver Biddies will do the job nicely rigged on a mono trace of up to 40lbfluorocarbon. For the lure fishos soft vibes, metal vibes and soft plasticsshould temp a bite fished into the school of Jew. Locating fish to target is tokey to success, spend a bit of time sounding around and mark any bait or fishwith the GPS and then concentrate your efforts in these areas until you arelucky enough for the fish to switch on and start biting. Some decent schools ofMangrove Jack have also been hanging around the Jewfish making a bit of a luckydip.

Spotted Mackerel have also been on the chew around Mermaid Reefearlier in the week with reports of some good-sized Macs being landed. An earlystart is the key when chasing Mackerel, you will find the boats that do well areon the spot and get the burly trail on the go as soon as possible. The schoolsof fish will patrol the reef system, the positive of the burley trail is whenthe fish are near your boat you have a better chance of keeping them is thestrike zone of you boat for much longer. Keep on casting metal slugs whilstsoaking boats, this method teases the fish to the boat and is very affective toget the Macs excited and into feed mode and also produces a good number of hookups. Small WA pilchards or half larger WApilchards are the great bait and also cubed into burley is very affective. Livebaits will also work and can also temp a bigger Spanish Mackerel to have acrack. Palm Beach Reef and the Gravel Patch has also fished well the past fewweeks.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the river has become very muddy again after anotherdumping of rain in the catchment.We have been fishing the deeper holes inthe mid sections with Samaki soft vibes and catching Flathead and large numbersof Bream. Until the water clears more try fishing the run-in tides leading upto full moon this week with vibes for Mulloway, Flathead, Bream, Whiting andTrevally from the golf club to Stotts.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the water has continued to clear and warm up, which hassuited Mangrove Jack fishing. We caught and released jacks up to 52cm thisweek. If the warm weather continues there should be a good bite leading up tofull moon on Friday. The sand flats have been quieter than usual this week dueto the tiny neap tides. We have been finding Whiting on vibes and yabbies inthe deeper channels where there is more tidal flow. It was also good to seelots of Tuskfish, Flounder, Squid, Tarwhine and Flathead on the calm water reefareas in the Gold Coast Broadwater. The river was slow due to the neap tides.The bigger tides this week will help but hot water in the shallows is not idealfor some species like Flathead. There is unbelievable numbers of Breameverywhere in the canals. Have a go for them with MMD soft prawns.

January 20, 2021

The annual run of Little BlackMarlin off the Gold Coast has been the best on record for many years with somelucky boats catching and releasing over 20 Black Marlin per day in the GoldCoast Game and Sport Fish Clubs Light Tackle Tournament held last weekend.Local Fishos and Charter boats have also been getting in on the action withfantastic numbers of fish being caught putting massive smiles on all anglersinvolved. The best fishing at the moment has been in the 80m mark off the GoldCoast around Spot X holding big schools of bait which has attracted theseawesome predators to feed. As the fish have been so concentrated in that areamost boats have been dropping live baits rigged on circle hooks into the baitschools and waiting for the Billfish to pick off the injured bait fish out ofthe school, this is a very affective method given the numbers of fish.Traditionally trolling skirted small to medium lures for small Black Marlin isa preferred method for anglers if you need to cover ground to find the bait andfish this is a very visual way to fish with the surface strike action and thescreaming reels from the blistering runs of these speedsters. Conditions changerapidly at times and the fish will not hold in one area for too long, if thingsare quiet you will need to cover ground and keep your eyes peeled on the skyand water or listen out on the two-way radio for anyone willing to share info. Bycatch like Wahoo, Dolphin Fish, Cobia and Mackerel are all an option dependingon the water depth you choose to target. Water temp plays an important roll inwhere to look, it’s not uncommon to troll up a Marlin from in close starting atthe bait grounds and working you way out from there. Sullies Reef and theCottons off Jumpinpin are always worth a look as these areas have produced goodnumbers of fish over the years. Just remember to take care when a Marlin isboat side as they have a weapon of a beak which can do some damage if nottreated with respect and they can jump without warning.

Customers reported they have done well scoring a few nice MudCrabs after the rain during the week using Mullet and fish frames as bait. TheCoomera River nearer the mouth of the North or South Arm has crabbed well, alsothe Pimpama River, Logan River, Nerang River, Brown Island, Jacobs Well andaround Brown Bays on Russell Island have produced a feed.

Bream are loving the extra dumping of rain as they don’t mind aheap of fresh water in the system, fishos have been catching plenty this week.Bream will have a crack at just about anything you choose to use as bait andcan be found schooling up in numbers around most canal entrances, bridges,jetties, rock walls and marinas. Findthe right structure and you should do well. They are a great target species forthe kids to chase on school holidays.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the beginning of the week was especiallygood with nice overcast and sometimes light summer showers falling. Theseinclement conditions suit the fish and are slightly cooler which makes thingsmore comfortable for us anglers.We really mixed up the techniques thisweek with some deep water trolling as well as some deep-water jigging. With thewater starting to clear up after the recent flooding it even enabled us to do abit of surface popper fishing around the top of the tides.The speciescaught this week were Whiting, Flathead, Bream, Jewfish, Giant Trevally andMangrove Jacks with atomic minnows, samiki vibelicous and mmd splash prawnlures doing the job.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports we mixed it up this week with some fishing in NerangRiver getting some good Flathead on Westin soft plastics and Samaki 70mm softvibes.While in the Gold Coast Broadwater good catches of Sand Whitingcontinue to provide plenty of entertainment on ultra-light tackle. On busy daysyou need to find quieter areas away from the water traffic, or the fish gettimid as the day goes on. There is big schools of Winter Whiting in theSouthern Broadwater. Wealso fished for Mangrove Jacks, catching and releasing two nice fish 51cm and54cm early in the week. The big new moon tides have been tricky to fish, I’vebeen finding the run out most successful. The first few days of this comingweek the flow drops off considerably in the mornings, which will suit the banksat first then the deeper channels and seaway later in the week for Mulloway.

Gavin from SeaProbe Fishing Charters reports Marlin have beenchewing there heads off in 80m of water on live slimeys, yakkas and trollinglures. Bottom fishing Snapper, Pearlies Trag Jew and also for Mackerel in closehas been producing some great feeds for happy anglers.

January 15, 2021

If the swell drops and the wind eases as per the forecast at thetime of writing the report heading offshore in search of a feed of Spotted orSpanish Mackerel will be on the cards for local Fishos on the Gold Coast. PalmBeach Reef and Mermaid Reef have both produced some good catches of qualitySpotted Mackerel over Christmas and into the new year, they are great fun totarget and put up good fight on lighter tackle.An early start is a must, make sure you sound around and find some baitto anchor up on and start the burley trail to attract the predators, I usuallyrun a combination of baits and throwing metal slugs around to attract the fishto the boat and stir up fish that are not in feeding mode. Quite often themajority of fish will come on fast retrieved slugs around the 25 to 40grammark, just change sizes until you can match the hatch of the bait fish they arefeeding on at the time. For baits I normally run single strand wire around 15lbcombined with a 2/0 or 3/0 chemically sharpened bait holder hook baited with ahalf pilchard will do the job. Some good size Spanish will be feeding in thesame area so be prepared for one of these powerful speedsters to hit at anytime. Some other good spots worth a look are the Gravel Patch, Local Bait Reefsoff the Seaway and also the 18-fathom line will fish well. Burley is a must andwill make a big difference to the days fishing.

We have seen a bit of Bull Shark action again this week in thecanals and rivers with a variety of sizes of Sharks being landed. My preferredrig is a plastic-coated nylon trace of aprox 1 to 1.5m in length of either 50to 100 pound crimped to a suitable sized swivel on one end then matched witheither a size 6 to 8 circle or octopus hook depending if are catching andreleasing or wanting to keep a feed. A small piece of Pike Eel or Fresh WaterEel makes great bait are a good option especially if there are a few Mud Crabsaround munching on the baits. The Coomera River, Pimpama River, Nerang River,Logan River and the Neverfails are all good spots to try your luck. Jumpinpinhas also produced a few juvanile Hammer Head and small Black Tip Sharks beingcaught around the Bar entrance and Tiger Mullet Channel.

The Gold Coast Seaway is still fishing well for school sizedJewfish and has also been holding some decent schools of Mangrove Jack.Drifting live baits is the most productive method to target these awesome fish.Live Yakkas, Pike, Mullet or Herring are the pick of the baits, try to timeyour trip around as tide change with the bite time usually around an hourbefore and an hour after the tide change being the most productive.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the deep holes thatcan be found in the lower parts of the Tweed River proved to be fishing thebest again this week. I was going to try some holes further up the river butfound that the water was still quite muddy after the recent flood, as well asanother 200mm falling in upper catchment 2 days ago. Giant Trevally as well as Flatheadand a few small Jewies known as Soapies were on offer in the deep holes.Drifting and deep-water jigging with Samaki vibes and Ecogear zx 40 luresworked the best for this technique with the darker colours producing the goods.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports abusy week as usual for this time of year, and some very good fishing in theriver for Flathead, Mulloway, Tarwhine, and Mud Crabs, while the sand banks inthe Broadwater produced some stonker Whiting, school Flathead, Tarwhine, massesof Bream and Sand Crab. The weather has been mixed but that has not stopped ushaving a heap of fun on light tackle. Again, yabbies have worked well, andPontoon 21 lures crackjack and Samaki Vibelicious lures coated in Sax scent UVgoldprawn. The middle half of the run in tide over the flats have been bestlately. This week we’ll look for Mangrove Jacks, and during the day the biggernew moon tides should get the flats firing.

January 8, 2021

Customers had a good run offshore before the South Easterly windsand swell kicked in managing to find a few nice Black Marlin and Dolphin Fishfrom the Tweed and Gold Coast this week. Off the Gold Coast some of the Marlinhave been pretty big in close with some fish between 60kg to 120kg showing upamongst the smaller Blacks giving anglers a good run for their money. Boats arereporting multiple strikes and fish caught and released which is great news tosee good numbers of Marlin moving through the Gold and Tweed Coast reefs. Thefads on the 36 fathom reefs have been holding good sized Dolphin Fish as welland Black Marlin, also work the 36 fathom line, spot X and the 50 fathom lineto find good fishing. Always be on the lookout for surface activity, birdsworking bait schools and the skipper keep an eye on the sounder for any signsof life, on a good quality sounder a single Marlin can be picked out around abait school as a single big arch.

Reports of quality Mangrove Jackhave been coming in this week, the warm water temp up the rivers is making themquite active especially after the rain has stirred up the bait fish. TheCoomera River holds some top-quality fish, try the Highway Bridge, RegattaWaters boat ramp and rock bar, Railway Bridge for those with boat access. Also next to our shop at the end of ShipperDrive, Santa Barbara boat ramp, Coomera Waters boats ramp and jetty or the HopeIsland Bridges are all worth a go. Other good spots are Sovereign Island,bridges at Paradise Point, Runaway Bay canals and the Nerang River bridges,pontoons and rock walls. The Gold Coast Seaway has also been holding some bigschools of Jacks waiting to head out to the offshore reefs to menace bait fishand anglers. The Jacks have been hanging around with schools of Jewfish whichhave been feeding well the past week. Live Mullet, Winter Whiting, Herring orPike are great. Also throwing a mixture of Zman plastics and Zerek hard bodylures have been working a treat for those that prefer to fish lures.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I had my first trip back on the water yesterday afterhaving a Xmas break with my family.My clients Steve and his son Jimmywere keen to focus on deep water jigging with hard and soft bodied vibes in afew of the many deep holes that can be found in the Tweed river. This suited meas it is a great technique, and the tides were perfect with two tide changesduring the duration of the trip.The key to success when fishing the deepholes are tide changes and finding big schools of bait on the sounder that areholding close to the bottom. The result was fantastic with a variety of speciescoming up from the depths which included Bream, Whiting, Big Eye and GiantTrevally as well as a heap of Flatties and a nice Jewfish. We had a bit of badluck with the trebles on the samiki vibe pulling free on a massive Jew rightbeside the boat and just out of net range but that is fishing.As Ipredicted the recent flood has really fired up the action and the fishing islooking great for the start of the 2021 season. Please use absolute caution onthe river as there a still big logs floating around everywhere after the flood.We saw one boat hit a log at speed and tore the transducer off the back of hisboat but the damage could have been much worse.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it’s been two weeks since the Gold Coast received droughtbreaking rain and the middle reaches of the Nerang river are fishing extremelywell for an abundance of Flathead, Whiting, Bream, Trevally, and a crazy amountof Bream. All these fish are feeding on jelly prawns which have been flushedout of creeks and drains. RiverPrawns, Yabbies, Ecogear ZX blades, Samaki vibes, and Pontoon 21 crackjack 48sp dr hardbodies are all proven to catch huge numbers of fish in these areas.I’ll be fishing both the river and Broadwater at times this month depending ontides and weather. The Mangrove Jacks will start to become easier to find thismonth if we don’t get more floods. The monster Whiting I’ve been targeting onBroadwater flats charters will be around still, and what a season it’s beenalready with 24 of them now exceeding 40cm, and many over 35cm.The seawaywill fish well on the smaller tides for Mulloway and Jacks, while theBroadwater reefs will start to fire for Tuskfish, Flathead and Whiting.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters Reports Plenty of marlin along the 50 fathom line, try trolling livebait and lures. Still some nice dollies on the 36 and 50 fathom fads and goodcatches of Spottie Mackerel in close at palm beach and mermaid reef.

December 31, 2020

Hi Everyone, hope you have allhad a good week, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We have beenlucky so far with some good weather conditions for everyone to enjoy over thebreak with fairly light winds and not too much swell on the Gold and TweedCoasts. There has been no shortage of boat and jet ski traffic for anglers tododge so far this week. With a few showers on the way for the weekend let’s havea look at how the fishing has been.

Great news for Mackerel fans withgood numbers of Spotted Mackerel showing up just in time for Christmas, localanglers Paul and Hunter Wilshire (see photo in report) have had a couple ofgood sessions downs around Mermaid and Palm Beach reefs to finish up 2020. Theydid well coming up trumps slow trolling WA Pilchards with a pink overskirtsattached, this is a great method for covering ground and locating schools ofMackerel to target. If you are lucky enough to find bait schools holdingMackerel, you can anchor up and start a burly trail to get the fish feeding andthen feedback some unweighted half or pieces of WA pilchard rigged on lightsingle strand wire this is an extremely productive method. I also recommendcasting metal slugs around to cover ground when bait fishing as fish will quiteoften follow the slugs back to your boat and burley trail if they don’t gethooked first.

Anglers have reported morepelagic action with good numbers of little Black Marlin showing up off the GoldCoast just in time for Christmas with reports of up to 6 fish being tagged andreleased in a day. Most of the action has been around the 70 to 80 metre mark fromthe 36 fathoms out to spot X East of the Gold Coast Seaway. Smaller boatsshould have no issues accessing the fishing grounds on a good day, just keepyour eye the weather to pick a good safe window. Trolling small to medium sizedskirted lures is my favourite way to target Billfish, the surface actionincluding the strike, screaming runs and multiple jumping action is one of thebest adrenalin rushes you can get as an angler. Bait is the key to findingBillfish and conditions are changing daily, if you have mates on the water inanother boat try working together to find action, this is particularlyimportant ingredient to having a successful days fishing. If the fish aresitting deep on the bait and cannot be raised to the surface the other optionis to drop a live bait down on a circle hook to entice the bite. All the fadsalong the 36-fathom line will be worth a troll as they will tend to attractbait which will intern attract Marlin, Dolphin Fish and Wahoo which are allgreat fun to target.

In the estuaries try your luckfor a feed of Whiting and Flathead, they have been biting well now the waterquality is staring to clean up a bit after the rain. Tweed River, CurrumbinCreek, Tallebudgera Creek, Crab Island, Coomera River, Pimpama River, JacobsWell, Tiger Mullet Channel and the Logan River should produce a feed. Yabbieswill make the best all round bait for both Flathead and Whiting, worms aregreat choice to target Whiting. For Flathead also try Prawns, White Pilchards,WA Pilchards or Mullet Fillet.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the river has been too muddy and too dangerous to fishwith lots of debris still flowing down the river with the massive rain eventwith well over 500mm of rain falling in the upper catchment.I timedyesterday’s exploratory trip close to the river entrance on the run in tide totake advantage of the clean oceanic water pushing in against the dirty riverwater. I only spent a couple of hours prospecting around a relatively smallsection of the river and managed to rustle up a few Flatties, Bream and Whitingby trolling and jigging a combination of hard and soft bodied lures.Bynext week I am expecting things to be fantastic with some great fishing onoffer and a great start leading into the new year.

Clint from Brad SmithFishing Charters reports I just fished a coupleof days this week after waiting for flood waters to start clearing, once againfinding some nice big Whiting, Flathead, and Bream for my customers. I’m havinga few days off over Chrissie, then back on the water after Boxing Day. I amfully booked until February but there may be a few days becoming available inJanuary due to the border situations and Jack charters getting postponed due tothe fresh. I had the fishing tussle of my life doing battle on 2 lb line forover three hours with a flathead that looked close to 90cm. I came offsunburnt, cramping, and beaten by the beast. I also lost my Iphone xr in theprocess. A lesson learnt. Thanks to Glenn for your patience, he did well thoughlanding a beautiful 41cm Whiting on 3 lb line. On Tuesday return guests Gerardand son James came fishing, and went home with a nice feed of fish, and bothcaught some solid Whiting. The water up the rivers is still a chocolate milkcolour but there will be Flathead and Whiting feeding on the bottom in theheavier salty water. Near the mouth the run in tide is pushing in clearer waterso there’ll be lots of fish around the colour change lines. Yabbies and flashyor bright lures will work well.

Gavin from Seaprobe Fishing Charters reports Black Marlin are showing up in good numbers anywhere from 36 fathoms outto the 50 fathoms trolling skirted lures or using live baits, we are alsocatching some good size Dolphin fish as well. The current has been very strongmaking it harder for the bottom fishing, still try your luck around the fadsfor the dolphin fish.

December 25,2020

Christmas is traditionally a verybusy time on the water, we hope everyone heading out enjoys a well earnt breakwith family and friends. Just becausethere will be a bit more boat traffic around it does not mean the fishing willbe quiet, the fish on the Gold Coast are used to lots of boat and jet skitraffic, It’s always worth wetting a line and trying you luck.

After the latest flush out thesouthern Broadwater has been producing a great variety of different species. Thebig swell and tides have really stirred up the feed, it’s great to see plentyof juvenile Snapper and some bigger models along with, Spangled Emperor, GrassySweetlip, Tuskfish and Moses hanging around the gravel and coffee rockareas. The Gold Coast Seaway, Wave BreakIsland, the main channel from the Seaway north to Currigee, Sovereign Islandand Ephraim Island all offer great structure to target these fish. Drifting withPrawns, White Pilchards and Yabbies works well.For the lure fisho’s try working TT Switch Blades, Zerek Fish Trap softvibes or Zman Soft Plastics. No matterwhat size fish you catch they certainly will put up a great fight, just beaware of the legal-size limit if you want to keep a feed.

Mud Crabs have been on the moveas predicted around the Tweed and Gold Coast waterways after all the rain.Anglers lucky enough to get out last weekend and put in the effort and wererewarded with some quality Mud Crabs like Brett Doolan (see photo in report)landing a great haul just in time for Christmas. The big tides also help givingall the feeder creeks up the river a big flush, now the weather has settledit’s just a matter of hunting around until you find an area and depth of waterthat is productive. The Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, CoomeraRiver, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Cobby passage andLogan River will be prime areas to soak the pots. Sand Crabs have also beenaround in fairly good numbers, the flush also pushes them around the mainchannels in schools. Try targeting the edges of the drop offs of main channelsand sandbanks with weed edges as these areas will tend to hold Sand Crabs. Justlike Mud Crabs the Sandies will much rather fresh bait like fish frames andwhole Mullet. It’s worth keeping a good eye on your pots as some undesirablepeople can’t help themselves and will unfortunately check your pots. It’s worthtaking the rods and having a fish nearby.

Bread and butter species likeBream and Whiting have been actively feeding after the rain. Bream tend to lovea good flush out and are very tolerant of fresh water being able to happilyfeed in close to brackish water and have been around in good numbers and willpretty much have a crack at any bait thrown at them. Whiting have been pushedout of the rivers last week but should slowly be making their way back upriverthis week. Most yabbie banks have produced some quality Whiting in theBroadwater and around Jumpinpin.

Customers have reported a bit more Bull Shark activity this week inthe Coomera River, The Broadwater Main Channels, Logan River and Nerang Riversystems. Nice hot humid days after all the rain tends to stir the Sharks up asthey search for a feed of bait fish that have been flushed out from upstream.It does not matter whether you fish during the daytime or night-time fishoshave been getting plenty of hook ups. I recommend using a nylon coated wire tracebetween around 50 to 100lb that should sort out most of the average sizedSharks you are most likely to encounter. Rigged with a size 6 to 8 hook and asinker to get in onto the bottom. Fresh Water Eel, Mullet or Catfish make greatbaits, I also recommend using burley to increase your chances of finding yourtarget species.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports at present the Tweed River is still abit dangerous with the water being extremely muddy and all types of debrisfloating around including lots of trees and big logs floating around. When theconditions start to clean up, we are looking at some seriously good fishing forthe start of 2021. Huge rain events induce the spawning of bait and fish so theMangrove Jacks, Flathead, Bream, Whiting and Jew Fish will be biting theirheads off.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this is the flush out our creeks needed for excellentfishing over coming months. I headed out solo yesterday to have a look, andwhile the water is muddy in places there is still fish to be found on run intides. I caught about 20 Flathead, Whiting and Bream and 8 big Blue SwimmerCrabs. The water cleared quitequickly on the run in, then got dirty again quickly on the start of the runout. The fish then move to deeper, more saline water. Yabbies work very well indirty water, and if you are using lures try flashy, dark, and UV colours. Theking tides make way for neaps this week which allows the water to settle moretoo. For the holiday anglers I would stick to the downstreamareas.Yabbies on light lines and small hooks and sinkers are the go when fishingwith the kids. Always start fishing near where you pumped them as there will befish close to their food source. 6 lb monofilament line is all you need. EcogearZX40 & 43 blades, and Samaki Vibelicious soft vibes will work well jiggedin the deeper channels. Best areas will be the edges of the main channelbetween Sundale bridge and the tip of the Spit, the Western side of the mainchannel next to Carters bank, and the reef area in 5-7 metres depth betweenSouth Currigee and North Currigee. Smear some Smithy’s UV prawn Sax scent onyour lures regularly to enhance them in the dirty water. The Seaway pipe andNorth wall hole will fish well for mulloway. Concentrate your efforts aroundtide changes with live baits such as pike, mullet, and whiting.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports after the rough weather last week the black Marlin havestarted showing up in good numbers anywhere from 36 fathoms out to the 50fathoms trolling skirted lures or live baits also catching some good sizeDolphin fish as well. The current has been very strong and making it harder forthe bottom fishing, still try your luck around the fads for the dolphin fish.

December 18, 2020

Wild windy wet conditions for the Gold and Tweed Coast last weekend and early in the week put a hold on outdoor activities until conditions settled down. Massive swell, strong winds, high tides and rain runoff has stirred up the fishing conditions considerably for the next week or so. The good news is the run off will do wonders for the coming months and should get the Mud Crabs on the move just in time for Christmas. Let’s have a look at some options for the weekend.

After hundreds of mm of rain hasfallen on the Gold and Tweed coast knowing what to target and where will need abit of thought if you are keen to come up trumps. A good flush out of rain willusually get the Mud Crabs on the move and with Christmas around the corner Iwould recommend getting the pots in the water as soon as possible as thereshould be a great feed on offer. I would generally start looking more towardsthe river mouths around either the Tweed, Tallebudgera, Currumbin, Coomera,Pimpama and Logan Rivers as the crabs will tend to be pushed out of the feedercreeks and be looking for a bit more salty water. You will probably have tomove your pots around until you can find a bit more of a concentration ofMuddies to target, when setting the pots make sure you spread them out over a fewdifferent depths of water. Fresh bait is the key, I prefer to use fish frames Ikeep after a trip. Mullet Fillet or raw chicken will also work well. Irecommend changing the baits regularly for best results as crabs would preferfresh than smelly old rotten bait.

When looking for fish to target Iwould again start to look around the river mouths, deeper main channels andocean entrances for some tell tails signs. A tide line is where the fresh watermeets salt water and will make quite a distinct line of different colours ofwater. These areas are prime spots to target predators ambushing bait fish thathave been washed out of the rivers. Some of the common species you can expectto find in these areas will be Trevally, Jewfish, Tailor, Tarpon but you justnever know what might turn up. Live bait like herring, pike or mullet will workwell, I also really like using metal vibe lures around the half ounce weight asthey make a vibration that mimics a wounded bait fish are irresistible to mostspecies in the system.

Bream love a fresh water flushand will be chewing their heads off in most areas you would normally targetthem like jetties, bridges and rock walls. These are a great fish for kids totarget as we have a bunch of land-based areas to choose from around the coast.

Once the swell finally settles trollingfor a Black Marlin will be a great option as the strong winds have pushed in aheap of warm water closer to the coast, water temp jumped from 21.9 to 25.5degrees which is prime temp to hold pelagic species like Marlin, Wahoo andDolphin fish. The fads on 36,s will be worth a go the along with the 50 fathomline. Sullies and the Cottons off the Pin will fish well if holding bait andalso the local 24 fathom and 18 fathom grounds will produce there fair share offish during a season. Trolling small to mid-sized skirted lures such asPakula’s is a great way to cover ground and they work a treat accounting forplenty of hook ups during a season.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports we once again attacked the shallows and caught goodnumbers of Whiting and Bream with some monster sized fish hammering our surfacelures. The tides were also perfect this week as we started and finished ourtrips around tide changes which is the best times to deep water jig some Samakivibelicous vibes in the deep holes.Bouncingthe vibes along the bottom in the 10 to 12 metre line in the holes producedsome school sized Flatties the odd big Bream and some good sized Jewies. Thething I like the most about the Tweed apart from the lack of boat and jetskitraffic is that you can be fishing in one foot of water across the flats andthen move only 50 to 100 metres and be fishing in deep holes that are 10 to 14metres deep.I went back out for a couple of hours after finishing a tripand banged this quality Jewfish on a Samaki vibelicious vibe

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports I had a new Yamaha 90 hp 4 stroke motor fitted atStones Corner marine in Brisbane. I picked it up on Wednesday and was impressedby the highly professional and super helpful approach by James and the team.Completely stoked with the motor, they do not come better than Yamaha, and Ihighly recommend these premium motors and the dealership at Stones Corner. Last weekend I had Bruce and his son Mitch on board,and we had a great day and some memorable catches. Mitch caught and releasedhis first ever flathead, and first fish on a lure, a lovely 76cm girl on aDaiwa Bait junkie 3.2 inch lure. Bruce then caught the biggest whiting of the day,a beautiful 41cm model.

December 10, 2020

School Holidays are finally here,and it is a great time to get the kids out of the house and have some good old-fashionedfun and go fishing. We have plenty of fishing locations on the Gold and Tweed Coastsfor kids to try their luck either land based or out in a boat if you are luckyenough to own one. Some good spots to try are the Coomera Waters boat ramp or HighwayBridge, Grand Hotel Labrador, Broadwater Parklands, Southport Bridge, MarineStadium, Paradise Point, Hope Island, Nerang River Tweed River and Tallebudgeraor Currumbin Creek. A basic kiddies combo or light estuary outfit with arunning sinker rig will do the job on bread and butter species like Bream,Tarwhine, Whiting, Flathead and Trevally just to name a few. Yabbies make greatbait and are also fun for the kids to pump, they can be accessed on selectedbeaches on the Gold Coast on the run out tide, try fishing the same areas youcatch your bait in as the tide rises and fish will most likely be feeding inthese areas. Prawns, Worms and White Pilchards also make good bait.

With some wind on the way tryingyour luck up the rivers for a Whiting will be a great option, good numbers offish have been caught consistently over the past few months and as Summer kicksoff they should start biting well especially around the moon phases with largertides. The Nerang River is a great spot to try when it is blowing with maysandbanks and corners to get some respite from the wind. The best bait isBloodworms up the River followed by Beach Worms then Yabbies. Fishing gear ofchoice would normally comprise of a 7ft -11ftlight estuary rod rigged with either 6 -9lb mono, 6 lb fluro carbontrace and either a 4 – 5 ball sinker with a hook designed for the bait ofchoice, for worms a sized 6 short shank baitholder hook is best. You may haveto move a few times to find the schools of Whiting actively feeding, I wouldnormally try for about 30min, if the fish are quiet just move onto the nextspot until you get consistent hook-ups. Other spots that produce qualityWhiting are the Coomera River North and South Arms, Pimpama River, Logan River,Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek and the Tweed River.

Wayne Young and Brett Van Latham(see photo in report) had a good trip earlier in the week before the wind andswell kicked in scoring a great feed of good sized Snapper Float Lining on theinside of the 24 fathom reef off the Gold Coast. You can still catch a feed ofSnapper during the summer as long the current isn’t running to hard to get yourbait down in the shows of fish. Once the swell settles down it will be worth alook.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports it was great to getback on the water for the back end of this week after being off the water,after some serious skin cancer operations in hospital.Spending a lifetimeon the water fishing and surfing finally caught up with me so remember to besun smart especially coming into what has already been an extremely hot startto the oncoming summer season.My clients once again frothed this weekwith the rush of catching a heap of quality Whiting, a few Bream, and the oddFlattie on surface lures. This has been asensational top water season with the good news being the season goes rightthrough to April so don’t fret about missing out on getting an opportunity tocome out and try it. A few tips for anyone wanting to try it themselves is tolook for very shallow water and you need some wind blowing to break up thesurface tension of the water.Fish are very reluctant to rise when theconditions are glassy so what might seem great for us does not suit them.Although we have not done much deep water jigging, we still managed to producethe odd Flattie, Bream and Whiting on Samaki soft vibes.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports we are into December! That means thesummer fish are in full swing. Like Brad’s Tweed report, the big Whiting arefeeding hard, and we are getting 40cm+ horses just about daily, a lot of SchoolFlathead and Bream were about this week on the sand flats.A tip for theflats: Find the stingrays and you will find the big fish. Just be incrediblycareful not to stand on them while wading! A general rule of thumb do not standon anything dark. This week there are some small tides at night which are notmuch use generally, but the morning ones are still productive for the sandflats. The next heat wave will certainly suit Mangrove Jacks if you can be inthe right place at the right time. Any storms will get them fired up big time.Monster Whiting will best on middle of the run-in tides. Yabbies are the bestbait for them in the Broadwater. Blood worms are best for up the rivers.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports fishing a few Black Marlin have beenturning up in 35m to 90metres of water, try trolling skirted lures. On the 50fathoms has been hit and miss with Dolly’s Kingys ,Ajs and Samson fish beingcaught, the current has been up and down the last week so it changesconstantly. Out on the 36s there has been Dolphin Fish, Snapper, Trag Jew,Pearlies, Tuskies and Moses Perch. 24s has produced Jewfish, Trag Jew,Snapper, Flathead and Tuskies.

December 4,2020

With another great weatherforecast on the cards last Saturday I headed back out offshore with my mate WayneYoung to try our luck. This time we decided to head out winder and have a lookfor a feed on the 36-fathom line, plenty of other boats had a similar idea withthe fads seeing lots of anglers trying their luck for a Dolphin fish. We werebottom fishing looking for a feed of reef fish, the current was up makingconditions a bit challenging at times, we had plenty of good shows of fish onthe sounder but getting your bait down in front of them was difficult. Acombination of a large sinker and just ticking the boat over in reverse did thetrick and we ended up landing a few small Snapper and Bonito. We persisted fora while with good shows on offer until I got lucky getting hit on the way down,my line screamed off and after a good 15 min fight on 30lb thread line set up Iwas extremely happy to see a 112cm, 18kg Samson Fish hit the deck (see photo inreport) making all the effort very worthwhile. We also had a drop the 24-fathomline on the way home and managed some nice size Trag Jew, Snapper, Tailor andgot busted up by a couple of monsters. Float lining WA Pilchards, Squid andbutterflied Yakka’s did the trick rigged on 3 x gang of 5/0 7766 Mustad TarponHooks ganged with swivels between the hooks with 20 and 30lb trace.

Trolling Skirted Lures or Livebaits this time of year anywhere from the Seaway to the 50 fathom line off theTweed or Gold Coast is worth a go as we have had reports of good numbers ofjuvenile Black Marlin being landed from the Sunshine Coast down to MoretonIsland the past week as they migrate south. Bait is the biggest indicator thatpredators will be close by feeding, just keep an eye on the sounder as well asin the sky for birds feeding on bait balls and scraps pushed to thesurface. Other pelagic species will beon offer as the water temp increases up like Dolphin Fish, Wahoo,Tuna andMackerel.

Local Fishos Have reported a fewMangrove Jack being landed from the Nerang and Coomera Rivers. The CoomeraRiver is holding good schools of Herring and Mullet at the moment which is goodnews for anglers chasing Jacks, Trevally and Cod. The Nerang River has also been fishing wellaround the bridges from Sundale all the way down river. Try targeting jetties,pontoons, bridges and rock walls, these types of structures will be the bestplaces to encounter a Jack or other species. Casting hard body lures or Zman 3’or 4’ minnows are a popular choice, 30lb trace will be a good starting point toavoid getting busted off although you may have to upgrade to 40lb+ around heavystructure as you just never know what sized fish you may encounter. My preferredmethod is bait fishing, this can be very successful using Live or well-presented dead baits. Herring, Mullet,Silver Biddies and Pike will work, if you can’t access live bait mullet filet alsoworks a treat.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports we havehad some reasonable weather this week and we’ll take it while it lasts! Nextweek looks likely to be extremely hot. My wading charters have been extremelypopular lately. It’s always nice to stand knee deep in cool and clear watercatching a feed of delicious fish, no matter how hot it is outside. This weekwe once again bagged some big Whiting as well as Bream, Flathead, Flounder, andTarwhine. All the sand banks from Labrador to Crab island produced the goods.It was just a matter of fishing on top of the banks at rising and high tide,and off the edges on the last half of the run out. Full moon usually means goodwhiting fishing at night. However, the evening tides do not have muchcoefficient to them. The best fishing times I feel are going to be during themid-morning run out tides. This time of year, the stingrays will feed hard onthe yabby banks and the big Whiting will follow them hoping to get an easy mealafter the rays dig the sand up. There will also be some huge 80cm+ Flathead inthe shallows preying on the big whiting.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports fishing on the 50 fathom line has beenhit and miss withDolly’s, Kingys ,Ajs and Samson fish, the current hasbeen up and down the last week so it is making a bit difficult at times. On the36s there has been Dolphin Fish Snapper, Trag Jew, Pearlies, Tuskies and MosesPerch on the chew again.

November 27,2020

I was lucky enough to get aninvite from Wayne Young last Saturday to head offshore, with an awesomeforecast on the way I was looking forward to an early start. With the sunrising earlier every day we hit the water at 4am and headed out through theGold Coast Seaway to get the dawn bite. We fished around the 24 and 18 fathomreefs, there was plenty of bait around most areas we looked at, the early bitewas a bit slow with plenty of small Snapper, Pearl Perch and Trevally on thebite. We then changed tactics and tried to look for an area with less bait offthe main reef and found some better quality fish sitting on more isolatedstructure and straight away we scored some nice Maori Cod and better sized Squire.My daughter Bec ended up with the fish of the trip hooking onto a qualitySnapper making getting up early a bit more fun. We ended up getting busted upand dropping a couple of nice ones but that is all part of fishing giving youincentive to get out there again to try your luck. We used a mixture of WAPilchards, Large Squid, Fresh Trevally Flesh and butterflied Slimy Mackerel forbait coupled with a solid burley trail ended up doing the trick nicely. Floatlining is the best method to present your baits, my rig of choice is 3 x gangof 5/0 7766 Mustad Tarpon Hooks ganged with swivels between the hooks and asmall ball sinker, just adjust your sinker weight to suit the current strengthon the day and hopefully you will come up trumps with some nice fish.

Local Fishos reported some goodnumbers of Flathead in and around the Gold Coast Seaway entrance, a singlelarge breeding female fish can attract big numbers of smaller male fish aroundthat good eating size of 45 to 55cm. If you manage to catch and release a bigFlathead keep working that area as there is a good chance of larger numbers ofhungry Flathead lying in wait nearby. I like to mix up methods when targetingFlathead in deeper water, half ounce Blades or soft plastics around 4 incheslong are the perfect allrounder to use. Jumpinpin Bar area will also be worth ago, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Pandanus Island and the Bedrooms should all beholding fish.

Jumpinpin is producing goodnumbers of quality Whiting at the moment with Fishos scoring some great feedsof these tasty fish. Yabbies have been the best bait for fishing the sandbanksand flats around Pandanus Island, Northern Bedrooms, Green Bank and TipplersIsland. Closer to Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point and The Logan RiverBloodworms will make a much better bait and will usually attract the largerelbow slappers to bite.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters Reports once again, we battled through some very hot andextremely windy days but the fishing was fantastic.The good thing about abig natural river like the Tweed is that it offers a lot of variety, and placesthat provide good fishing and shelter from the prevailing winddirections. The surface fishing with bassday sugerpen and mmd splashprawns was dynamic and as a guide it is so rewarding to watch my clientsexcitement as they watch the Whiting , Bream and Flathead rise from the bottomto take the surface lures.I know that Iwrite about the surface fishing every week, but it is the in thing all throughour summer months. My friend and regular client Robbo who came surface fishingwith me last week booked again and asked if we could go further up the riverand deep-water jig for the day and that also produced some goodresults.We sounded the holes looking for some bait and fish marking onthe sounder which were hard to find but once we found a drop the action wasgreat. Jigging ZX40 and Samaki vibelicous vibes through the bait in around the10-metre line through the holes produced a bunch of school sized Flatties,Giant Trevally and nice Jew Fish.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports some nice variety caught on my charters this week withMangrove Jacks, Estuary Cod, monster Whiting, Flathead and more . It was great to see some big Jacks again since theoff season, there is nothing quite like them for an adrenalin thrill in estuaryfishing I reckon. The Estuary Cod that Lex caught and released on Tuesday nightput up a hell of a fight too, it weighed 7 kg. The rest of the week we chasedand found some big Sand Whiting and there were plenty of Flathead mixed in withthem as well as Flounder and Bream. We have some good tides over the comingdays for the monster Whiting, and with some wind they will be on the chew.Forget the almanac, if fish are hungry, they will eat, simple as that. The best areas to fish have been the banks near theBroadwater caravan park and Wavebreak island, especially during the middle twohours of tidal flow. Yabbies are the best bait and MMD splash prawns the bestlures, especially in honeybee, and banana bender colours on calm, clear daysand Sunburnt jelly in cloudier and/ or windier conditions.

On the 50 fathoms there has been real big Dolphin fish, Kingys, Ajs and Samson fish, the current has been up the last week that changes a few things. On the 36s there has been Dolphin Fish, Snapper Trag Jew, Pearlies, Tuskies and Moses Perch.

November 20,2020

Locals have reported some great fishing in the Gold Coast Seawaythe past week with some good catches of Jew Fish and Mangrove Jack being landedby lucky anglers willing to put in the time and effort. Live baits like Yakkas,Pike and Herring have been working well fished around the North Wall andPipeline area. As the tide flows very quickly, timing is key to success withthe best time to try your luck being an hour before and an hour after a tidechange. A bit heavier outfit is recommended around 20 to 30 lb braid and 30 to40lb leader is a good starting point, it you get busted off just upsize theleader a bit. If things are a bit quiet just have a drift around until you comeacross bait or fish to target. You also have a good change of some nice bycatch like Snapper, Cod, Trevally, Flathead, Tailor and Sweetlips which are allgreat fun to land.

With the wind and swell tipped to ease this weekend headingoffshore is a good option with a few different species to target as the watertemp warms up. The closer 18 to 24 fathom reefs will still be holding bigSnapper, Jewfish, Moses Perch, Tusk Fish, the odd Cobia and Trag Jew if you arekeen to chase a feed of reef fish. You may also come across a few Mackerel thistime of year, so it is always worth keeping some wire in the tackle box andsome metal slugs onboard just in case. Further out the 36 fathoms have beenproducing some nice Dolphin fish around the fads lately, I recommend having afew options to throw at them such as live baits, WA Pilchards, Soft Plastics,Stick Baits and Surface Poppers will hopefully get the job done. Trolling lureswill also be worth a go around the 36 or 50 fathoms reefs with some greatDolphin Fish around at the moment, again if you can find the warmer water youmay also be in with a chance of an early season Black Marlin or Wahoo. Whentrolling keep an eye on the sounder for temperature breaks which can be a signthat bait and fish may be in the area. Also I recommend to keep an eye on thesky for bird activity and also the water for any splashes or surface actionthat may mean fish feeding on bait.

There has been plenty of nice Whiting, Bream and a few goodFlathead on offer around Jumpinpin and the Broadwater for anglers both landbased and out in the boat. Try the Nerang River, Marine Stadium, Broadwaterforeshore from Charis Seafoods north to Howard Street, Crab Island, PimpamaRiver, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Pandanus Island, Cabbage Tree Pointand the Logan River. Live yabbies are great bait and will work well on all theabove species, for Whiting and Bream worms are also fantastic bait. Bream andFlathead will also bite on White Pilchards, Prawns and Mullet Fillet.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters Reports onthe water this week was once again it’s all about fishing the flats and having fun with somegood quality Whiting, a few Bream and the odd Flattie rising up from the bottomto smash the mmd splash prawns and bassday suga pen surface poppers. It wasalso exciting to find a new ridge line in the middle of the river that I havemotored over all my life which I experimented with at the bottom of the tideand did not get a lot of fish but my client Robbo got some serious qualitywhiting on surface lures. To round up the week one of the deep holes had somegood bait schools holding and deep-water jigging with the samaki vibelicousvibes produced a couple of Jewies.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week It’sbeen great to get my customers onto some good bags of Whiting and some big onesonce again this week. Although the tides haven’t been ideal with big drainingones during the day, we have worked hard to find where the fish are holding.Using ultra-light tackle with Atomic Arrowz 1-5 lb rods, and Shimano Sienna1000 reels spooled with 3 lb line is so much fun while wading the sand banks inshallow water. Often ankle to knee deep water is where the big Whiting, SchoolFlathead and Bream are. I always look for where the stingrays are feeding, andthe fish are usually nearby. The rays are a friendly bunch however care isneeded to not stand on one. Always approach them from front so they can see youand slowly move off. Yabbies are the best bait around the banks, while MMDsplash prawns and Pro Lure ST72 lures are great for surface luring andcranking.

I had a look around Crab island to try the vibesbut the Northerly wind had blown in the dreaded snot weed again. It’s best toconcentrate fishing at the Southern Broadwater and the edges of banks at themoment.

Gavin from SeaProbe Fishing Charters reports 50 fathoms isstill fishing well with some good size Amber Jack and Yellow Tail Kingfishhitting live baits. Try fishing the 36 fathoms line for a feed of Snapper, TragJew, Tusk fish and some top quality Dolphin have been holding up on the fads.The 18 and 24 fathoms reefs are producing a few nice Jewfish, Snapper and mixedreefies.

November 13,2020

As the weather heats up targeting Bull Sharks throughout ourRivers, Canals and main systems will be at the top of many Fishos list ofthings to do. Sharks are prolific through out the Gold and Tweed Coasts andwill just about show up anywhere. You don’t need a heavy tackle outfit totarget the average Bull Shark, I recommend a medium sized estuary outfit rodbetween 6 to 7ft and 15 to 20lb pound mono will just about take care of themajority of sharks you will encounter. Wire trace is essential as they haverazor sharp teeth, I usually run a mixture of 50lb to 100lb trace, a single 8/0hook on a running sinker rig. Most tackle stores will sell pre maid shark rigsif you are not sure how to make them up, nylon coated wire trace is a must haveas Sharks have multiple sensors in their nose as will pick up electricalcurrent from plain wire which will limit the amount of bites you get. Myfavourite bait is Fresh water Eel by far the standout then followed by PikeEel, you only need a small section of Eel usually about 5 to 8 cm long is heaps.Eel is a durable and hardy bait that can withstand being attacked by Mud Crabsand Bream unlike Mullet Fillet etc which will not last long. Hook exposure whenusing Eel is important and will help to increase hook up rate. Live baits arealso a great option, Mullet, Whiting or Bream will all work, just make sureyour baits are legal size. Some good spots to start to look either by boat orland based are the Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Nerang River, BroadbeachCanals, Coomera River, Pimpama River, The Never Fails Islands, Jacobs Well andthe Logan River. Just be careful when you are de hooking or handling theseSharks as even the smallest pups have a very mean set of teeth.

Good numbers of quality Whiting have again been landed this weekaround the Gold Coast, the Nerang River has produced some quality feeds forlucky anglers on bloodworms and yabbies as bait. Most of the sandbanks aroundJumpinpin and the Broadwater which hold good numbers of yabbies are also holdingschools of Whiting feeding during different stages of the tide. As the sayinggoes no run no fun for Whiting so as long as the water is flowing just keepmoving around until you can locate fish to target. Other favourite spots areCoomera River, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well Shoals, Bedrooms and the Logan River.Fishing at night this time of year is recommended with the bigger fish tendingto feed after dark. Fishing light is the key, a long 6lb fluorocarbon leader,sized 6 bait keeper hook, 4 ball sinker is a pretty standard rig for worms justupsize your hook a bit of you are using yabbies for bait.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters Reports we worked hard again this week with most days prettywindy and the water was a bit grainy as a result of the wind andrain.Nevertheless we still produced some fun fishing and some nicequality fish. The surface action was fun with the MMD splash prawns in thecooked prawn colour working well and producing a lot of Whiting, some Bream,and the odd Flathead.Flathead are dramatic when they rise from the bottomas they leave a swirl of sand and mud on the bottom and a hole on the surfaceof the water as their bucket mouths scoff down the lure.As always we mixup the techniques and caught some Flathead, Bream, Whiting and a few small GT’sjigging Samaki vibes and trolling hard bodied minnows.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week similar toSmithy’s report we had a fair amount of strong wind at the Gold CoastBroadwater. It did help the fishing though, with the sandbanks producing manysolid Whiting close to 40cm, and nice Bream, Blue Swimmer Crabs and Flathead.Thewind creates surface chop which gives the fish confidence in the shallow water,even on sunny days. The peak bite session occurred in the four day lead up tofull moon and two days after, with mornings best. The slowest time around thebanks was at high tide. Using light fluorocarbon is essential to fool thebigger ones during the day.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports 50 fathoms is still fishing well with some good size AmberJack and Yellow Tail Kingfish hitting live baits. Try fishing the 36 fathomsline for a feed of Snapper, Trag Jew, Tusk fish and some top quality Dolphinhave been holding up on the fads. The 18 and 24 fathoms reefs are producing afew nice Jewfish, Snapper and mixed reefies.

November 6,2020

Customers have reported that some quality Mangrove Jack are beingcaught as the weather heats up, they really like those humid stormy conditions whichtend to switch on their feeding patterns making them aggressive. We are blessedon the Gold and Tweed Coasts to have a great variety of spots to targetMangrove Jack from on the water or from the shore. The Tweed River, CurrumbinCreek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River and the Canal systems south toBroadbeach, Runaway Bay, Paradise Point, Coomera River and Logan River allbeing prime locations. After the rain, the River and Canals have good numbersof bait schools of Herring and Mullet moving around, this is great news as thepredators will be on the hunt in these areas. Lure fisho’s have also been doingwell tempting some top-quality fish on a mixture of 3” to 4” minnow style softplastics and hard body lures, just keep putting in the casts. Bycatch is commonwhen targeting Jacks, Cod, Trevally and even the illusive Gold Coast Barramundi(keep in mind its closed season to target Barra) are awesome fun if the Jacksare slow. Just mix your methods and try either daytime or night time sessionsand I’m sure you will come up trumps if you put in the hours.

Sand Crabs have been around in good numbers around the SouthernBroadwater and Jumpinpin. Target a few depths of water until you find betternumbers of Crabs. Fresh fish frames work well and whole Mullet are also greatbait.

If you are keen to get offshore just keep an eye on the forecast,at the time of writing my report Saturday was looking ok depending on the swellwhich is a bit big and unpredictable this week. The close reefs have beenfishing well with some great catches of Jewfish being landed, Arman had a goodtrip with local fisho Ben White (see photo in report) coming up trumps with apair of Jewies for a feed. Some good Snapper are on offer at the moment with afew nice fish also showing up amongst the Jew Fish. Live Yakkas and Pike makeprime baits, also try butterflied Yakkas, WA Pilchards, Squid and Mullet Filletaround the 18 fathom line.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters Reports it has been a wild week of weather some wildthunderstorms and some much-needed rain.The surface fishing action wasonce again dynamic with the Whiting, Bream and odd, good Flathead keen to riseoff the bottom to inhale the mmd splash prawns.When the water is a bitdiscoloured as it is at present after the rain, I like to use a darker colouredsurface lure like the cooked prawn colour for example.Apart from thesurface fishing we have done some trolling with slam lures and a bit of driftjigging with the Samaki vibelicous lures for once again some Flatties, Breamand Whiting.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week mornings have been niceweather for fishing with storms developing during the afternoons so far as theweather heats up, it would be great if this trend continues over the spring andsummer months. I have been fishing the shallows once again, you have towork the tides right to get the fish and crabs but there is some qualityaround. They have been feeding on the lead up to full moon on Sunday.Thewater temp at Capri today was 26.6 which will see Jacks and Whiting in anaggressive mood. There has also been big Bream, School Flathead, solid Luderickand Tarwhine biting around Wavebreak Island.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports 50 fathoms have been producing some good size Kingfish and Ajson the jigs and live baits and still few Snapper and reef fish being caughtalso. The 36 fathom reefs still producing Trag, Snapper, Tusk Fish ,Cod also DolphinFish around the fads. On the 24’s some good size Jewfish were caught along withTrag, Reef Flathead and Tailor.

October 30, 2020

The Gold Coast Seaway has been fishing well the past couple ofweeks with good numbers of school sized Jewfish showing up for lucky localanglers putting in the hard yards. Live bait has been the best method to temp aSilver Slab to bite, live Yakkas, Pike, Garfish and Herring all make great Jewbaits. The Seaway can be a hard place to fish at times with strong currentsripping through the entrance, try to time you trip to coincide with a tidechange. Usually the best time to fish will be an hour before and an hour afterthe tide change which will also be a great bite time for predators. Trydrifting around the North Wall and the pipeline until you can locate fish totarget on the sounder. You will always have a chance at catching other morecommon species as bycatch such as Flathead, Trevally, Tailor and Bream.

Offshore fishing maybe worth alook from Sunday onwards after the swell and wind ease, just make sure you havethe latest weather forecast before deciding on heading out in open water. Theclose reefs will be worth a go, Snapper along with a feed of Moses, PearlPerch, Tuskfish, Trag Jew, Cobia and Jew Fish should be on offer. As the waterwarms up, we should start to see Spotted, School and Spanish Mackerel making anappearance on the Gold Coast. If you are fishing at anchor just remember tokeep a burley trail going to increase your chances of catching a feed.

The Rivers will be getting a bitof a flush out this week, Bream love the fresh water and will be around in goodnumbers chasing the bait fish and prawns being flushed out. You should alsocome across a few nice Trevally in the same areas. The Nerang River, Coomera,Pimpama, Logan, Tallebudgera and Tweed River will all be worth a look for a feed.The River mouths should also see some good schools of Whiting on the move afterthe rain.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters Reports once again it has been a cracker of a week on theTweed river.The surface fishing was on fire with the Whitingqueuing up to smash our lures with most days averaging over 20 fish a day. Wealso caught some Bream and a couple of Flathead on surface as well.Flathead are classic to watch as they rise from the bottom and use their bigbucket mouths to inhale the surface lure. We also mixed it up a bit and didsome trolling and deep-water jigging for some Flatties, Bream and Whiting andalso managed to get a nice Jewfish so overall a great week of fishing.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week I went for a short familyholiday Tallebudgera Creek holiday park from Monday until Thursday. It is alovely spot and the father in law Harry and I caught heaps of big Whiting,Bream and Flathead. Last Saturday on a Broadwater charter we caught some goodsize sand whiting up to 42cm. Whiting have really increased in numbers and sizerecently and have been widespread along the Western channels from Biggerawaters to Bundall council chambers. They are feeding hard on yabbies andbloodworms. We have caught 6 whiting over 40cm in the past week. Today Idid a charter with regular guests Terry, Mark, and Jonathan and it was such afun day and great weather. We caught over 40 Whiting, Bream and Long Toms on 2and 4 lb line while wading the Southern Broadwater yabby banks.

October 23,2020

Hi Everyone, hope you have all had a good week, some greatconditions mid-week for getting out for a fish on the Gold and Tweed Coats waswell received by local fishos. It looks like we will see some storms and muchneeded rain over the coming weekend and week, this will be great for fishing inthe coming weeks as the weather heats up. let’s check out what’s been on the bite.

As the weather heats up Mangrove Jack have been more active on theGold and Tweed Coast, with a few storms forecast to roll in over the weekendthis is a great time to target these hard fighting estuary thugs as theatmospheric pressure changes just before the storm hits. Customers havereported a few Jacks showing up in the Coomera River from the Weir downstreamto Coomera Waters in the North Arm and the South Arm to Paradise Point aroundSovereign Islands. These areas willstart to fish better when the bait fish get flushed out when we receive morerain as we head towards summer months. Structure is essential and these areasoffer multiple options to fish such as rock walls, bridge pylons, natural rockbars, and pontoons with or without moored boats. Spots like these are all primetarget areas as they will hold bait fish trying to shelter from predators inthe main river. Throwing soft plastics is a popular method, popular plasticsare Zman Minnowz in the 3 or 4 inch range matched with heavy duty TT Headlockzjig heads. I still enjoy bait fishing and it is my go to option if things arequiet on lures, live Herring, Mullet, Silver Biddies and Winter Whiting aregreat bait. If you have trouble catching live bait Mullet Fillet will also workwell. The Nerang River, Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek and Logan River alloffer great structure to target Jacks, Cod and Trevally.

Good catches of Big Snapper and qualityJewfish again this week has been the norm on the shallow reefs with localangler Ben White (see photo in report) coming up trumps with an impressive 89cmSnapper he landed from the close reefs off the Seaway. He also found a coupleof great sized Jewfish later in the week. With storms on the forecast and thewind set in increase just make sure you have the latest forecast at hand beforedeciding to try your luck offshore.

In the Broadwater and aroundJumpinpin try your luck for a mixed bag of Whiting, Flathead and Bream withsome great catches coming in last weekend during the week. Yabbies have been byfar the best bait for all three species and worms are always a favourite forthe big Whiting. A few spots to try are the Nerang River, Marine Stadium, WaveBreak Island, Crab Island, Tipplers Passage, Jacobs Well Shoals, Bedrooms,Tiger Mullet Channel, Canaipa Passage and the Logan River worth a go to try andscore a mixed feed.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters Reports this week was once again highlighted by some excellenttop water action with the surface lures producing a lot of fish. Double hookups on Whiting and Bream were a common occurrence using a combination ofbassday sugerpen and mmd splash prawn lures.The exciting news isthe topwater action is here to stay for months now through to April and issomething that all anglers should get a chance to experience.To mix it upand show my clients some variety we have done some shallow and deep water driftswith zx 40s and samiki vibelicous vibes and caught some Flatties, Bream,Whiting and Trevally.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week at the Broadwater the highlight was some excellentfishing for Sand Whiting and Bream. The yabby banks were the place to be withthe bigger new moon tides, and we caught up to 30 Sand Whiting asessionwith the biggest measuring 44cm during the day. On 3 lb line theyare awesome fun, as are the healthy Bream that feed in the same areas.My tip is finding where the stingrays are feeding andyou’ll find the fish. It’s hard to beat live yabbies locally as bait, butsurface lures such as MMD splashprawn in honey bee colour will work well earlyin the morning before the water traffic increases. The snot weed is clearingagain, but Northerly winds this weekend could bring it back. There’s no doubtour local rivers need a rejuvenating flush of flooding rain, and it will happenfairly soon.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports out on the shelf there are Blue marlin,Yellow Fin Tuna and some Big Mahi Mahi, try using up to 15-inch skirted lures.Back in closer to the 50s Amberjack, Kingfish, Snapper and Pearlys are stillbiting. Just be mindful the current is running hard up to 2.5 knots at times.On the 36 fathoms Dolly’s around the fads and still Trag, Snapper, Tusk Fishand Pearlys.

October 16,2020

Reports of some nice Snapper and Jewfish coming from theclose reefs off the Seaway was good news, local anglers Ben and Paul reportedthey had a great trip at the start of the week landing trophy sized Snapper upto 88cm. Jew Fish will school up so if you find one you have a good change oflanding multiple fish if they are is feeding mode. Float lining is my preferred method ofpresenting baits and will often produce a bite on the drop which an excitingway to fish. Soft plastics have also come up trumps with Paul’s larger Snapperfalling victim so a well worked plastic it found irresistible. Saturday lookslike the best day to head offshore at the time of writing my report withlighter winds and a decrease in swell looking inviting for anglers to get outand have a crack.

Whiting have been around in fairly good numbers and sizethroughout the Gold and Tweed Coasts rivers, estuaries and waterways as wetransition into warmer spring weather. October has seen some good schools offish moving around for anglers to target a tasty feed. Land based fishos havesome great options on the Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek,Gold Coast Broadwater esplanades, Nerang River, Jacobs Well and Logan River allbeing great spots to catch a Whiting from the shore. Worms or Yabbies are the 2best baits, run in or run out tide should not matter too much if the fish arearound, they will just be feeding in different depths of water. The mostimportant thing is tidal flow, if the run is too slow the fish will not be bitingwell, just the right flow and they will usually go into feeding mode. The surfbeaches swell permitting are a great option to target some top quality cleansurf Whiting, target beach gutters just like Tailor fishing are you should bein targeting the right area to catch a feed of Whiting, Beach Worms will be thebest bait in the surf. Fishing light is the key, try using mono as the mainline 6 -9lb is heaps, 6-8lb trace and make your trace as long as possible forbest results.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters Reports it has been a great week on the Tweed asI have mentioned in recent reports that the surface fishing season would takeoff with the water warming up and yes it has.Fishing with mmd splashprawns around the shallows in the lower reaches of the Tweed River has producedsome great quality Whiting, a few Bream and the odd Flathead. Double hook upson surface has been common and to see and try this technique is fantastic andhas both this old guide and my clients frothing.I could not help but ripa lure out myself for one cast and banged a 41cm Whiting yee ha. To mix it upwe have done some drifts with with Ecogear zx 40s and Samaki soft vibes andhave caught some Bream, Flatties, Whiting and GT’s.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the snot weed returned after a day of Northerly wind and is now starting to clear again. It is a natural occurrence every year at this time and will be gone in the next few weeks. It’s best to find areas clear of snot weed and we have been catching Flounder, Squid, Tarwhine, Bream, Flathead in recent days in the Gold Coast Broadwater. There are Flathead and Trevally in Nerang river, as well as Sand Whiting at night at the council chambers. This summer I will be spending time surface luring for Whiting at the Gold Coast Broadwater. It is great fun to see them charging at the lure then hooking up. Weekdays and early mornings are the key to success here. The water is super clear on the run-in tides until we get big rain. Look for any areas of slightly discoloured water to find the bait and fish.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports out on the shelf there is Blue Marlin, Yellow Fin Tuna and some Big Mahi Mahi. Back in closer to the 50s Amberjack, Kingfish and Snapper are still biting but just be mindful the current is running hard up to 2.5 knots at times making conditions difficult. On the 36 fathoms Dolly’s around the fads and still some Trag, Snapper, Tusk Fish and Pearl Perch.

October 9, 2020

Over the long weekend and earlyin the week was the best time to head offshore before the big swell moved inmaking Bar Crossing conditions hazardous on the Tweed and Gold Coast. Localangler Ben White (see photo in report) reports good catches of Snapper up to75cm and a nice feed of Trag Jew float ling on the close reefs off theSouthport Seaway. You should also find a bit of a mixed bag of Tusk Fish, MaoriCod, Moses Perch and a few big Jew Fish kicking around. Looking the forecast atthe time of writing my report the swell is tipped to ease off by Sunday and thestart of next week is looking good for heading offshore to try your luck atlanding a feed of reef fish.

It was great to see plenty ofteams try their luck over the Long weekend competing in the Gold Coast SportsFishing Clubs Ultimate Flatty Dash, this catch and release comp saw somemonster Flathead up to 92cm landed on the Gold Coast. Jumpinpin fished well forthe big girls in the deeper water around the Jumpinpin Bar entrance producingsome good numbers of big fish. Big Soft Plastics rigged on heavy jig headsworked well and also large Soft Vibe lures produced the goods for luckyanglers. Targeting Flathead over the next couple months is a great option asthis species will be schooling in large numbers during breeding season, if youcan locate a big female fish there will usually be good numbers of male fisharound the 45 to 55cm mark hanging around the larger fish. Just keep on workingthe general area and persistence should pay off. Keep in mind if you arehandling these big fish for a photo when releasing it’s a good idea to alwayssupport their body weight and never hang them by the head on lip grips as thiscan hurt the fish. Some other good spots to try are Kalinga Bank, CrusoeIsland, Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel, Canaipa Passage, Tipplers Passage, CrabIsland and the Gold Coast Seaway. Big fish will also eat small lures or vibeswhich are much easier to cast and work for longer sessions, usually a lurearound the 3 to 4 inch sized rigged on either a 1/4 ounce or 3/8 jig head isthe perfect all-rounder.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters Reports I have been moving around a bit this week and doing somecharters on the Gold Coast Broadwater as well as the Tweed River. On theBroadwater we have been mainly jigging some Samaki vibelicous lures around withthe result being a mixed bag of Flathead, Bream, Tarwhine, Whiting, Squid,Tuskfish and the odd small Snapper. Fishing the middle reaches of the tweedriver combining some trolling and jigging produced a lot of Bream with somegood-sized ones in the mix.We also caught some Flatties, Whiting and someBig Eye and Giant Trevally.Remember that the border bubble has beenexpanded which is great news for all Queenslanders wanting to fish thepicturesque Tweed River.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports Samaki Vibelicious 70mm soft vibes have been thestandout lures this week, accounting for Flathead, Jew Fish, Giant Trevally, Tuskfish,Squid, Flounder, Tarwhine and more. In the clearer water during the springtides the best colours are ghost bait, whitebait, midori mullet, lime crush,and chartreuse uv head. The best way to fish them is by drifting at 0.6-1 knotspeed, and tea bagging on the bottom with a very slight pause. Smear on someSax scent every 15 minutes. We did a few charters at night getting some Sand Whitingat the council chambers bank on yabbies and beach worms. Yabbies are alsocatching Tuskfish, Flathead, Winter Whiting and Tarwhine along the Western sideof Crab island. Flathead are schooling up at Currigee in 5-7 metre depth andresponding well to Samaki vibes.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports out on theshelf there is still Yellowfin Tuna and Blue Marlin being caught on 8 to 12inch lures In 1500metres of water north east of the Seaway. On the 50 fathoms Snapper,Pearl Perch, Pig Fish and Tusk Fish have been biting on the bottom droppers.Fishing the 36 fathoms line has produced Dolphin fish, Trag and Snapper havebeen on the chew also with some nice Big Cod showing up.

October 4, 2020

For those that ventured out offshore were rewarded with somegreat catches of Snapper and Trag Jew from the 36-fathom line producing a nicefeed. The current has picked up a bit, but it is still quite fishable as longas you use the correct size sinker to suit the conditions. Customers also pickedup a few Pearl Perch, Tusk Fish and Cobia. This weekend is looking ok onSaturday being the pick of the days so far at the time of writing my report.The swell will increase a bit on Sunday, just remember to have the latestforecast before deciding to go offshore and also be aware of bar conditions ifyou are a bit inexperienced as the extra swell will cause issues especially onthe run out tide. Float lining is my preferred method to fish as it presents amore natural looking bait, you control the sink rate and can be ready to strikewhen a predator picks up your bait. My float lining rig consists of 3 gang of5/0 Mustad 7766 hooks with swivels between each hook and a ball sinker runstraight through to the hooks. I usually use 20lb leader and will go up to 40lbdepending on my bait choice or target species. The 24 and 18 fathom reefs willalso be worth a go with some good Snapper and Cobia showing up along with amixed bag including Tusk Fish and Moses. Best baits are Mullet Fillet, BonitoFillet, Yakka’s, WA Pilchards and large Squid.

It’s good to see customers having fun this week making themost of School Holidays catching some nice Flathead, Bream and Whiting aroundJumpinpin, Logan River, the Broadwater and Tweed River. Yabbies, WhitePilchards, Worms and Prawns have been the best baits producing some goodquality fish. Some spots to try your luck over the Queen’s Birthday LongWeekend are Canaipa Passage, Cobby Passage, Short Island Huts, Slipping Sands,Crusoe Island, Gold Bank, Eden Island, Kalinga Bank, Tiger Mullet Channel, LoganRiver, Coomera River either North and South Arms, Paradise Point, Crab IslandWave Break Island and the Nerang River. Land based try Paradise Point,Esplanade at Runaway Bay, Coomera River, Grand Hotel Jetty, Sundale Bridge,Marine Stadium, Nerang River and Jacobs Well.

As the water temp increases, we will start to see moreMangrove Jack, Cod and Trevally showing up giving anglers plenty of fishingoptions to target on the Tweed and Gold Coast. These fish are the thugs of theestuary and are great sport fish to target amongst structure which will testeven the best of anglers. Mangrove Jack and Cod once hooked will tend to headstraight back to their snag or hiding spot, you always have to be ready to putthe brakes on these hard fighting species.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports i was luckyto fish with AFL legend Luke Hodge and his son Cooper. Luke won four AFLpremierships with Hawthorn and was club captain. What a champion and toughcompetitor! I asked him what it’s like to win one flag let alone four. He saidincredible but it all goes so fast. We caught some Tuskfish, Flathead and Whitingaround Crab island. On other days this week we fished similar areas while thetide was running and caught up to 100 fish per day on Ecogear blades, Pro Lureblades, Samaki soft vibes, yabbies and beach worms. We did a couple of nightstoo in the Nerang river catching some nice Sand Whiting on worms and yabbies.This coming week is leading up to full moon on Friday, which will fire up thepelagics. The day time tides are a good size to target the Broadwater Channelstoo. Remember to use 6-10 lb fluorocarbon leader to get more bites. The riversnow need a big flush of rain to rejuvenate them and are best fished at nightuntil then.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports plenty of Snapperon the 50 fathom line along with Kingys and Amberjack mixed in amongst them alltaken on Mullet, Pillies, Squid and live bait . 36 fathoms is still producing Tuskies,Pearlys, Trag and the odd Dolphin Fish still around the fads.

September 25,2020

Weather permitting, we have seen some great catches coming formthe offshore grounds this week. Local Fisho Wayne Young (see photo in report)did well landing new PB horse of Cobie going 140cm fishing on the 24 fathomsgrounds off the Gold Coast Seaway. He did a great job landing this big Cobiausing 20lb tackle, it put up a great fight that went for 45min until he finallywore it out. Wayne said fresh Bonito Fillet did the job. Cobia can be attractedin by a consistent burly trail as they love to scavenge around, they will eatpretty much anything you put in front of them.

Reports of good catches of Snapper is great news with plenty ofanglers bagging out on the 50 and 36 fathom reefs, float lining has seen somebig fish trophy up to 92cm showing up. Current has been an issue at times,choosing the right sized sinker is the key to success when chasing big Snapper.

Whiting are a good target as wehead into the warmer months, they can be found schooling in numbers during theday and night. We have quite a few land based options on the Tweed and GoldCoast as well as spots to try in the boat. Best baits are Worms and Yabbies, Irecommend using a long trace of 6lb fluorocarbon leader matched with a size 6bait holder hook for worms or size 4 hook if you’re using yabbies. Choosing theright sinker is important, if your sinker is too light you tend to just get annoyedby Bream. I recommend using a 4 or 5ball sinker to keep you bait on the bottom where the Whiting feed. Tidal flowis very important when targeting Whiting, “no run no fun” is very true whentargeting Whiting. Some good land basedspots are Paradise Point foreshore, Runaway Bay, Labrador, Marine Stadium,Nerang River and Jacobs Well. In theboat try Coomera River, Logan River, Pimpama River, Wave Break Island, TweedRiver, Currumbin, Tallebudgera Creek or Nerang River.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports there ares still some school mackerel at Southport this week,they are usually active in the mornings near the main channel markers. TheSchoolies respond well to float lines rigged with White Pilchards on small ganghooks, or fast cranked Samaki 20 gram slugs. When the snot weed’s not too badthe area around Crab Island has been producing Tuskfish, Flounder, Flathead,Tarwhine, Squid, Sand Whiting, and Winter Whiting. Samaki Vibelicious 70mm softvibes, Ecogear ZX43 blades, live yabbies, and beach worms have worked best. Theestuary water will continue to warm up this week for those early seasonMangrove Jack fans, and those keen to chase a feed of big Sand Whiting whichare turning up in numbers downstream.

September 18, 2020

As School Holidays kicks off why not take the kids out for a fishand get away from the hustle and bustle and technology that can take over dayto day life. Fishing is a great way to unwind and re connect with our children,we have plenty of Land based options onthe Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek, Nerang River, Southernend of the Broadwater around Marine Stadium, Broadwater Parklands, MarineParade Labrador, Paradise Point, Coomera River and Jacobs Well to have a fishof the beach or from a jetty. A basic estuary outfit or handline will do thejob, I recommend using Prawns, Worms, White Pilchards or Yabbies all make greatbait. Pumping Yabbies is great fun for the kids to be involved in and they makegreat fresh bait. Fishing from the shore you will have a chance of landingBream, Flathead, Whiting, Trevally, Flounder, Tarwhine or Tailor just to name afew.

Customers have reported some goodcatches of Flathead again this week, local anglers Brett and Jason (see photoin report) managed to land some top quality fish from around the Jumpinpin andCoomera River working lures and also using yabbies for bait. Large fish from 80+cmhave been caught in the Pin Bar mouth and surrounding area and also in the GoldCoast Seaway. If you manage to land a large fish just keep on fishing the areaas there should be plenty of males in the 45cm to 50cm range hanging around,these guys make a nice feed. When youcatch a big Flathead fish remember to handle them with care as they are thefuture of fishing, a quick photo and then release your prized catch. The legal size limit in Qld is min 40cm Max75cm. It looks like the snot weed has started to break up a bit making fishingjust a tad easier which is great news. Finding fish can be a bit difficult sometimes,I recommend if you are bait fishing try drifting your baits along theshoreline, deeper gutters around the edges of sandbanks at low tide or over thetop of sandbanks on high tide until you find an area holding numbers ofFlathead to target. The same method applies if you prefer to troll lures orthrow a few soft plastics around. When you finally catch a fish, I wouldrecommend to work that area for a while as Flathead will usually be schoolingin better numbers this time of year.

Brad from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports I have had a very busyweek of fishing manoeuvring my charters between the Tweed and Goldcoast.Flathead, Bream, Trevally as well as the odd big Whiting havedominated the catches in the Tweed using a combination of trolling slam and ProLure d36 lures and jigging Ecogear zx40 andvx40vibes in the deepholes. Up on the Goldie I have ventured out to the Broadwater on the calm daysand have drifted along the shell grit grounds with ZX43 and Samaki vibes for amixture of Flathead, Bream, Whiting, Tuskfish, Flounder, Tarwhine andSquid.On the windier days I have beensneaking down the protected canals around Broadbeach and mermaid waters andhave caught a heap of Bream with some thumpers amongst them and a few Flattiesand Trevally.

Clint from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports another very busy weekof charters with plenty of fish and squid boated daily making for some excitingfishing on our Broadwater trips. The snot weed has been clearing, enabling usto fish the northern section between the Seaway and Sovereign Island. Most reefand seagrass areas have been holding good numbers of big purple Tuskfish, withthe three to seven metre depth zone fishing particularly well during the neaptides.Ecogear blades, yabbies and beachworms are the go to offerings with Winter Whiting, Sand Whiting, Dusky Flathead,Bar Tail Flathead, Flounder, Arrow Squid, Grass Emperor, Leatherjacket, Breamand Tarwhine all common catches. There are still some School Mackerel in themain channel near Seaworld, although not in the huge numbers they were duringthe full moon phase.

Gavin form SeaProbe Fishing Charters reports there are stillKingfish and Amberjack biting on the 50 fathom line with the odd Snapper, Pearlieand Tuskfish. On the 36s still Snapper and Trag Jew biting in the earlymorning. Also with the water warming try all the government fads for Dolphinfish

September 11,2020

I was lucky enough to get an inviteout to fish with my mate Wayne Young last weekend, we headed offshore at 5.15amand sounded around until we found a good show of bait and fish on the 18 fathomline. Getting an early start is important as the bite time on the close reefscan be over pretty early around the full moon. We started a consistent burleytrail, our method for fishing is float lining a mixture of baits including WAPillies, Squid, Yakka’s and Bonito fillets. Things were a bit quiet to startwith, but we ended up with a feed of Snapper and Moses and a few mixed bits andpieces. We found a pair of good-sizedMac Tuna keeping us tied up for a while and we also got blasted by a fewunstoppable sea monsters. The current was quite fishable, other anglersreported a few nice Tusk Fish, Trag Jew, Tailor and the odd Cobia.

Reports of big Flathead showing up in the deeper water closer tothe ocean entrances signals a start to breeding season on the Tweed and GoldCoast. The Tweed Bar Mouth, Gold Coast seaway and Jumpinpin Bar areas will beprime fishing grounds over the next couple of months with big female fishattracting large numbers of male fish to these areas. In Queensland, theminimum size limit is 40cm and the maximum limit is 75cm with most anglersopting to release most fish 60cm and over back to fight another day. All themale fish will usually be around the 55cm mark or under making them the bestoption if you’re chasing a feed. https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/activities/boating-fishing/rec-fishing/rules/limits-tidal#flathead if you’rekeen to fish the deep water larger soft plastics rigged on heavy jig headsaround 1 ounce, big soft or metal vibes make a great option to target bigFlatties in the deep.

Whiting are still around in good number up the Nerang River withlocal fisho Pete (see photo in report) scoring a great feed from a recent trip.Moving around until you locate the fish is the key to success, good qualitybait like live worms or yabbies will increase your chances of landing a qualityfeed. The Coomera River both North and South arms, Pimpama River, Logan Riverand the Sandbanks throughout Tiger Mullet Channel will all be worth a look fora Whiting.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports as we called it last week this weeksaw some great weather with light winds a rising barometer and pleasantly warmsunshine. The fishing was very consistent and we mixed up our techniques doingsome trolling, drift casting and deep water jigging with slam pro lure 36,Ecogearzx40s, Samakivibelicous and Ecogear vx43s which all shared some fortuneused in the right locations. The main species caught were Flathead, Bream, Giantand Big Eye Trevally and the odd big Whiting which is a sign that the water isstarting to warm up now that we are in spring.

Clintfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports anotherweek of Mackerel madness in the Southern Broadwater, and great fishing ingeneral. As Smithy will tell you, being an ex-commercial Mackerel fisherman,the Mackerel are most active in the lead up to full moon. Their activity willtaper off over coming days but there are still big schools of them and they areawesome fun on light tackle. Small metal slugs around 20 grams in weight and WhitePillies have been working best. At the peak we were catching 50+ a day anddropping 30+. Not a good idea to use zx’s around the Southern Broadwater at themoment unless you like bite offs. There has also been heaps of Bream, Tailorand Yakka around the Mackerel. The shallow areas around Crab island has beenfishing well too for solid Tusk Fish, Flathead, Flounder, Squid, Tarwhine, and Bream.

Gavinform Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports on the 50 fathoms line there are still good catches of Kingfish,Amberjack. Snapper have died off a lot due to the water rapidly warming up,there has been a few dolphin fish around on the 36 fathoms fads also StripedTuna on the 24s stripe tuna , Snapper, Trag Jew and Tusk fish have been biting.

September 4, 2020

Offshore has seen the Snapper bitecontinue with some good catches coming from the 50’s, 36’s 24’s and 18 fathomreefs off both the Tweed and Gold Coast. Bait schools are holding around thereefs attracting predators like Snapper, Cobia and Jew Fish. Picking the currenthas been a bit difficult with conditions changing regularly, picking the rightsize sinker to suit the current is very important. Burley is the key toattracting predators, just a consistent amount but not too much to fill themup. A mixed bag of Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack, Pearl Perch, Moses, TuskFish, Trag and Jewfish have made up the bulk of other species being caught.

Inshore Spring conditions will seea transition from cooler to warmer water which in turn should see a return someof our favourite estuary target species like Mangrove Jack, Estuary Cod,Trevally and the good old Bull Shark. It will be worth having a hunt around theCoomera River, Paradise Point and the Nerang River with some live baits.

Large schools of baitfish in theBroadwater have been attracting heaps of little School Mackerel the last fewweeks, Ben White reported he had a great session catching heaps of these funfish in the Gold Coast Seaway this week.

Heaps of bait fish is also greatnews as we head towards the prime time to target Flathead from now untilOctober around the Broadwater and Jumpinpin. Some rain would be good to flushthe weed away making Flatty fishing a bit easier for anglers.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Chartersreports it is fantastic that the strongwest to northwest winds have dropped out and the barometer is on therise.This great weather pattern will really help our catch rate over thecoming week ahead. The couple of cooler nights and mornings that we have hadover the last few days has dropped the water temperature, so the shallow waterhas been fishing the best.The shallow water heats up quicker with the sunand the fish seem to move into the warmer pockets of water. A combination ofboth trolling and casting our lures has produced Flatties, Bream and the odd Whitingand Giant Trevally.Now that we are moving into spring and then summer itwill not be long before we start throwing around our surface poppers on all ourtrips.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week there hasbeen a lot of School Mackerel in the main Southport channel, with some biggerones amongst them biting and busting off lines. They are a lot of fun to catchon light tackle, and love whitebait and small metal lures. Samaki Torpedo V2 20gram slugs are a great lure to throw for them and Tailor too, as they imitatebaitfish perfectly. Just throw out into the tide, let it sink to the bottomthen crank as fast as you can. The strikes are very exciting. We have also beencatching some tasty keepers for the plate, with Flathead schooling up more aswell as big Flounder, Winter Whiting, and a few Squid. Best lures have beenEcogear ZX43 in 402, 404, 440 colours, Pro Lure paddle grub in uv motor oil,and Samaki Vibelicious 70mm in uv squid and whitebait patterns. Best fishingareas have been Ephraim reef, west side of Crab island, and Southport. The snotweed is still bad at times along the Northern channels.

Gavinform Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports 50 fathoms were on and off over the last week 1 day catchinga heap of snapper then the next day a little bit quiet but then the next dayfiring with Kingys, Ajs and Snapper mostly caught on Live bait , pillies andsquid. On the 36s snapper Tuskies and Trag Jew just coming off the full moonwere on the chew. The 24 fathoms saw catches of Cobia, Big Snapper and SilverJew try live baits and plastics.

August 28, 2020

Customers have reported some good catches offshore on the GoldCoast this week with a mixed bag of Snapper, Moses Perch, Tusk Fish, Trag Jew,Jewfish and the odd Cobia. Tailor have been schooling up on the 24 fathom reefoff the Seaway this week, Cobia have been targeting these schools. Legal sizedlive Tailor will make the perfect bait to temp a big Cobia, I recommend whentargeting Cobia to run you lines at different depths by using a balloon tocontrol the depth you fish at. To set your fishing line deep use a sinker andjust let it down to the depth you prefer and then attach the balloon and let itdrift back behind the boat, I also recommend to have an un weighted Tailor onthe surface as well.

Flathead have been a bit morespread out this week with a few nice fish being caught around Jumpinpin theBroadwater and the local Rivers. Coomera Bait and Tackle customers have beendoing well fishing both the North and South arms of the Coomera River Mouths.Some places to try around Jumpinpin areCabbage Tree Point, Jacobs Well, Eden Island, Canaipa Passage, Kalinga Bank,Tiger Mullet Channel and the Logan River Mouth. In the Broadwater try TipplersPassage, Aldershots Eastern side, Sovereign Island, Currigee and Wave BreakIsland. The Nerang River is holding a few nice Flathead and the Pimpama Riveris also worth a look. Snot weed is still an issue this week, we will not getmuch respite from the weed until the next good rains. Working Soft Plastics,Soft Vibes, Metal Blades and trolling Hard Body Lures depending on the weedsituation are the best methods to temp a Flathead to bite.

Brad from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports it has been a bit of atough week at the Tweed with strong west to north westerly winds and anexceptionally low barometer. But as always, we managed to get some fish bychoosing the right lures and using good techniques.Flathead were onceagain the star players with some small Giant and Big Eye Trevally and theever-present Bream also hitting the lures. With the tough conditions our bestbite periods came by choosing the right locations around the tide changes witha combination of both trolling and jigging. The standout lures this week werethe pro lure d36s and samiki vibelicous as well as the ever reliable Ecogear zx40 and 43s.

Clint from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports this week we had somefun filled days on the Gold Coast Broadwater catching Flathead, Tailor, Winter Whiting,Sand Whiting, Flounder, Squid, and various others. Other days the barometercrashed, and fishing was tougher. The snot weed has again made it difficult,but you often only have to move a few hundred metres to escapeit.There has been plague numbers of Tarwhine, and while they can beannoying, the other fish are usually close by feeding in the same areas. Know the latest bag and size limits and carry a fishand crab measurement ruler with you. Best lures this week have been EcogearZX43 in 402 & 404 in the morning, then 440 through the day. Yabbies areworking extremely well. There are Tailor and School Mackerel around so carry arod with metal lure tied on ready to cast and fast crank. One that works greatlocally is Samaki Torpedo V2 in chrome silver colour and 20 gram or 35 gramsize.

Gavinform Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports on the 50s and 36s Snapper have Been firing on bottom bashersand float lining rigs using squid and pilchards for bait. Majority of theSnapper being around 2 to 5kg mark making them really good schooling size fish.We are also getting catching some quality Pearlys, Tuskies and Blue Spot Flatheadwith the odd Amberjack and Kingfish showing up.

August 14, 2020

The dreaded snot weed is still hanging around in most areas aroundthe Broadwater and Jumpinpin making fishing difficult and frustrating at times.I was hoping the last downpour would have helped to flush out the system, wereally need another good dumping of rain to break it up. The run-out tide isusually the worst affected tide time to fish, unfortunately that’s the primetime to target Flathead.

Schools of Tailor responded well to the cool nights thisweek with plenty of lucky fishos getting stuck into some good quality Greenbacks.Beach gutters along South Stradbroke Island produced good numbers of nice fish,also Narrow Neck North to Pumping Jetty resembled scenes of the good old dayswith plenty of anglers lined up trying their luck. Also try Palm Beach,Burleigh Heads and from Fingal north to the Tweed Bar. Throwing metal slugs,surface walkers and poppers is a fun and very visually rewarding way to targetTailor with some awesome bite action to fire you up. Whole WA Pilchards werethe best bait followed by Mullet, Bonito or Tailor Fillet on ganged hooks. Iprefer to use a long mono trace rather than a wire trace, the mono presents thebait more naturally which intern can often produce the bite rather than thewire trace being quite stiff and sometimes a little thing like this can makeall the difference if the fish are fussy. You may get the odd bite off, but Ireckon it is worth the gamble.

Bream are still biting well again this week making them agood target species for the long weekend, if the N/NW winds are up you can findplenty of spots to hide a get stuck into a good feed. A couple of spots aroundthe Pin that should be out of the breeze and be holding Bream are Tiger MulletChannel, Kalinga Bank, Whalleys Gutter and Cobby Passage. The main Broadwatercan be quite open to that direction of wind, you will be better off trying yourluck up the Coomera River, Pimpama River, Nerang River or further South theTweed River also has some great options for locals to try. Frozen bait likePrawns, White pilchards, Mullet Gut and Squid will do the job but fresh MulletFillet or live Yabbies will be irresistible to a hungry Bream.

I have included the link to Fisheries Queensland with informationon the Snapper and Pearl Perch closure which commenced on the 15^thof July and finishes 16^th of August 2020. Make sure you know yourresponsibilities https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/sustainable/sustainable-fisheries-strategy/fisheries-reforms

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports that after therain the middle reach of the Tweed River is fishing well for big numbers of varioussize Flathead, as well as Tailor and Bream. Trolled minnows are doing thedamage over the flats, while working the deeper areas with Samaki soft vibes,Ecogear VX45, and Ecogear ZX40’s is resulting in double hook ups during thepeak bite times.

Clint from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports a great variety of fishin the Broadwater and we even spotted Turtles, Dugongs and Dolphins. What awonderful place the Gold Coast Broadwater is. The fishing action in the Broadwaterdid slow up as the week went on, as fishing always does in general. I have nodoubt it will be back firing in coming days. It was good to see some bigger Flatheadcoming on the bite, and the Trevally have been around all winter.Species we boated this week on Ecogear ZX40 and 43’sincluded School Mackerel, Dusky Flathead, Bartail Flathead, Giant Trevally, TealeafTrevally, Whiting, Tarwhine, Bream, Yakka, Squid, Tuskfish and Fantail Leatherjacket.Best areas to fish were Ephraim reef, Southport main channel, Wavebreak southchannel, and the keyhole. The snot weed is still a pain during run out tide butis gradually clearing.If it gets too bad to fish you can always head tothe Southern end of the Broadwater between the Spit and Sundale bridge. Itdoesn’t come through there and there are plenty of fishing options using vibes luresor live yabbies.

August 7, 2020

Customers have been doing well inthe Broadwater and around Jumpinpin this week scoring some nice Flathead on amixture of bait and lures. Some good spots to try in the Broadwater are WaveBreak Island, Paradise Point, Brown Island, Aldershots, Coomera River, NeverFails and Tipplers Passage. Around Jumpinpin try Cabbage Tree Point, JacobsWell, Tiger Mullet Channel, Pandanus Island, Crusoe Island, Cobby Passage andKalinga Bank. Zman soft plastics in the 3 – 4” sized range have been producingsome nice fish, my favourite plastic is the 4” Streakz Curl tail rigged on a3/8 3/0 headlocks jig head fished on 12lb trace. Trolling hard body lures likeZerek Tango Shads, Rapala, Storm, Manns or Tilson lures in the shallower areashas also been working well. If you prefer your bait fishing try drifting bait,it’s a great way to temp Flathead that tend to be lazy and wait for a feed tocome to them, WA pilchards, White Pilchards, Mullet Fillet Strips, Prawns orYabbies are great bait. Flathead are ambush predators so keeping the bait onthe move to cover more ground and increase your chances of finding betternumbers of fish.

Good catches of Bream have beentaken this week, the recent rain has made them extremely active during theWinter breeding season. If you are keen to get the kids out for a fish over theweekend chasing Bream is a great option, there are so many spots on the Goldand Tweed Coast to try land based as well as from the boat. Land based just tryyour local jetty, rock walls or bridges is a good place to start looking, get aburly trail going and hopefully you will come up trumps. Good land basedoptions are parks that access the Nerang River, Seaway Rock Wall, BroadwaterParklands Jetty, Grand Hotel Jetty, Paradise Point Jetty, Coomera Waters BoatRamp Jetty, Coomera River Bridge Fishing Platform and the Jacobs Well Jettyjust to name a few. If you can get out in the boat try the Gold Coast Seaway,Wave Break Island, Paradise Point Bridges, Runaway Bay, Coomera River Bridges,Dux, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Short Island and Logan River areworth a look. Mullet Fillet, Mullet Gut,White Pilchards, Squid, Prawns and Yabbies are a good option.

The Fisheries Qld website has information on the Snapper and Pearl Perch closure which commenced on the 15^th of July and finishes 16^th of August 2020. Please make sure you know your responsibilities.

Clint from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports the Gold Coast alsoreceived some good rain last weekend, with totals around 180mm recorded atCarrara, Bundall and South Stradbroke. I fished a few days after the rain inthe Broadwater, conditions have been tricky with Southerly winds, water temps,and air pressure all up and down. The good news is that rain and wind hascleared much of the snot weed.The fishinghasn’t been great but there is a stack of big Bream around the seaway andSouthport main channel markers gorging themselves to be in prime condition fortheir full moon spawning. Otherwise there has been scattered Winter Whiting,Flathead, Tuskies, Flounder, Tarwhine and School Mackerel.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports out wide on the shelf there hasbeen Marlin , Dolphin Fish and Yellowfin Tuna up to 50kgs. On the 36 fathoms grounds there has been a lot of TragJew,Tusk Fish, Moses Perch and Blue Spot Flathead on the chew.

July 31, 2020

With a big swell on the way for the weekend offshore fishing willbe off limits. The good news is the swell will stir up the bait and feed forpredators combined with the fresh water run off pushing out of the local riverswill make the open ocean entrances like the Gold Coast Seaway, Jumpinpin Barand the Tweed Bar great areas to target a wide range of species inshore like JewFish, Trevally, Tailor, Bream and Flathead just to name a few. The Gold CoastSeaway Pipeline can hold Jew Fish, Juvenile Yellow Tail Kingfish, Amberjack,Spangled Emperor and Grassy Sweetlips making fishing this area a bit of a luckdip at times. It would be worth mixing it up a bit by trying a few differentmethods, live bait, dead bait, soft plastics, vibes and jigs will all work wellat times.

Plenty of Bream being caught this week after the flush out, theylove the fresh water it just seems to make them feed harder. The Nerang River,Coomera River, Pimpama River, Logan River, Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, SeawayRock Walls, Paradise Point Bridges, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, KalingaBank and Short Island have all produced a good feed. Just remember to keep theburley trail going, Mullet Fillet, Mullet Gut, White Pilchards, Hardy Heads,Prawns, Beach Worms or Yabbies all make great bait.

Tailor have been harassing baitschools again this week on the afternoon high tide in the main channels runningoff the Gold Coast Seaway and around Jumpinpin Bar, Crusoe Island and the mouthof Whalleys Gutter. The dusk bite has been producing some action on surfacelures and metal slugs. If it is a bit slow you can tow some shallow divinglures around until you locate a school of Tailor to cast at.

Hopefully, the rain has had a positive effect on the snot weedissue and will help to flush out the system and make fishing a bit moreenjoyable for all anglers.

The Fisheries Queensland website has information on the Snapper and Pearl Perch closure which commenced on the 15^th of July and finishes 16^th of August 2020. Please make sure you know your responsibilities.

Brad from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports this week we had a quite a cool week with thesouth westerlies blowing and once again the Flathead were the dominantspecies.Trolling slam and spikelures worked well as did jigging in around the 4.5 to 5.5 metre line with acombination of Ecogear zx40,vx45and Samaki Vibelicious vibelures.We also got a couple of quality Whiting on the vibes and some nicesized Tailor that are starting to move up the Tweed River.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports our Broadwater charters have continued with dailyhauls of Tuskfish, Flathead, Flounder, Winter Whiting, Tarwhine, Arrow Squidand others. We are so lucky to have so many tasty species available in calmwater. We never go anywhere near bag limits, to ensure there is plenty of fishfor the future. The snot weed has been annoying, but it is still fishable. Ifyou encounter thick amounts keep moving, the fish do not like it and they move.Best lures have been Ecogear ZX40 in 440 colourand Ecogear ZX43 in 414 colour. On cloudy days, run out tide, and early morningI smear some Smithy’s UV prawn Sax scent on the vibes, and on calm, clear days,run in tide I use Sax scent goldprawn. Yabbies are extremely effective bait atthe moment and can be pumped even at high tide during the smaller day timetides. Fishing the run in tides will be the go, less weed.

Hope you have a great week! If you have any catches or photos you would like to share, please email us.
Useful links:
• Hire a Tinnie
• Marine weather forecast
• New Qld fishing rules

July 17, 2020

There are reports of somegood-sized Bream showing up around Jumpinpin during the week, best spots areKalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Whalley’s Gutter, ShortIsland Huts, Perrys Hole, Little Rocky Point and the Power Lines. In theSouthern Broadwater try the Gold Coast Seaway Walls, Wave Break Island, RockWalls around canal entrances at Runaway Bay and any bridge pylons, MarineParade Labrador rock wall and Lands End Biggera Waters. I recommend keeping a consistent burley trailgoing, sometimes once you start catching fish you forget to burley and the fishwill go off the bite. My favourite bait is Mullet Fillet also try, Mullet Gut,Prawns, White Pilchard, Hardy Heads and Yabbies. This time of year, largeschools of White Pilchards and Hardy Heads can be found at Jumpinpin and theBroadwater making these ideal baits.

The Westerly Winds did the job and fired up some great Tailor fishing on South Stradbroke Island during the week with local Fisho’s spinning up some good sized green backs using metal slugs targeting the Tailor schools harassing bait in the gutters. Picking the right gutter can be hit and miss so be prepared to cover ground at times to find the quality fish. I prefer to target the last couple of hours of the run-in tide when the gutters are full of water this is a prime time to fish day or night. I find visual signs like diving birds picking up the scraps whilst the Tailor are feeding is one of the best indicator’s when fishing during daylight hours. The big swell tipped for the end of the week will make beach fishing hard work, and not ideal. Usually in these conditions more Tailor schools will push into the Gold Coast Seaway or Jumpinpin Bar chasing bait then actively move through the deeper main channels as the tide rises which is great news for anglers. I have seen heaps of bird activity this week towards the late afternoon around the Runaway Bay moving then moving North towards Paradise Point which indicates Tailor feeding as the tide rises. Once the swell eases it will be worth a look at your favourite beach fishing spot form the Tweed Coast North to the Gold Coast Seaway.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports this week Flathead, Bream, Whiting and Trevally in the middle reachesof the Tweed river using Samaki Vibelicious vibes, Ecogear ZX45, and Slams.

Clint reports again this week good tides for the Broadwater duringthe day with a a big range of great eating fish including Tuskfish, Flathead, Flounder,Whiting, Arrow Squid and Blue Swimmer Crabs, on yabbies and vibes. Nerang Riverwill be slow with not much tidal flow. Good chance to try deeper holes for Mullowayand Flathead though. Another week of awesome fishing in the Broadwater, bestI’ve seen in four years. The dredging operation that just completed plus floodsearlier in the year most likely have contributed to the quality fishing onoffer. While Flathead have been smaller on average I’ve found, everything hasmade up for it. Clint used the new Ecogear ZX43 vibe yesterday for the firsttime and my goodness this lure is going to be deadly on everything that swims.This week the Northern Broadwater will continue to be the place to fish. If thewind is up there is plenty of good fishing at the Southern end around thepelican beach area, main channel near Seaworld, the keyhole, and Labrador.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports 50 fathomsdid slow up a little after the full moon and the current picked up , but stillsome very nice fish taken such as Snapper, Kingfish, Amberjacks, Pearl Perchand Tusk Fish. On the 36s and 24s plenty of Trag Jew, Snapper and Tusk Fish.

July 10, 2020

Hi Everyone, hope you have all had a good week, we have been luckyso far with some great weather for School Holidays, a bit of rain and windaround mid-week on the Tweed and GoldCoast but the weekend is looking much better. Lots of activity on the water atthe moment with the easing of restrictions, just remember with the waterwaysbeing so busy safety is very important if your heading out for a fish. Let’s seewhat’s on offer for all the Fisho’s this week.

Just to keep everyone up to date, here is a link to Fisheries Queensland with information on the Snapper and Pearl Perch closure which commences 15^th of July and finishes 15^th of August 2020. Make sure you know your responsibilities.

Locals have been doing well on the Whiting, brothers Tyler andCruise (see photo in report) had a great day fishing with their relative WayneYoung up the Nerang river landing an awesome feed for the whole family. The keyto finding Whiting is to give each spot a go for 30min or so and see how manyfish you catch or bites you get, if minimal even just a short move can pay offonce you find where the school is mainly feeding. The Nerang river is a primelocation, we also do well in the Coomera River, Pimpama River and Logan Riverduring winter. Live worms are the best bait, a long 6lb leader, size 6 baitholder hook and a good-sized sinker either 4 or 5 ball will keep your bait onthe bottom in the strike zone. Don’t be tempted to strike at the fish, justleave it alone and let the fish hook itself, this style is great for the kidsas they sometimes get distracted.

The Gold Seaway has been on fire the past couple of weeks withplenty of school size Jew Fish on offer, just remember that 75cm is thelegal-size limit of these species. Work your sounder until to see the school offish, live baits have been the go and have not lasted long in the water gettingsmashed. Some good-sized Trevally also starting to school up in the Seawayarea, they fight hard making a great sport fish to target. Best time to try isat the end of the tide cycle, especially the last of the incoming and start ofthe run out when the current is a its slowest.

Surf fishing will be a good optionas the swell starts to drop off, hopefully the schools of Tailor will move intogutters from the Tweed Coast up to South Stradbroke Island. Early morning and lateafternoon and night is the best time to target Tailor, another species worthtargeting is Jewfish. Big Jewfish will enter the gutters as the tide riseschasing the Tailor or Mullet, using a fresh fillet of either Tailor or Mulletis a great way to land a prized Jewfish. We have also seen a few good Tailorshowing up throughout the Broadwater and Jumpinpin areas, size of the Tailorwill vary depending of the school but they are great fun to catch off thesurface even if they are little.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports thisweek was spent working around the middle reaches of the Tweed River working thetide changes in the deep holes. Flathead were the most dominant speciessmashing our lures which is to be expected as this is the best time of the yearfor them. There was also a few big Whiting, Bream and those small GT’s arestill moving around the river creating havoc on the schools of herring. Thismonth and next month it’s not uncommon to see some big tailor move into theriver so I will keep you posted if they arrive.

Clintreports another sensational week offishing in the Broadwater. The dredging operation that has been going on in theWestern channel North of the seaway has been a magnet to the whole food chain. Inthe last three weeks there has only been a couple of days with 20 or so fish,most days we are catching 50-100 various fish, Blue Swimmer Crabs, and big ArrowSquid. In the last month we’ve boated over 1000, kept a feed for guests, andreleased heaps too.This winter has been the best Squid season I’ve seen in theGold Coast Broadwater, and they are so much fun to catch and delicious to eat.They only live for a year and grow very fast to over 50cm in total length. Thelittle Ecogear blades we use with our new UV prawn Sax scent smeared on, fullygets them all fired up! The daily fish catch has included lots of big Winter Whiting,Flathead, Tusk Fish, flounder, Tarwhine, Bream, Trevally and Squire. Best areasCrab island, Ephraim reef, Paradise point.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports 50 fathomshave been on fire this week with good quality Snapper in good numbers onpaternoster rigs and floater rigs. Best bait has been Mullet and Squid adjustyour sinker sizes to the current speed. Also on the 36s and 24s Snapper, TragJew, Tuskies and also big Silver Jew on live bait.

July 3, 2020

With School Holidays underwaythis week it is a great time to get the kids out of the house, off the xbox, phone’sand spend some quality time trying your luck to catch a fish. You don’t needfancy gear if you are just getting started or want to try something differentwith the kids. A light estuary outfit with a running sinker rig will work well,Prawns, White Pilchards, Worms or Yabbies are great bait. Fishing from a jettyor the beach is a great option especially with kids as you can accessfacilities in most of the local parks. Some good spots to try are CoomeraRiver, Paradise Point, Runaway Bay, Labrador, Biggera Waters, Broadwater Parklands,Marine Stadium, Nerang River and Jacobs Well. You will mainly be targeting Bream,Whiting and Flathead from these areas, they are a great fun for the kids tocatch. Make sure you get a photo of them holding their catch and email it to meto go in the paper.

Jumpinpin has been fishing wellthis week with a mixture of Bream, Squire, Tailor and Jew Fish being landed bylocal Fishos. Try the Pin Bar mouth on the last of the run-in tide for Tailorand big Jewfish chasing the bait schools in the deeper water, Crusoe Island,Kalinga Bank and Short Island will also be worth a try. Some good-sized Squirehave been landed hanging around the Bream schools at the moment, spots to startlooking are Kalinga Bank, Short Island, Whalleys Gutter, Tiger Mullet Channel,Little Rocky Point and the Power Lines.

Brad from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports we had some chillystarts this week with the cool mornings turning into perfectly comfortablewinter days.It has been a bit of an unusual week in the fact that it hasbeen about quality more than quantity. Some of the Whiting taking the lures inthe deep holes have been crackers and the same goes with the Bream with theaverage size being between 35 to 40 cm long.The best lures have beenzx40s, vx45s and Samaki Vibelicous soft vibes and they have all worked equallywell. We did not get a Jewie this week but there was still a few small but hardfighting Giant Trevally in the deeper holes.Trollingalong the edges of the channels with slam 47 and pontoon 21 crackjacks alsoproduced some quality Flathead around the first hour of the run-outtides.

Clint reports the fishing is amazing in the Broadwater withbig daily hauls of up to 100 Fish, Squid, and Crabs. This is the best time ofthe year to catch a superb feed of fresh seafood. The big Arrow Squid have beenthick and a heap of fun to catch, not to mention delicious in the pan! EcogearZX40’s really fire them up, and they then eagerly grab squid jigs. We have alsobeen getting lots of nice big Blue Swimmer Crabs, Winter Whiting, Bream, Bar Tailand Dusky Flathead, Tarwhine, and heaps of Flounder. Ensuring our guests gohome with a seafood basket from heaven. Best bait by far is live yabbies, bestlures are Ecogear ZX40 in colours 440, 418, 411, 415, coated in Smithy’s UV Saxscent.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports 50 fathomshas been still fishing well with nice size Kingys , Amberjack, Samson Fish, Snapperand Pearl Perch. Live baits like yakkas and slimeys are doing the best with aBKK circle glow hook and a good size sinker to get down to the bottom, also trypillies and squid. 36 fathoms try for Snapper Tuskies, Pearlies and Dolphin Fishand 24s and 18s Snapper, Jewfish and Cobia.

Hope you have a great week! If you have any catches or photos you would like to share, please email us. New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Marine forecast

June 26, 2020

Winter has certainly taken hold on the Tweed and Gold Coast withcold Westerly winds causing the temperature to plummet, especially at night wehave been seeing single digit temps. That is a great sign for those Fishos thatprefer to target Bream, Tailor and Jew Fish as these species fire up in thecool weather.

The winter westerlies are a primetime for keen Bream fishos to get out and chase a feed. Those who are keen tobrave the cold nights out on the water should be rewarded with some top-qualityBream. Some good spots to start lookingwill be Upper Reaches of the Tweed River, Whalleys Gutter, Tiger MulletChannel, Perrys Hole, Short Island, Cobby Passage, Kalinga Bank and Marks Rockin the Logan River. Some good land spots are Lands End Biggera Waters, MarineParade Rock Walls, Gold Coast Seaway, Southport Bridge, Nerang River, ParadisePoint, Coomera River and Jacobs Well.Burley is important when targeting Bream, a lot of fishos will have asecret brew they use. I recommend stimulate burley pellets or Wilson FishingPellets are easy and not so messy. Justkeep a regular trail going, don’t feed them too much just enough to keep thefish interested. Some the best baits will be Mullet Fillet, Mullet Gut, WhitePilchards, Prawns and Yabbies.

Tailor are a great species totarget on the Tweed and Gold Coast as our surf beaches are well protected fromthe Westerly winds which help to calm the surf down and make it much morefishable depending on how much swell is running offshore. The cool snap thatcomes hand in hand with a Westerly just seems to flick a switch on Tailor andif all lines up they will make there way into the gutters as the tide rises,early morning and late afternoon into the evening are the prime time to catch afeed. During daylight hours casting metal slugs is a good way to find fish. Atnight I prefer to fish with bait, WA Pilchards are my favourite, I also likeusing Bonito and Mullet Fillet on a 3-gang hook rig with a mono trace toincrease the chance of a getting the bite.

Customers have reported a few Flatheadin the shallow water on the top of sandbanks throughout the Broadwater andJumpinpin at high tide. Try the deeperedges of the sandbanks as the tide starts to fall along with creek and rivermouths, Flathead will lay in wait to ambush bait fish as they exit thecreeks. Deep gutters are also a goodspot at low tide to look as Flathead are ambush predators as the bait swims offthe sandbank on the falling tide they will sit in the gutter waiting to pounce.Casting Zman soft plastics, working TT Switch Blades, Zerek Flat Shads, ZerekFish Traps and Storm soft vibes are all good methods to target Flathead.Drifting dead baits like White Pilchards, WA Pilchards, Prawns and Yabbies is avery affective way to target Flathead.

Brad from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports we have been mixing itup a bit this week some shallow water techniques.It is not uncommonthrough winter for fish to move up into shallow water during the day as the sunwarms up the water temperature quicker than in deep water.We have been trollingand casting small minnows like pontoon 21 and slam lures as well as a bit ofsurface popping with mmd splash prawns for Whiting, Bream and Flathead.Withall trips I always take the time to do a bit of deep water jigging in a few ofthe many deep holes in the Tweed River especially around the tide changes.Flathead, Bream, Whiting and Trevally have been the main takers of our vibelures as well as the odd Bass.Australian bass move well down the riverthrough winter to spawn so I must mention here that if you accidentally catchone while targeting other species please handle them properly and quicklyrelease them. It is important to note that in NSW that there is a zero baglimit on bass in rivers and estuariesfrom the 1st of May to the 31st ofAugust.

Clint reports he has been stickingto the Broadwater where light winds in the mornings have made for pleasantconditions. Weekdays are great with less jet skis and big fast boats on thewater. The fish have been off the bite with very slow, tentative bites but the Squidand Crabs have made up for it. The Arrow Squid seem to have bite periods whenthey are very aggressive on blades. I was fishing with regular guest Mick onWednesday and we had some good success teasing them up to the surface withEcogear ZX40 blades in 440 colour, then dropping a Daiwa nude squid jig 3.0 inweed shrimp colour. We coated the squid jig in Sax scent UV prawn too. They were grabbing it instantly, so much fun towatch. Fresh arrow squid are delicious to eat. We’ve been getting over 20 blueswimmer crabs per session in our pots baited with mahi mahi and mullet frames.Keeping just enough legal-size males for a feed for everyone on the boat. TheSouthern Broadwater in 2-4 metre depth on run out tides has been working bestfor the Sand Crabs.

Gavinfrom Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports 50 fathoms has been firing this weeksince the water is starting to cool down with nice size Kingys , Amberjack,Samson fish and snapper, live baits like yakkas and slimeys are doing the bestwith a BKK circle glow hook and a good size sinker to get down to the bottom.36 fathoms few Dolphin Fish around but the cool water has slowed them up atouch, 24s and 18s Snapper and Cobia around.

June 19, 2020

Local Fisho Ben White (see photo) did well scoring his bag limit on big Jew Fish from the close reefs off the Gold Coast Seaway, we have seen some great catches over the past couple of weeks which is a good sign as winter kicks in. Big bait schools will call our local waters home and finding these schools will be the key to landing the predators like big Jew Fish, Snapper and Cobia which are a prized catch and top eating quality. Make sure you have a good look on the sounder before choosing your fishing spot, if you are in the right spot you should be able to jig your live bait from where you fish, after all that’s what your target species will be eating.

It’s been great to see our Houseboatcustomers back on the water and scoring some good feeds of bread and butterspecies this week including Bream, Whiting and Flathead have been the maintarget for anglers in Broadwater and Jumpinpin area chasing a feed. Customershave done well scoring a nice feed from the Tweed River, Nerang River, CoomeraRiver, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel, Whalleys Gutter, ShortIsland and Logan River. Prawns, Yabbies, Worms, Mullet Fillet or Live Herringare all great baits.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports well once againit has been a great week of fishing on the Tweed. Although we have not caughtanything too big in size the numbers and variety have made up forit.Keeping a bend in the rod is what it is all about and being able toswap lures and techniques through the day is very exciting and eventually thatbig one will come along. In saying this we have caught the odd cracker Whitingand on most trips have been getting a few Flatties over 50cm.Jigging thedeep holes with ecogear zx and vx vibes has been producing Flatties, Bream,Whiting, Big Eye and Giant Trevally as well as the odd small School Jew.

Clint reports on the water though we are seeing a typical winterpattern. The bigger Flounder and Squid have arrived in numbers, and theFlathead and Winter Whiting are increasing too. We should see schools ofspawning Tailor over the next few months unless the netters take most of them.Ecogear ZX40 vibes in colours 415, 440, 447 and Ecogear VX45 vibes in colour439 are doing well. Best of the Samaki Vibelicious soft vibe colour are whitebait and ghost bait. This coming week I amfishing most days, and the Broadwater looks good, I will be fishing along theedges of the main channel South of the Seaway, and also near Marina Mirage,Anglers Paradise, Carters Bank, North Currigee, and Runaway bay.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports on the 50 Fathoms Still Kingys, Amberjack some nice Pearlys and Snapper around use flesh baits pilchards squid and Live bait. On the 36 fathoms plenty of Dolphin fish on all the fads ,on the bottom at the 36s plenty of Tusk Fish also Snappers and Pearlies with odd big Samson fish being caught. On the the 24s fathoms Cobia have been starting to show up with the Whales coming through live bait is the key and don’t be afraid to throw down a big live bait.

Hope you have a great weekend! If you have any catches or photos you would like to share, please email us. New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Marine forecast

June 12, 2020

Local angler Wayne Young reported last Sunday hedid well fishing the 24 fathom grounds east of the Seaway scoring a nice PearlPerch and a mixed bag of reef fish float lining WA Plichards and Bonito fillets.With good reports the past few weeks it is great news as we head into Winter. Latelast week Wayne also headed up the Nerang River with his mate Pete in search ofsome Whiting, the boys did well landing a great feed of quality Gold CoastWhiting using Blood Worms for bait.

Fisho’s did well in the Gold Coast Seaway thisweek managing to find some top-quality Jew Fish using live baits to temp abite. Timing is key you have to make sure you are fishing the last hour of therun in and the first hour of the run out to maximise your chances. Best livebaits are Mullet, Yakkas, Herring and Pike, use a twin hook Snell rig and a 40to 60lb mono trace.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports theTweed is much thesame as last weeks in that the fish are still holding in the mid to upperreaches of the river. The weather has been fantastic with light to nowind at all and warm winter sunshine making the conditions very comfortable.The lack of wind has made the conditions perfect for drifting and jigging bothsoft and metal vibes in the deep holes. The deep holes are still producing someFlathead and nice sized Bream as well as the odd good Whiting and small Jew.Trollingthe flats between the deep holes has also been consistently producing a mixtureof Flathead, Bream and Whiting with the slam lures working well. I have beenexperimenting with slam lures for the past three weeks and i have to say I amvery impressed with them for both their tight action and the fact that theywill dive down to about 4.5 metres when trolled with the tide with light braidand leaders. Lets hope the action continues until we talk again nextweek.

Clint reports in the Broadwater he had Sammy Hitzke’s Dad Terry and his mate Norm were on board. We started off by drifting around the Southport area with vibes catching Flounder and Winter Whiting. We then pulled up on a big bank at Wavebreak Island to pump some yabbies, leaving the boat in knee deep water on the run out tide. Time went by and we got a bit distracted while having a land based fish and before we knew it the boat was high and dry, and not going anywhere for the next five years. First time it’s ever happened to me. Anyway we had no choice but to fish on, and for the next few hours we caught a bucket full of big tiger squid, some solid Luderick, and flathead, bream, whiting. All in a small, sandy, shallow channel. Amazing what you find sometimes when you stop and look at things closely. Once we were loating again we caught a number of nice size Arrow Squid and Flounder. There is still a lot of bait fish in the Broadwater, and Sand Crabs around Ephraim Island. The Nerang River has produced a few legal Flathead on hardbody Slam lures, plus some Tarwhine and Bream.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports starting out wide on the shelfaround Jim’s and riv ground still few Blue Marlin getting caught on luresbetween 8 and 15 inch lures. Closer on the 50 fathom areas still a few Kings,AJ’s, Snapper and Pearlies, you do have to work hard for them at the moment dueto the water being warm still. On the 36s dolphin fish around the fads also on24s have seemed a few bigger Snapper staring to show up using really lightsinkers with whole pillies, squid and live bait early morning being the best.

Hopeyou all have a good week and stay healthy and safe. If you have any greatcatches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know howyou went.

June 6, 2020

What a great start to Winter on the Tweed andGold Coast with plenty of sunshine making fishing a great option. Looks likethe wind will ease by the weekend, which is great news. Just watch the swell ifyou are looking at heading offshore, make sure you have the latest weatherforecast. Let’s see what’s been on the bite.

Weather permitting Offshore has been producingsome good catches lately, I was lucky enough to get out for a fish last Sunday.My good mate Wayne “Youngy” Young was generous enough to lend me his pride andjoy for an offshore fishing mission with my daughter Bec. The current wasflowing pretty hard making bottom fishing difficult at times, there was plentyof bait and fish showing up on the sounder just getting your burly and bait infront of them took a bit of technique. We ended up with a few Snapper, Mosesand a cracking 15kg Jew Fish which made getting up early and getting rained onworthwhile. I fished the 18 fathom reef east of the seaway, I have had otherreports of similar catches coming through which is great news as we transactioninto the Winter months ahead. The best baits were whole WA Pilchards, LargeSquid, Bonito and Yakkas. Some nice catches also came from the 36 fathoms reefswith a mixed bag of Pearl Perch, Snapper, Tusk Fish and a few Dolphin Fish offthe fad.

Bream will be a prime target during Winter onthe Tweed and Gold Coast, it’s great to see large schools of White Pilchardsturning up around Jumpinpin and the Broadwater as the Bream love eating them.Burley is a Bream Fishos best friend, just keep a steady trail going to attractthe fish and them keep them feeding in the area. The secret is not to over doit, a bit at a time will do the trick, you can cube with WA Pillies, bits offlesh baits or Burley bombs and pellets all work well. My favourite bait is MulletFillet, White Pilchards, Prawns and Yabbies. Bream can be found everywherethroughout our waterways, best to target areas with good structure likeJetty’s, Bridges, Rock walls and Fallen Trees. Some popular spots are the GoldCoast Seaway, Runaway Bay Canal mouths, Southport Bridge, Nerang River,Whalleys Gutter, Tiger Mullet Channel, Crusoe Island and Kalings Bank.

Brad from BradSmith Fishing Charters reports the Tweed hasbeen fishing very consistently over the last few weeks for a variety of species.Thedeep holes in the Tweed River are the best places to try but make sure you takethe time to study your sounder and locate the bait schools that are holdingalong the bottom before you start to fish. The species that have been feedingon the bait have been Flathead, Bream, School Jew and the odd big Whiting and BigEye Trevally. As nearly always the time around the tide changes has seena spike in the fishes feeding patterns especially the Jewies. The lures thathave been doing the damage are the ever reliable ecogear zx 40s and the samikivibelicious soft vibe lures. Now that the water is starting to cool down weshould see the fishing getting even better especially for the Flatties and Jewso i am looking forward to the oncoming winter months.

Clint reports in the Broadwater there have been good numbersof Squid, Tuskfish, Whiting, Sand Crabs, and Flounder around Crab Island thisweek. The big dredger working along the Western channel is stirring up thewater and attracting fish.I catch most of my Squid with Ecogear ZX40 440colour lures with a bit of Sax scent smeared all over them. The little assisthooks on these lures are “sticky” and have a knack of pinning the squid throughone of their candles. They also hold bottom very well in flowing water, anddraw the Squid out of weed beds and reef. The Squid are getting bigger aswinter draws on, so set a light drag to avoid pulling hooks through them.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports on The 50 fathom line there hasbeen little current and bit of a mixed bag has being getting caught like Ajs, Samson,Kingys, Cobia, Snapper, Tusk Fish and Pearlies. Using paternoster rigs havebeen doing the best with pillies squid and live bait. On 36 fathoms a lot ofdolphin fish on all the fads just use pillies and little slugs for them.

May 29, 2020

Reports of some quality fish around thesouthern end of the Broadwater this week seeing Fishos land a good variety ofspecies such as Snapper, Tusk Fish, Tailor, Yellow Tail Kingfish, Jew Fish,Flathead, Flounder, Bream, Squid and Morwong. Fishing around the mouth of theGold Coast Seaway has been extra productive with large bait schools of HardyHeads and Yakka’s proving irresistible to predators. The run-in tide has fishedwell, try starting a drift form the mouth of the Seaway and heading eitherNorth in the main channel towards Currigee or South towards Marina Mirage. Livebaits have been getting smashed, dead baits like White Pilchards, WA Pilchards,Mullet Fillet, Prawns and Yabbies will all do the trick. Soft Vibes and MetalVibes up to half ounce in weight work well in the deeper water and is afavourite form of fishing for me. I try to target the last 2 hours of the runin tide and the first hour of the run out tide for best results.

As the water starts to cool down qualityWhiting are heading back up the rivers in numbers, local angler Wayne Young hashad a good week finding a nice feed of some great quality fish. The TweedRiver, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River, Coomera River, Pimpama River and LoganRiver are all great spots to try your luck. Whiting bite best when the tide isrunning at a decent pace, fishing can be quite slow during a tide change. Irecommend live bait is the way to go, Worms and Yabbies are at the top of thelist and can be great fun to catch, especially for the kids. Fishing lite isthe key, 6 to 9lb main line, a long 6lb fluorocarbon leader matched a size 6hook for worms or a size 4 hook for Yabbies. A decent sized sinker isrecommended, I usually use a 4 or 5 ball even in quite shallow water. Just keepmoving around until you start to find consistent numbers of fish on the bite.

Tailor are starting to show up more regularlyaround Jumpinpin towards the top of the tide and the first hour of the run out.The Pin Bar Mouth, Crusoe Island, Kalinga Bank, Tiger Mullet Channel, Mouth ofWhalleys Gutter and Canaipa Passage are all worth a look. When targeting Tailorit’s important to find the bait to find the fish, birds actively feeding are agreat indication of a school of Tailor. If things are a bit quiet try trollingshallow diving lures around 65 – 90mm in length until you can temp a fish, oncelocated you can try casting metal slugs or surface lures. Matching the size ofbait fish they are feeding on is very important, once feeding fish are fixed onbait if you don’t offer a similar sized lure they will not be interested, thisis called matching the hatch.

Brad from BradSmith Fishing Charters reports the Tweed Rivercontinues to produce good Flathead, School Mulloway, Bream and the odd Whitingin the middle to upper reaches. On the flats in lower light with hardbodiesthat dive to 3.5m, and on Samaki Vibelicious white bait and Ecogear ZX40 colourcode 447 in the deeper holes that are holding bait.

Clint has had a bit of maintenance to do this week so only did a couple of trips to the Nerang river and Gold Coast Broadwater. I will be doing a lot more trips soon and very much looking forward to it. The Nerang river is producing Mulloway, Flathead, Giant Trevally and Bream on soft vibes and blade lures. The Broadwater has Squid, Flounder, Winter Whiting and Flathead biting around the Hollywell area, on yabbies and Ecogear ZX40 blades colour 440.

May 22, 2020

Asthe weather cools down chasing a Jew Fish particularly at night-time becomes agreat option. I have noticed some good-sized schools of Mullet have started toshow up on the southern end of the Gold Coast, this is a promising sign asquality Jew Fish will be hunting close by. I prefer to fish the Gold CoastSeaway area at night as the Jew Fish tend to rise up in the water column andcan hit the Mullet on the surface, the day time boat traffic will spook theboth Mullet and Jew Fish. During daylight hours you are best to anchor up overthe pipeline and drop-down live baits or fresh mullet fillet as the fish willbe feeding in the deeper water. Jumpinpin Bar is another great area to target bigJewfish especially around the entrance on the Northern side which has somegreat deep holes for bait and predators to hide in. Large soft plastics and bigsoft vibe lures work well when drifting through the area. I find the best timeto target a big Jewfish is the last 2 hours of the incoming tide, the tidechange and the first hour of the run out is the prime bite time. Big Jewfishcan be a bit illusive but if you put in the time and effort the rewards arewell worth it.

Reports of some nice Flathead beingcaught in the Tweed River, Broadwater, Jumpinpin and joining estuary systems.Try drifting and throwing soft plastics in the 3” to 4” size range like ZmanMinnowz and StreakZ on a 1/4 to 3/8 jig head or working soft or metal vibesdepending on water depth. Drifting enables you cover as much territory aspossible until you find an area holding good numbers of fish to concentrateyour efforts on.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the Tweed is still offering up nice Flathead, Whiting, Breamand School Jew. Now the water has cleared fully, the deeper holes in the middleto upper reaches are fishing best. Try the flats during lower light periods orcloudy days by trolling hardbodies or twerking with vibes.

Clint reports in the Broadwater bit of light at the end of the Covid tunnel? Ireckon we’re very lucky to live in Australia. Especially Gold Coast! Water andfishing everywhere, it’s not hard to get out and enjoy it with so many optionsavailable. I’ve been doing a few trips on the Broadwater while the wind waslight and tides were neap. Fishing the run-out tides is most productive, or thedeeper water on the run in. I’ve been usingEcogear VX45 and Hurricane blades alongside the usual trusty Ecogear ZX40’s andSamaki soft vibes. The VX’s are very good lures and mimic small baitfish verywell, while the Hurricane Sting 37 blades in Bling prawn colour are superdeadly!All of the above are accounting for School Flathead, Squid, Squire,Whiting, Tarwhine and lots of Flounder. Many great eating fish are plentiful inour local waters this time of year.

Gavin from Seaprobe FishingCharters reports afterthe weather settles down get out there and try the fads for Dollies usingpillies and live baits. Out on the 50s also try live baiting for Ajs, YellowTail Kingfish , Snapper and Pearl Perch, in close on the 24s try for Snapper ,TragJew and Silver Jew.

May 15, 2020

With the cooler weather hanging around lookingfor a feed of Squid has been a good option for some Fisho’s landing a greatfeed of fresh Calamari. You can catch Squid during the daytime or night time, Iprefer to pick a run in tide on the Southern Gold Coast giving better waterquality and as the tide rises access by boat over some of the more productiveweeds beds where the Squid hang out. We have two main species inshore totarget, the larger Tiger Squid or the Arrowhead Squid. I recommend a averagesized Squig Jig between 2 to 3 inches long depending on what they are feedingon. Also metal blade vibration lures work well in the deeper channels near theSeaway south to Marina Mirage area. Land based fishing can be better at night,the key is to find somewhere that has good lighting on the water, the lightwill attract bait fish which will also attract the predatory Squid. Some good land-basedspots are Paradise Point Jetty, Grand Hotel Jetty and boat ramp, Sundale BridgeJetty, Marine Stadium and the Gold Coast Seaway Rock Walls will all producesome quality Squid.

Reports again this week of somequality Tailor showing up along the Surf Beaches from the Tweed North to theNorthern End of the Gold Coat and South Stradbroke Island. I still prefer tofish the incoming tide if targeting Tailor from the beach, the bigger fish willusually follow the bait into the gutters which are scattered along the coast.The Gold Coast Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar are also fishing well with some bigTailor showing up. Best tip is to keep your eye on the sounder for bait fish, alsowatching out for birds diving on the water can indicate fish feeding on bait.Best baits are whole WA pilchards, Mullet Fillet and White Pilchards, for thelure Fishos Tailor tend to respond well to trolling Shallow diving lures,Surface lures and Metal Slugs.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports theTweed River is awesome this time of year. Mild and calm weather, Flathead and Mullowayare pushing upstream to their winter hunting grounds, I love it! The odd tripis producing some quality Flathead, with some big Whiting and Bream amongstthem. Popping MMD splash prawns in honeybee colour over shallow water isgetting the surface strikes, while in the deeper channels teabagging withEcogear ZX40 blades in 440 and 447 colour and Samaki Vibelicious 70mm softvibes in Ghost bait and White bait colours are getting plenty of solid fish.

Clint reports in the Broadwater good numbers of bigger Flatheadare showing up which is great to see, and expected this time of year.Samaki Vibelicious soft vibes and Ecogear ZX40account for their share share of Flatties, in much the same colours as Smithymentioned above, in the clear water normal for the dry months. The watertemperature dropped to 20 degrees in the Nerang River after the cool weather.This will bring on more Flathead, Squid, Mulloway, Snapper, Flounder and moretasty species. A good time to fish is just pastthe full moon and into neaps, my favourite tides for working the deepersections of the Northern Broadwater such as Currigee reef, Ephraim reef, aroundthe Seaway, and the main channel East of Carters bank.

Gavin from Seaprobe FishingCharters reports out onthe shelf there has been Blue Marlin around Jim’s Mountain, Riv Grounds withboats catching up to 4 Blue Marlin a day and also the odd big Yellowfin Tunausing lures anywhere from 8 to 15 inch lures. On The 50 and 36s Fathomsthe current was raging up to 3 knots so very hard to fish but still few nice Snapper,Pearlies and Tuskys have been biting with the Dolphin Fish still around thefads.

Hopeyou all have a good week and stay healthy and safe. If you have any greatcatches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know howyou went.

May 8, 2020

With the wind and swell up during the weekcombined with big tides due to the full moon hitting the protected estuary’sand rivers was the best option. Some great catches of Whiting are still onoffer as the water starts to cool down. Some good spots to try are the LoganRiver, Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Coomera River, Pimpama River and theNerang River which all offer protection from the wind. Quality bait is the keyto success, live worms or yabbies are the best choice when it come to catchinga feed of Whiting. Choose an area where you can target both shallow water anddeeper water at the same time with your rods until you can work out which depththe majority of the fish are feeding in. Once you can work out a pattern thenconcentrate your efforts in the most productive depth. Big tides mean goodwater flow which is important when targeting Whiting, the old saying no run nofun does apply. Make sure you are using a heavy enough sinker to keep your baitin contact with the bottom, I usually use a size 4 ball sinker and even go a 5 ball in the riverdepending on current flow. If the fish are quiet just keep on moving until youfind some life, I usually move if I have not caught a fish in 30 minutes. Lightmain line and light leader will attract more bites, I normally go for a 6lbfluro carbon leader works best.

Reports of some good early seasonBream around Short Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Logan River, Jacobs Well,Tipplers Passage, The Coomera River, Paradise Point and the Gold Coast Seaway.Mullet Fillet, White Pilchards, Mullet Gut and Yabbies are great bait. A goodburly trail is important when chasing Bream, pellet options from Wilson Fishingand Stimulate will do the job. As we step closer to winter, all the early signsfor a great Bream season is good news for anglers.

Some nice Tailor have come fromthe surf gutters along South Stradbroke Island the past week, the early coolWesterly winds combined with lots of bait fish have attracted some qualitysized fish. The swell is tipped to drop for the weekend, a beach fishingsession would be a good idea.

Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports hehas been getting out when he can, the Tweed this time of year fishes well for Flathead,and the Whiting and Bream are still active on surface lures.

As the water cools more the bigger Bream, Mulloway, and Flatheadappear and are best targeted in deeper water with vibes and soft plastics.

Clint has been fishing the Gold Coast Broadwater during thesettled weather and neap tides. So many good eating fish around at the momentand the fishing was on fire this week. The best fishing coincided with thesmallest tides of 0.5-1 metre range, allowing us to fish the open channelsmore, 6-8 metre depth has been best. We have been catching a lot of good size Tuskfish.These fish are very feisty and hit our Ecogear ZX40 and Samaki Vibelicious 70lures with venom then tear off on a screaming run, great fun on light tackle.Best ZX colours at the moment are 411, 414, 440, best Samaki soft vibe coloursare ghost bait, pearl shrimp, and white bait. Flathead are increasing in numbersand size, as are Founder, Squid, and Winter Whiting. Thecold change will bring on Snapper, big Bream, Mulloway, Flathead and Squid.Heaps of great fishing to look forward to!

Gavin from Seaprobe FishingCharters reports weather permitting on 50 fathoms there is still a good mixed bag of Snapper, Pearlies,Amberjack, Samson fish and Pig fish Out there just using squid, pillies andlive bait are the best options. Also try the fads on the 36s and 50s for someMahi Mahi (Dolphin fish) with pillies and little lures working best andin closer around the pin there is plenty of Mac Tunas and Long Tails in the mixas well to target on soft plastics and metal slugs.

May 1, 2020

The benefits of all the rain at the back endof Summer have paid off with heaps of bait fish schooling up throughout theentire Broadwater, Jumpinpin and adjoining rivers and estuaries. Fishing willjust get batter and better as we edge closer to winter. Currently the GoldCoast Seaway has been a hot spot with massive schools of Yakkas taking upresidence. The Yakkas have attracted all kinds of predators for fishos totarget including a few prized Mackerel, Tuna, Tailor, Jew Fish, Mangrove Jack,Snapper and big Flathead. The Seaway can be a tricky place to fish with strongcurrents making going tuff at times. The best time to fish the area is the lasthour before and the first hour after a tide change which is also a prime bitetime. Just watch how close you get to the pipeline or you will donate yourtackle.

Mates James (see Snapper photo in report) andJason did well trying their luck on the 24 fathom reef off the Seaway lastSaturday landing a prized Snapper along with a mixed bag of Moses, Trag and topeating Tusk Fish float lining WA Pilchards and Squid. Once the swell eases upit will be well worth a look for a great feed of reefies.

Customers have landed some nicecatches of Whiting in the rivers and throughout Jumpinpin and the Broadwaterthis week. Local Whiting expert Wayne Young (see photo in report) had a greattrip landing a top quality feed in the Nerang River, also try Tiger MulletChannel, Bedrooms, Canaipa Passage, Shoals at Jacobs Well, Coomera River Northand South Arms and Paradise Point. Worms and Yabbies are the best bait.

Clintand Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters report the Tweed River continues to provide fun surface action withWhiting, Flathead and Bream willing to chase MMD splashprawns in Banana benderand Honey Bee colours. More Mulloway are showing up in the deeper holes of themiddle reaches, Samaki Vibelicious in White bait colour and Ecogear ZX40’s workwell for them.

Thereare a lot of fish moving around the Broadwater chasing big schools of smallbait fish. The seaway is the main fish focus with a big variety of fish feedingthere including Mackerel, Snapper, Bream and Flathead.

Gavin from Seaprobe Fishing Charters reports another week of great offshore weather, on the 50 fathom line.There is still a good mixed bag of Snapper, Pearlies, Rosy Jobfish, Amberjack,Samson fish and Pig Fish out there just using squid, pillies and live bait arethe best options. Also try the fads on the 36s and 50s for some Mahi Mahi withpillies and little lures working best.

Hopeyou all have a good week and stay healthy and safe, if you have any greatcatches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know howyou went.

April 24, 2020

I recommend before heading out on the water thatyou make sure you check out the latest news from the Queensland Government, NewSouth Wales Government and Maritime Safety Queensland. Fishing for food isallowed at the time of writing this report.

I hit the water last Sunday with my daughterJess looking for a feed, we fished the deeper channels and edges of Sandbanksin the Broadwater from Wave Break Island in the South to Couran in the Northand managed to land over 20 fish on lures. Jess had an awesome day catching andreleasing a quality Jew Fish on a metal blade lure fished on 8lb (see photo inreport). We basically sounded around until we found shows of bait and fish onthe sounder then drifted the lures through the area until we scored a bite.Once we located numbers of fish we would concentrate on that area until thefishing slowed then we moved on. We also kept an eye on the diving birdspicking up bait fish from the current lines, these areas were producing somegood-sized Tailor. We ended up landing Jew Fish, GT’s, Pennant Trevally,Flathead, Tailor, Bream, Tarwhine and Moses Perch. The lures of choice were 1/2ounce TT Switch Blades and 4” Zman StreakZ Curly TailsZ rigged on 3/8-3/0 TTHead LockZ jig heads.

Reports from Offshore early in the week saw agood mixed bag of Snapper, Trag, Moses and Tuskies landed on the 18 to 24fathom line off the Seaway, the current was up at times making fishing lightdifficult. Some good bags of Pearl Perch were landed from the 50 Fathom linemid-week, fishos said the current had slowed down considerably out wider makingbottom fishing worth a go and were rewarded with a top feed.

Clint and Bradfrom Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports we allknow that going fishing at the moment is subject to debate. Of course, we don’twant boat ramps to be overcrowded and seeing people doing unnecessary stops toget fuel and bait. However, being out on a boat or shore fishing alone or withfamily or one mate is way safer than visiting the supermarket. Each to theirown I guess, as long as it’s safe and legal. if you are getting out to natureand you’re allowed within your postcode, it is great for morale and spirit.

The Gold CoastBroadwater has been fishing well. During the neap tides I took the opportunityto fish some deeper water around the seaway and North of there. Ecogear ZX40and Samaki Vibelicious vibes accounted for Flathead, Snapper, Whiting,Tarwhine, Bream, and Flounder. As always find the bait and you will find thefish. Best areas to fish this coming week in lead up to new moon: Runaway Bayforeshore, Budds Beach, Seaway around tide changes, edge of main channel nearMarina mirage.

Tweed is still producing Whiting on MMD splashprawn surface lures, with Honey Bee and Banana Bender the stand out colours,while flathead are growing in number and size in all local rivers.

Gavinfrom Seaprobe Fishing Charters reports awesomeconditions outside at the moment with light westerly winds in the mornings, trythe 50 fathom line at the moment with no current and a real good mixed bag offish out there. Snapper, Pearlies, Amberjack, Pig Fish and Silver Jew justusing squid, pillies and live bait. Also try the fads on the 36s for feed ofMahi Mahi.

April 17, 2020

Before hitting the water make sure you check out the latest newsfrom the Queensland Government, New South Wales Government and Maritime SafetyQueensland. Fishing for food is allowed at the time of writing this report.

Bread and butter species like Bream,Whiting and Flathead are a great target option if you’re keen to chase a feedof fresh fish for on the Gold Coast or Tweed. All these fish can be targeted byeveryone either land based or if you have a boat or Kayak. Just remember yoursocial distancing rules when fishing in the boat or land based. Some land basedspots to try are Jacobs Well Jetty, Cabbage Tree Point Beach, Coomera RiverHighway Bridge, Santa Barbara, Jabiru Island, Paradise Point Jetty, Lands EndBiggera Waters, Grand Hotel Jetty, Marine Stadium, Nerang River, CurrumbinCreek, Tallebudgera Creek and Tweed River. If you own a boat try aroundCurrigee, Paradise Point, Wave Break Island, Nerang River, Tiger MulletChannel, Canapia Passage, Jacobs Well, Logan River and the Tweed River. Irecommend using burley when targeting Bream, a pellet burley like Stimulate orWilson Pellets will work well. The best bait for Whiting is Worms or Yabbies,for Bream and Flathead try Prawns, White Pilchards, WA Pilchards, Mullet Filletor Yabbies.

Sand Crabs have been around in goodnumbers throughout most of the main channels in the Broadwater and Jumpinpinthis week. Try setting your pots on the edges on the channel near the drop offwill work well. At high tide the crabs have still been moving on top of thesandbanks in amongst the weed beds.

Gavin from Seaprobe Fishing Charters reports there are still Blue Marlin and big DolphinFishon the shelf anywhere from 200m to 1200m metres of water , placeslike riv grounds and also Jim’s Mountain and Micks. Try trolling 8 to 15 inchskirted lures. On the 50s still Aj’s, Kings, Snapper and few Pearl Perch usinglive bait, squid and pillies. Back on the 36s plenty of Dolphin Ffish aroundthe fads still . 12 ,18 and 24 fathoms Spanish Mackerel , Spotted Mackerel andschoolies have been biting real well.

Clint and Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters have beendoing a bit of solo fishing close to home.

Brad reports Whiting, Trevally and Bream are still actively smashinglures on the Tweed River. MMD surface lures in honey bee colour and trolling orcasting Pontoon 21 crackjacks hardbodies are both deadly.

Clint has been solo fishing at the Gold Coast Broadwater fora family feed, catching Whiting, Bream and Flathead for a family feed onsurface lures and unweighted yabbies while wading sand banks which is awesomeand relaxing fun.

Fishing when you need a feed is the key, don’t abuse the privilegeand only be out for that valid reason to feed the family then the Governmentshould not have a reason to make changes to the current rules. Be responsibleanglers and don’t give them a reason to stop us fishing, everyone is playingtheir part.

April 10, 2020

Hi Everyone, hope you’ve all had a good week, it’s great to seethe majority of people doing the right thing and following the new fishingrules of only going boating to catch a feed. With Easter Holidays upon us letshave a look at what’s on the menu for Good Friday and Easter Long Weekend onthe Tweed and Gold Coast.

I have been fishing when we I need a feed, I think if we don’tabuse the privilege and only be out for that valid reason to feed the familythen the Government should not have a reason to make changes to the currentrules. Be responsible anglers and don’t give them a reason to stop us fishing,everyone is playing their part.

The Broadwater and Jumpinpin is alive with big schools of baitfish at the moment, this is the spoils of all the rain we received over Summer.Predators are out feeding up hard in the lead up to spawning season. Bream arearound in massive numbers which is great news as the temperature starts to dropand we head towards the winter Bream season. For a feed of Bream try fishingaround structure like natural snags, rock walls, jetty’s and bridges. Oceanentrances like the Tweed Bar, Gold Coast Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar have seengood schools of bait being harassed by a good variety of species including JewFish, Trevally, Mackerel, Tailor, Bream and Snapper.

Flathead are starting to make a come back in good number with allthe bait around, I have seen plenty of good fish on top of sandbanks at hightide. Flicking soft plastics or trolling hard body lures should produce a nicefeed of flathead. If you prefer using bait just drift the area with yabbies orwhite pilchards for good results. Most sandbanks throughout Jumpinpin, the Broadwater,Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Logan River and the Tweed River will beworth a look. As the tide drops target the edges as the predators will lay inwait for a feed to swim past.

Gavin fromSeaprobe Fishing Charters reports whilst his chartershave been postponed due to covid 19 he has been doing some fishing inshore tofeed the family. Gavin has been finding a great mixed bag of species fishingthe Southern Broadwater including a prized Cobia to his son Cullum (see photoin report) which is a great effort inshore. Other species caught were Bream,Garfish and Flathead. Try the banks and channels opposite Seaworld and MarinaMirage.

Clint and Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters have beendoing a bit of solo fishing close to home. The Gold Coast Broadwater and NerangRiver area between Buds beach and Sovereign Island is still producing bigWhiting, Flathead, Flounder, Tuskfish, and the Squid are returning. There arestill heaps of bream everywhere and they are getting bigger. A lotof baitfish and prawns are moving around and there are Trevally busting uparound the Seaway area. The Tweed riveris producing heaps of Whiting, Flathead and Bream on surface lures, vibes,hardbodies.

Hope youall have a good Easter and stay healthy and safe, if you have any great catchesor photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how youwent.

April 3, 2020

Hi Everyone, hope you’ve all had a good week and are hanging inthere with all the changes to our lives. Tuff times ahead for many localsunfortunately, keep positive and we will come out on the other side. I’m noexpert but if you choose to go fishing for a short trip as your outdooractivity that should be acceptable so long as you are sticking to the rules ofsocial distancing. Fishing is a great escape for many anglers, and we don’tlike fishing on top of each other anyway. Let’s see what’s been happeninglately.

Before you choose to head outdoors make sure you are wellinformed.

Check out thelatest news from Maritime Safety Queensland on boating rules in Queensland @30/3/2020. As policies are changing rapidly make sure you are up to date andaware of your responsibilities.

https://www.vision6.com.au/v/63604/1029687/email.html?k=NlnDXQ3XlN_nm9wNHrDxQOigKcJ2ZtdDZFvHADeSnKQ

And also the latest update from Fisheries Queensland at the timeof writing this report, but remember to get the latest info https://www.facebook.com/141031799242532/posts/3208605089151839/?d=n&substory_index=0

FisheriesQueensland 31/3/2020

The latest advice from Queensland Health is to #StayHomeSaveLives so we strongly encourage everyone to stay home asmuch as possible and avoid gatherings that aren’t essential.

Queensland boatiescan still take their boats out locally to fish for food or travel for essentialreasons.

Public gatheringssuch as fishing are limited to 2 people (other than your direct household). Ifyou do choose to go fishing, stay close to home, keep a distance of 1.5 m fromothers and practise good hygiene, especially when fuelling up and at boatramps.

State Governmentboat ramps will remain open to boaties. Boaties should also be mindful ofhygiene when putting boats in the water at public facilities.

At this point intime, QBFP officers are still patrolling and fishing rules remain in place.QBFP are avoiding close contact, conducting interviews and discussions on opendeck, cleaning their hands frequently and have sanitisers on all vessels andcleaning all internal components of vessels. If anything changes, we will besure to let you know, but for now, do your part to slow the spread.

This advice iscurrent as of 31 March 2020 and may change in response to new or amended CHOHealth Directions and the government’s response to stopping the spread ofCOVID-19.

Stay up-to-date with accurate, reliable informationby visiting www.health.qld.gov.au/coronavirus

After all the rain the estuaries and rivers havebeen firing producing a good feed of quality Bream, Whiting, Flathead and a fewTrevally. If you’re keen to escape for a few hours try the Nerang River,Coomera River, Paradise Point, Tiger Mullet Channel, Pimpama River, LoganRiver, Jacobs Well and Canaipa Passage. Soft Plastics, Metal or Soft Vibes andHard Body Lures will do the trick on the above species. I do prefer to baitfish for Bream and Whiting, Yabbies and Worms are the best bait and MulletFillet is a favourite for Bream. It’s also worth dropping the crab pots in fora feed of Mud and Sand Crabs with some nice catches reported.

Gavin fromSeaprobe Fishing Charters reports offshore in thedeep water there was plenty of Ajs and Kingys on the 50 fathom line using livebait and jigs , 36 fathoms still plenty of Dolphin Fish on all the governmentfads out there using live bait and WA Pillies. The 18s and 24s are producing afair few Spanish Mackerel, Spotties and School Mackerel. Plenty of Mac TunasIn close, best method is casting small little laser and raider lures.

Clint and Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters have stoppedrunning charters until further notice due to the coronavirus epidemic. Sadtimes but we’ve been around a long time and we will be back as soon aspossible!

Brad and Clint sincerely hope everyone takes care and heeds warnings.We’re all in the same boat, and we all need to stay calm and see it through.

The fishing has still been very good, and we’ll continue toeach go fishing solo while allowed, to let you know what’s biting and where. Ifanyone is struggling and would like to chat about fishing, feel free to messageour page and we will get back to you. There’s nothing like fishing to take yourmind off things. Just remember to play it safe and practise socialdistancing.We have caught 2 Flatties over 70 cm on mmd splash prawns this week. Itis a rush when a big flattie takes a surface lure.

At Tweed river Brad has been having a great time landing some big Bream,Flathead, Mulloway, and Whiting.

The Gold Coast estuaries have been fishing wellfor the usual big variety of species. There has been that many Bream it’s hardto get past them but the numbers of Flathead, Whiting, Flounder and Tuskfishare starting to increase.

Hope youall have a good weekend, if you have any great catches or photos you would liketo share, please email us and let us know how you went.

Newfishing regulations now effective fisheries Queensland http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2019/9/1/new-fishing-regulations-now-effective

Fisho Tackle and Coomera Houseboat Holidaysnow have Hire Tinnies follow the link to view http://www.coomerahouseboats.com.au/our-fleet-type/hire-tinnies/

Seabreeze is a great website to accessa local forecast http://www.seabreeze.com.au/graphs/

If you have any great catches to report or fishing photos pleaseemail them to brett@fishotackle.com.au Good luck with the Fishing. Brett

March 27, 2020

Hi Everyone, hope you’ve all had a great week,from fantastic weather for fishing over the weekend to uncertain times aheadduring the week for everyone on the Tweed, Gold Coast and Australia in general.If we all work together hopefully we will be all back living as close to normallives in the near future and enjoying our passion for fishing and the greatoutdoors. Let’s see what’s been biting.

Last weekend saw 2 days of great weathergiving anglers an opportunity to head offshore, local Fishos did well landingsome nice pelagic and reef species. Some fantastic Spanish Mackerel were landedon trolled live baits and hard body lures from the 18 and 24 fathom reefs offthe Seaway, Palm Beach Reef, Gravel Patch and Nine Mile off the Tweed. Some top-qualitySnapper have been on the bite early in the morning, try the 18, 24 or 36 fathomline depending on the current. Once the Snapper bite slows try chasing pelagicspecies.

Congratulations to my daughter Bec Clarke forwinning 1^st place Junior Angler Queensland Whiting in this year’sPirtek Fishing Challenge fished back on the 15/3/2020, a fantastic effort on awild and windy weekend.

Locals have beenscoring a mixed bag of Bream Flathead and Whiting from the Sandbanks andchannels around Paradise Point, Crab Island, Coomera River, The Never Fails,Bedrooms, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well around the shoals, Logan River andCanaipa Passage. Yabbies are great all round bait, the kids will have funpumping them. I’d also recommend Worms, Prawns, White Pilchards and MulletFillet to catch a feed.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Chartersreports on the Tweed thisweek’s fishing report is much the same as last weeks with the fishing being thebest we have seen for many years thanks to the record rainfall in late Januaryand all through February.The average daily catch rate on board the boatis over 40 fish on lures and these figures by law are put on a logbook and sentto the government for the charters operators monitoring program.Flathead, Whiting and an abundance of bream are themain catch with the odd trevally which will really come back in size andnumbers. The other great thing about the big numbers of fish around is it isallowing us to use a variety of different lures and techniques.Trolling,casting, deep water jigging as well as surface lures are all working withdouble hooks ups being a common scenario.

Clintfrom the Broadwater reports wehave had a lot of fun on charters in Nerang River and the Gold Coast Broadwaterover the past week. The water has cleared to a colour we love fishing in, and avariety of fish are responding to lures and bait. When the wind was up we foundshelter in the river bends, and there were huge numbers bream hitting Pontoon21 crackjack lures in Spanish Red and Bloody Tiger Prawn colours. If you couldget past the thousands of Bream there were some Flathead, Grunter and Trevallystarting to show up. The Gold Coast Broadwater has been producing some awesomefishing sessions on light tackle, with 40-80 fish a trip. My favourite everlure the Ecogear ZX40 in colour code 440 tempts so many species and numbers offish it’s ridiculous, as guests on my daily charters will testify.TheNorthern Broadwater and surrounding areas fished very well on recent trips withover 60 fish and 18 different species such as Flathead, Whiting, Tuskfish,Flounder, Squire, Tarwhine and bream being landed.

Hope youall have a good weekend and get out for a fish, if you have any great catchesor photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how youwent.

March 20, 2020

The weather gods greeted us with some wild winds last weekend andearly this week on the Gold and Tweed Coasts. The good news is the weekend islooking great, light winds and sunshine is the forecast which means all systemsgo for angler’s keen to hit the water and find some fish. Let’s see what’s beenbiting.

I braved the wild weather last Sunday to fish the Pirtek FishingChallenge with my kids, 30 plus knot Southerly winds wreaked havoc on us allday making Fishing difficult at times. We chose to fish the Coomera River forour target species Whiting using blood worms and yabbies for bait. The Riverand Broadwater is still affected by fresh water with the water quality stillbeing below average. Bream and Tarwhine were everywhere and ravenous prettymuch beating the Whiting to the bait nearly every time we cast out. I was usinglight estuary outfits with 6 and 9 lb main line, running a 1m + long 6lb flurocarbon trace matched with a size 6 bait keeper hook for worms and a size 4 foryabbies and a 4 ball sinker. In the end the kids had a ball landing 50 plusBream/Tarwhine and 15 Whiting, not a bad effort given the conditions. We arevery lucky on the Gold and Tweed Coast having plenty of sheltered inshoreestuary systems to be able to get out of the wind enough and have some fun. Theresults of the Pirtek Challenge will be available on Saturday on their websitefor those interested. Some other areas to chase some Bream and Whiting areTweed River, Nerang River, Paradise Point, Jacobs Well, Bedrooms, Tiger MulletChannel, Slipping Sands and Logan River.

With a good weather forecast on the way this weekend Prawns willbe on the radar for plenty of Fishos. Grab your top pocket nets and head uptowards Jacobs Well for a look around the moored boats, from there head northto check out either Cabbage Tree Point, Little Rocky Point, Powerlines, LambIsland, Karragarra Island and the Salt Works at Macleay Island will all beworth a look for a feed of fresh Banana Prawns.

For those anglers itching to get offshore at this stage theforecast is looking good, depending on the current situation the 18 and 24fathom reefs should fish well for Snapper on the dawn bite after the big swellearlier in the week. Plenty of burley should do the trick to attract a few nicefish. Other bottom species on offer are Tusk Fish, Spangled Emperor, Moses,Trag, Jew Fish and Cobia.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters recommends after the weather settles down get out there and try for Spanish Mackerel and Spottie Mackerel around the 12s ,18s and 24 fathom areas. Try using live bait , WA Pillies and also up to 25 gram slugs. On the way out to the 50s check out the fads for Dolphin Fish. Out on the 50s also try live baiting for Amberjack, King Fish and Snapper.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on theTweed the lower reaches of the Tweed is throwing bignumbers of fish in all my favourite haunts with casting, trolling and surfacelures all producing the goods. If you were a keen lure fishing Bream angler youwould be in your element as we have been catching over 30 fish a day and thenmoving around to different areas to target some Flatties that are liking theslightly cooler water.There are some thumper Whiting around that arecrunching our lures if they are fast enough to beat the Bream. There are alsoquite a few whiting around as well but the bream are that thick in numbers theyare out competing them for the lures. We have also been working the areas wherethe birds are working and have been catching some small GTs and the odd good TeaLeaf Trevally on surface lures.The massamount of rain we had in February as we predicted is really laying the platformfor some great fishing from now and through our oncoming winter season.

Clint reports fromthe Broadwater reports a busy week for our charters, the great thing aboutrunning estuary charters around here is the availability of sheltered areas tofish comfortably and catch heaps, even in windy conditions.

The water hascontinued to clear nicely since the floods nearly four weeks ago. A few moreshowers will only help the good fishing continue. The wind direction makes forgood fishing this coming week. If the wind is up early we’ll be further up therivers where there is plenty of action to be enjoyed.

Offshore fishingmay be limited but we are still going out every day.

The Jacks arestill in the lower to mid reaches. We’ll target them at night the next fewweeks around the current breaks in the lower river, then in the open river andbridges as the tides back off towards neaps at the end of the week. The wind isup but we have plenty of sheltered areas in our rivers to fish and catchplenty. I have been catching good numbers of Bream, Winter Whiting, SandWhiting, Grunter and Trevally. Best areas have been Pelican beach, Bums bay,and Benowa.

Yabbies areworking very well for me, as are Ecogear ZX40 in 440 and 447 colours, andSamaki Vibelicious soft vibes. I always smear a bit of Sax scent goldprawn onmy lures for added natural effect.

Hope you have a great weekend! If you have any catches or photos you would like to share, please email us. New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Marine forecast

March 12, 2020

Wind and rain pretty much sums up this week on the Tweed and GoldCoast, with tough conditions making fishing difficult. At this stage theweekend is looking very windy, finding a good spot to hide from the S/SE willbe key to fishing success. Let’s have a look at some options.

Average would pretty much sum up fishing conditions this week onthe Tweed and Gold Coast with Strong Winds and Heavy rain dominating theweather. Finding some shelter up around Jumpinpin, Logan River, Pimpama River,Coomera River, Nerang River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek and the TweedRiver will be a plan for the weekend and week ahead. Customers have beenscoring some quality Whiting, Bream, Flathead, Trevally, Estuary Cod andMangrove Jack between the showers.

Weather permitting the Gold Coast Seaway has been producing a fewnice Jew Fish and Trevally fishing the pipeline on the last hour of the run inand the first hour of the run-out tide, live baits have been working best. Whenwe have a larger swell off shore it tends to stir up the feed and the Seawaywill fish well seeing quite a range of species caught like Spangled Emperor,Squire, Grassy Sweetlip, Painted Sweetlip, Moses, Tusk Fish Bream and Tarwhineto name a few. Just watch out for the extra swell rolling through thearea. Fishing between the pipeline andthe East Side of Wave Break Island is popular spot drifting over the rubblewith baits or lures will be worth a try.

Anglers that headed out early last Saturday morning did well onthe close reefs getting stuck into schools of Spotted Mackerel, hopefully afterthe blow some clean water will be pushed in the fish will still be around andhungry offshore.

Good luck to all fishos taking part in this year’s Pirtek FishingChallenge held on Sunday 15/3/20, it’s a fantastic comp with some awesomeprizes on offer. All money raised goes towards research for Prostate CancerFoundation Australia, that’s a good reason to get out and show your support.You can check out all the details at https://pirtekfishingchallenge.com.au/making-difference/

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports before the windkicked in Marlin were still biting around the 85m at Spot X and Deep Trag onlive bait. If you do find it a little quieter try trolling 6 to 8 inch luresand also deep divers for them so u can cover more ground and try to find someother bait schools ,doing this you can pick up Wahoo, Dolphin Fish andStripe Tuna. In close around the 12 and 18 fathoms Spottie Mackerel have beenstill biting and on the 24s around the diamond reef trolling live bait or deadbaits have been doing the trick for Spanish Mackerel

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on theTweed the fishingthis week has been outstanding with my clients catching over 20 fish a day onlures. Flathead, Bream, Whiting and Trevally have been lining up to smash avariety of lures using a variety of different techniques.Trolling pontoon21 crackjacks along the edges of the channels has worked well as has deep waterjigging with vibes in the deeper holes around the tide changes.Fishing the sea grass flats around the top of thetide in the clean water coming in from the ocean with mmd splash prawns hasbeen productive as well with the Whiting and Bream queuing to smash them.

Ifyou have never tried fishing surface lures it is something worth trying as itis so much fun watching the lure get pack attacked as it splashes along thesurface all the way to the boat.

Hope you have a great weekend! If you have any catches orphotos you would like to share, please email us.

New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Marine forecast

March 6, 2020

A run of nice weather early in the week hasbeen welcomed by anglers on the Tweed and Gold Coast giving everyone some greatfishing conditions at times. A few showers will be hanging around as the weekprogresses, at this stage it looks like the wind is tipped to pick up over theweekend unfortunately. Let’s see what’s been biting this week.

Local fishing guru Wayne Young (see photo in report) did well thisweek landing an impressive 79cm Snapper from the 18-fathom reef east of theGold Coast Seaway. Wayne said there was only a slight current making conditionsperfect for float lining baits, the big Snapper hit his bait on the drop andthen put up a great fight. The best advice is to get out there early to catchthe dawn bite as the fishing was all done and dusted by 7am. When looking for aspot to fish sound around the general area until you locate life whether it’sbait or fish, once you have found life I do prefer to anchor up and start aburley trail straight away. Customers have reported some great catches ofSpotted Mackerel from the close reefs off the Gold Coat this week, startlooking at the bait grounds then make you way out to the 18 fathom grounds insearch of a feed. Mermaid Reef and Palm Beach will be worth a go, keep youreyes peeled for birds working or top water activity like splashing or fishjumping. Slow trolled whole WA pilchards, small skirted lures or small shallowwater diving lures should work, I also enjoy casting metal slugs and retrievingthem fast. Sometimes you will have to try a few sizes of metal slugs until youmatch the bait size they are feeding on. For bait fishos WA pillie pieces willdo the trick, a burley trail is a must.

A few nice Whiting have been showing up in the Broadwater thisweek, junior fisho Bec (see photo in report) did well landing a quality feedfishing the edges of the sandbanks around the southern end of the Broadwaterusing live yabbies she pumped. Whiting seem to move around a bit at times, youwill catch a few then they go quiet for a while. If you haven’t caught any fishfor about half an hour just move around and try another spot close by and seehow you go. I recommend 6lb fluro carbon leader, and either a 4 – 5 ball sinkerto keep the bait in the bite zone, worms and yabbies are the best bait.

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports Marlinhave been a little quieter this week but still a few around thou, some lucky boatsare still getting up to 5 billfish a day. The best spots to catch a Marlin havebeen Deep Trag, Spot X and along the 85m grounds using live Bait and lures. The18 fathom reef is producing plenty of Spottie Mackerel which have moved in withthe Blue water. Try using simple half pillies and full pillies and also casting25gram slugs into the bait balls.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on theTweed what a difference a bit of rainmakes with the whole area returning to its lush green self once again. Apartfrom dodging a few showers and getting caught by few out on the water thefishing has been very good by utilising the conditions.The upper reachesof the Tweed River are still to dirty to fish so we have been stayingdownstream and working the areas where the clean water is being pushed in bythe tides. The area where the dirty water and clean oceanic water is meeting isholding a strong concentration and variety of species.Trolling pontoon 21 crackjack lures is producing Flathead,Bream and Whiting, we have been mixing it up by drifting and casting metal andsoft vibes for the same species. The shallow flats around the last couple ofhours of the run-in tide has also been fun for casting surface lures for Whitingand especially Bream that seem to be in numbers foraging over the shallowseagrass beds.We have also caught some small Giant Trevally on surfacelures and by trolling around the areas where the birds are feeding on baitfishschools holding along the current lines.

Clintreports the Gold Coast estuary fishing is reallystarting to improve after the rain events and this will continue in comingweeks. Whiting were feeding in the Southern Broadwater along the channeledges between Sundale bridge and the Spit. Using freshly pumped yabbies orEcogear ZX40 blades or Samaki soft vibes coated in Sax scent goldprawn willcatch you a feed of Whiting, Flounder, and Flathead. As the dirty water dilutesfurther the fish will start to head slightly more upstream chasing food. ExpectMangrove Jacks, Bream, Grunter, Tarwhine, and Trevally to be on the bite.

Hope you have a great weekend! If you have any catches orphotos you would like to share, please email us.

New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Marine forecast

February 28, 2020

A bit of a wind and rain has been hangingaround on the Tweed and Gold Coast making conditions a bit average at times foroutdoor activities. Braving the showers and making the most of weather windowsfinding good fishing spots out of the wind has paid off for those anglers keento get out. Let’s have a look at some options for the weekend ahead.

Keen Fishos have been doing well onthe Prawns despite the wind and rain making conditions pretty tuff at times.Plenty of boats have been out chasing a feed this week with some good haulslanded from around the Powerlines, Russell Island, Lamb Island, KarragarraIsland and Macleay Island. Keep a good eye on the sounder as Prawns willusually sit pretty deep in the water column, they sometimes look like they aresitting in a long flat line rather than a bait school of fish which can oftenball up. Luck of the draw will dictate whether you get a bag limit in a fewcasts or you will have to grind away a few Prawns at a time. It can get hecticwith large numbers of boats rubbing gunwales, everyone usually has a goodattitude and are friendly for those that are new to prawning it can be a bitintimidating at first.

If you’re looking for a fun day outfishing with the family or mates, I recommend you look at the Pirtek FishingChallenge which is held on Sunday 15^th of March this year. It’s afantastic event and all money raised goes towards men’s prostate cancerresearch. Check out the link for more details and how to enter https://pirtekfishingchallenge.com.au/ There aresome awesome prizes on offer and everyone gets a hat and brag matt, also thisyear all the junior entries receive a free packet of soft plastic lures.

Local fisho Paul Wilshire (see photoin report) braved the wind and weather on Monday and did well landing a few niceSpotted Mackerel trolling skirted lures around. Paul also found a few qualitySpanish Mackerel but didn’t manage to stay connected. Palm Beach Reef, TheGravel Patch, Mermaid reef and around Nine Mile on the Tweed are fishing well.

Gavin from Sea Probe FishingCharters reports offshore weather permitting there has been plenty of Blackmarlin being caught at Spot X and along the 80m line at the moment with up to10 Marlin a day or more being hooked. Best method for catching these Marlin latelyis live baiting for them using Slimey Mackerel and a combination of either weightedor unweighted single circle hook rigs so you are covering all depths of water. Customershave been having a great time tackling these awesome Marlin that put on afantastic aerial display when they fight. There has also been the odd Dolphin Fishand Wahoo hanging around these bait balls adding to the fun. We are so lucky tohave such a world class fishery on our local doorstep on the Gold Coast.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed some nice Flathead, Trevally and Bream have been showing up inthe lower reaches of Tweed River. Run in tides are also starting to producemore fish upstream.

Clint reports a few Whiting, Bream and Flathead onthe run in tides at the Broadwater and Mangrove Jacks are still downstreamtoo. For the bread and butter species pumpYabbies at low tide then fish the run-in around Southport or try the reef Eastof Wavebreak Island with flesh baits for Snapper and Bream. Worth a go in thelakes around Robina for bass, look for bait and smaller schools of Bass.

Hope you have a great weekend! If you have any catches orphotos you would like to share, please email us.

New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Marine forecast

February 21, 2020

The Sunshine has been a sight for sore eyes on the Gold and TweedCoasts after the massive dumping of rain we copped last week. Hundreds ofmillimetres of rain wreaked havoc throughout the Tweed and Gold Coast riversand waterways with massive amount of fresh water and debris scatteredeverywhere. The systems look like they are all recovering well this week. Let’ssee what’s been biting.

Mud Crabs have been a good target species after all the rain, witha big fresh water flush like last week it is a bit hit and miss but once youcan locate a few you should come up trumps with a great feed. The best betwould be to start working your pots around the river mouths where they meet themain channel, depending on the catch rate try either deeper water or the edgesto find out where most of the Crabs are. A few nice crabs have come from the mouthof the North and South are of the Coomera River, Coomera Houseboat customerscaught a few nice bucks in the Pimpama River. Also try the Logan River, NerangRiver, Russel Island, Canaipa Passage and Cabbage Tree Point. Whole Mullet andfish frames make great bait. I recommend changing the bait regularly, you willcatch more crabs with fresher bait.

Water quality will make a big difference to catch rates this week,looking for clean water and tides lines where the fresh water meets the saltaround the bar entrances will increase your chances of finding some qualityfish. The Gold Coast Seaway has fished well this week on the incoming tidebetween the pipeline and Wave Break Island where there is a bit of scatteredrubble. This area has produced some nice Squire, Bream, Moses, Tuskies andTrevally. Using a mixture of metal and plastic vibes or drifting baits likeWhite Pilchards, Prawns, WA Pilchards or Yabbies has been successful. JumpinpinBar area has also produced a variety of species including a few nice Tailor forlucky anglers making the effort to get out.

Customers reported some red-hot Bass fishing last weekend andearlier in the week at Hinze Dam, after the big stir from all the rain and runoff up it sounds like the Bass were hungry hitting a mixture of lures and bait.

The benefits of all the rain should pay off for all anglers asover the next few months with bait fish being distributed throughout thewaterways of the Tweed and Gold coast helping to keep predators on the bite aswe transition into Autumn.

At the time of writing my report it looks like we may see a bit ofswell return to the offshore grounds and some wind and a bit rain hangingaround. The sheltered waterways of the Gold Coast Broadwater and Tweed Riverwill be the best bet.

Clint and Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters have reported this week the target species will beeither Whiting, Mulloway, Winter Whiting or Flathead to be on the chew, and wewill be doing a few charters chasing the legendary Australian bass in thecoming week too! We can run charters chasing estuary fish in the Broadwater andBass in lakes in the same day too. Jacks will still be around but will becomemore active in the coming weeks as the water warms back up to 28 degrees. Ithas been super muddy up the rivers, try the dams for Bass, also try lakes andnear the river mouths on last of run in tides. Pump yabbies at low tide and tryfor Whiting, Flathead, Bream in deeper water off the edge of channels in theBroadwater on the run in.

Hope you have a great weekend! If you have any catches orphotos you would like to share, please email us.

New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Marine forecast

February 14, 2020

The wet weather has continued once again seeing a massive amountof rainfall on the Tweed and Gold Coast. Conditions have been average to spendtime outdoors, those keen enough to brave the rain have managed to find a feed.Good news the weekend is looking much better for heading out for a fish. Let’shave a look at a few options for the weekend.

It’s been a tuff week for fishing on the Tweed and Gold Coast withheavy falls on rain and massive tides making conditions very testing even forthe most seasoned anglers. Keen fishos have been targeting Prawns, Mud Crabsand Sand Crabs with success. When going for a Prawn session it would pay todrop the pots in for a soak as we have seen some good feeds of Mud Crabs fromthe mouth of the Coomera River, Pimpama River, Logan River, Jacobs Well,Cabbage Tree Point and Karragarra Island. The Prawns have been scattered afterthe massive flush out, it’s just a matter of doing the miles to get the smiles.Traditional spots to look are Jacobs Well, Rudy Maas, Logan River, Redland BayChannel, Russell Island, Power Lines and Macleay Island are all worth a look.Best to keep and eye out for other boat casting nets, it can get very extremelybusy with large numbers of boats squeezed into a small area competing for theschools of Prawns. Just remember your manners and have fun.

At the time of writing the report the weekend is looking muchbetter with the wind and rain easing and the return of some sunshine. Fishingwill be a bit of a gamble, you could try your luck targeting the oceanentrances around the Gold Coast Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar on the incoming tide.You will be able to see the water lines where the fresh run off meets the saltwater as it runs in from the ocean, these areas will be a lucky dip of bait andpredators like Jew Fish, Trevally, Tailor, Squire and Bream to name a fewspecies.

The humble Bream is a great target species that is not tooaffected by the fresh water in the system, they are scavengers and can be foundpicking off all the bait and scraps washed out of the rivers and storm waterrun offs. Fishing areas with structure like rock walls, jetties, pontoons andbridges should produce fish. Burly is important to attract fish and then keepthem in the general area you fish. We have plenty of good land based spots onthe Gold Coast, try either Grand Hotel Jetty, Broadwater Parklands, Southportbridge, Gold Coast Seaway Walls, Nerang River, Lands End, Runway Bay Canalentrances, Paradise Point, Coomera River Highway Bridge or Jacobs Well Jetty.Prawns, White Pilchards, Mullet Fillet and Yabbies are all good bait to try.

Smithy and Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters with acombined Tweed and Gold Coast report due to the wet weather. The guys report inthe Tweed River, Nerang River and the Broadwater there has been some Flathead,Tailor, Mangrove Jacks, Grunter and Whiting being caught. Yabbies and liveBloodworms are catching big sand Whiting in the Broadwater as well as Tuskfishand Flathead.Whilst there is rain around now, the unbelievable fishing tocome in the weeks and months ahead will make the wait worthwhile. Plenty ofthrill-seeking fishing action is to come and we couldn’t be more excited. Thisis the flush out and reset we needed, and will spread and breed bait fish andprawns, which will attract predators. Tweed river will be anamazing place to fish, and nobody in the world knows it better than Brad Smith.He is South East Queensland’s longest running fishing guide and the originallure only guide as well.

February 5, 2020

Chasing a feed of reef fish has been a good option the past weekwith some good consistent catches of Snapper, Moses, Trag Jew, Tuskies andBonito coming for the 18 and 24 fathom reefs off the Gold Coast Seaway. BenWhite had a great trip last Saturday nailing a monster Snapper (see photo inreport) from the 24 fathom reef. When looking for a spot to fish keep an eye onthe sounder for life whether it is bait fish or individual fish. Start a burleytrail to attract the fish or switch them on to feed, I find the best method tofish is to float line. For those not used to this method I use a set of 3 xgang Mustad Tarpon 766 5/0 hooks with swivels between the hooks with the sinkersitting on top of the hooks which makes it free to run up and down the line.When lowering the bait hold your main line in your fingers and just drop it ata nice slow steady rate which is a much more natural way to present a bait. Depending on current just use a sinkerbig enough to let the bait fall slowly and hopefully you should get a hit onthe way down.

Mud Crabs are a great option to targetafter a bit of rain, this week has seen a little more activity which is goodnews. Coomera Houseboat Holidays customers managed to score a nice feed fromthe Coomera River. Catches are a bit inconsistent with a mixture of small andfemale crabs to pick through until you score some good sized bucks. Try theCoomera River both arms, Pimpama River, Logan River, Cabbage Tree Point, TigerMullet Channel, Cobby Passage, Jacobs Well, Canaipa Passage, The NeverfailIslands, Brown Island and Tweed River are producing a feed.

Trevally have been smashing baitschools in the Coomera River around River Links, West of the Highway Bride andSanctuary Cove Arm of the river around jetty’s this week. Other good spots tolook are the Runaway Bay and Paradise Point canals and bridges especially thewell light up ones at night that attract bait schools. Surface poppers andstick bait will work well. If the Jacks are a bit quiet it’s always good toknow you have a chance at hooking a hard fighting Trev.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed the Tweed River is back to its tranquil self again after therush of boats and jet skis that were on the water during a very hot holidayseason.The dirty water is clearing up after the much needed deluge ofrain we received and the fishing is bouncing into gear. The shallows arefishing well on the run in tides for Bream and Whiting on surface lures, andthere is the odd Giant Trevally also moving around the shallows.Fishing the deeper holes around the tide changes isproducing a few Flathead and Jewies using vibes.

Clint reports theGold Coast Broadwater is starting to fire up after the rain and the water isclearing. Schools of Whiting and decent size Tailor are feeding at the Southernend of the Broadwater. Look for birds diving and you’ll find the Tailor and oddTrevally. We are starting to catch more Flathead too, and the Squid arereturning. The whiting are sitting in deeper water on the edgeof the channels during the day. Ecogear ZX40 blades and Samaki vibelicious 70mmsoft vibes coated in Sax scent goldprawn will catch fish all day long. Dropthem to the bottom and jig with short lift and drops of the rod. The Mangrove Jacks are spread out after the big rain. Hugeschools of Mullet and Jelly Prawns have been moving around which will befollowed by predators. You may find the bigger fish are not overly hungry inareas where there is an abundance of bait fish.

January 31, 2020

After a great flush out thanks to recent rain the fishing andcrabbing will getting better as we head into February. Let’s have a look at what’s been happeningthis week.

After recent heavy rain giving the rivers a flush out a few early season Prawns have started to show up around Russell Island, Logan River, Cabbage Tree Point and Jacobs Well, it’s worth getting out and having a look. A top pocket cast nets is a must and we do have a few in stock ready to go. If your new to chasing a prawns just keep an eye out for other boats casting nets, just remember your manners as it can get a bit hectic at times especially if your new to prawning. Make sure you are up to date with all the rules and regulations.

Local Fisho Ben did well (see photo in report) taking advantage ofthe flush out scoring a great feed of Mud Crabs from the Coomera River.Customers did well over the Australia Day Long Weekend catching some qualityMud Crabs in the Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Logan River, Pimpama River,Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point and Russell Island.

Offshore fishos have seen plenty of pelagic action with customerslanding some quality Dolphin Fish around the fads and Black Marlin scatteredfrom the 24 fathom reefs out to the 50 fathom line with spot X still holdingbait and predators. Quality SpanishMackerel have been on the chew on the close reefs in the 18 to 24 fathom depthsfrom Southport south to Palm Beach.

Some nice Whiting have beentaking Yabbies and Worms around Wave Break Island, Crab Island, Paradise Point,Tipplers Passage, the Coomera River North & South Arms, Tiger MulletChannel, Jacobs Well, Mouth of Cobby Passage, The Logan River, Nerang River andThe Bedrooms.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed what a wonderful relief it has been for our land and of courserivers to at last receive some much needed rain.The rivers are runningvery muddy at present but this is just what we needed and the fishing over thenext couple of weeks will fire right up as the clarity and salinity levelsreturn.

We are fishing the lower reaches of the river atthe moment on the run in tide and getting some good results fishing the colourchange of the ocean water pushing in against the dirty water.Flathead, Bream and Whiting are the target species aswell as Mangrove Jacks. There are somebig Trevally feeding around the discoloured tide line.

Clint reports we’ve been hoping for a big dump ofrain for a long time and it finally arrived. The Nerang river catchment gettingmore than anywhere else for once and it is very muddy at present from SurfersParadise upwards. Your best option at present is fishing in and near theSeaway, with the bigger run in tides there is some clearer water pushingthrough the northern Broadwater.

A spike in the barometer will see Jacks andMulloway on the feed around the Seaway Pipe, while the reef between the Seawayand Wavebreak Island always has little Squire and Bream for a bit of fun. Droplures and yabbies in the 6-8m depth there when the tides not running too hardand you should be on. Yabbies and Ecogear blades will also work very well inthe Southern Broadwater for Whiting, Flathead, Squire, Grassy Emperor, Squid,and Tarwhine. Use lures with metallic and darker colours in the dirty water. The fishing will be great in the next few weeks thanksto the big flush out the rain provided.

Hope you have a great weekend! If you have any catches orphotos you would like to share, please email us.

New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Marine forecast

January 24, 2020

We have been desperate for rain on the Tweed and Gold Coast for months now, it seems it’s either feast or famine with some parts of the Gold Coast copping up to 300mm of rain last Friday night and Saturday morning. Unfortunately some residents didn’t fare so well with localised flooding of houses and units, our thoughts go out to you. With so much fresh water in the system let’s have a look at some options for the upcoming Australia Day Long Weekend.

Local Fisho Paul Wilshire had a great trip recently getting stuckinto some top quality Spanish Mackerel on the shallow reefs (see photo inreport). It’s great to finally see these great fighting fish show up, Paul useda couple of methods to temp a bite. He was slow trolling live baits and whenthat slowed up he switched to trolling diving lures. Spanish can be found onmost of the reefs on the Gold and Tweed coast from the bait reef out to about24 fathoms will fish the best. Same principals apply as any other form of fishing,keep an eye on the sounder for bait schools, bird activity or surface feedingaction and you should find the fish. Mermaid Reef, Palm Beach Reef, GravelPatch, Fidos, Nine Mile, and the 18 to 24 fathoms reefs off the Gold Coastshould all produce Spanish. For live baits I recommend using a single strandwire trace with a stinger rig of a Mustad hoodlum on top and a quality treblehook on the bottom.

After a massive flush out fishing closer to the open oceanentrances is recommended, either the Pin Bar mouth or the Gold Coast Seawayshould be fishing well around the tide changes. The best areas to target willbe the current lines where the fresh water meets the salt, these areas willhold bait fish and the predators like Tailor, Trevally, Jew Fish, Squire andBream just to name a few will be targeting these areas.

Regular customers have done well on the Mud Crabs after the rainscoring a great feed using Mullet as bait. The Coomera River nearer the mouthof the North or South Arm has crabbed well, also the Pimpama River, LoganRiver, Nerang River, Brown Island, Jacobs Well and around Brown Bays on RussellIsland have produced a feed.

Bream are one species that love the rain and don’t mind a heap offresh water in the system, fishos have been catching plenty this week. Breamwill eat just about anything and can be found scavenging in numbers around mostcanal entrances, bridges, jetties, rock walls, marinas. Find the rightstructure and you should do well. They are a great target species for the kidsto chase on school holidays.

Our local waterways will be extra busy this Australia Day LongWeekend, be safe on the water and enjoy our great backyard.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed theboat traffic on the river this week has been a lot quieter with the constantwind and early morning showers. The inclement weather has not stopped usfishing and with some good planning we have had some fairly consistent results.Fishing the flats around the top of the tide withsurface lures has been fun with Whiting and Bream being the main players. Thetop water fishing with Bassday Sugapen lures and mmd splash prawns workedacross the top of the shallows gets better from now through to April.The key has been keeping an eye out for the birds working inthe deep channels as there has been some big Golden Trevally feeding under thebirds and baitfish.

Clint reports it has been a good week for fishing with some variety caught in the Broadwater andbig Mangrove Jacks still coming in at night and late afternoons.Thelighter winds and smaller tides have made for pleasant conditions for fishingthe broadwater. There has been a lot of Squid around. On one trip we caughtover 20 of them, 30 Whiting, and some small Squire, Grassy Emperor, Flounder,Tarwhine, Pike, and some Tailor. Flathead have been scarce with just odd legalsize ones about. Best areas to fish have been Southport, Bums Bay, theWest side of Carters Bank, and the Currigee area at times.

January 17, 2020

A bit of rain is a welcome surprise on the Tweed and Gold Coast. Falls have varied depending on location but any rain is good for fishing and well overdue for our dam levels. Some nice Mud Crabs have been stirred up so now is a great time to get those Crab Pots in the water. Let’s have a look at some options this weekend.

Rain last weekend combined with some showers during the week is welcome and long overdue for the Tweed and Gold Coast catchments and it looks like this weather pattern may hang around next week. When it rains is the perfect time to get those crab pots into the water as the bit of fresh water in the system gets them on the move and into feed mode. Locals have done well this week in the Coomera River, Pimpama River, Logan River, Neverfails, Tiger Mullet Channel and Canapia Passage producing a great feed of quality Mud Crabs. Whole Mullet and fresh fish frames make great bait. If you’re new to crabbing in QLD waters, click here to see the regulations.

Mangrove Jack have been liking the hotweather lately with plenty of good sized fish hitting a mixture of lures andbaits on the Gold Coast and Tweed. Local have been doing well landing somefantastic Jacks using live Mullet, Herring, Pike, Garfish or Mullet Fillet isalso a great option if live bait is hard to get. When bait fishing it pays tohave a fairly heavy drag set as they will hit like a freight train and try todrag you back into any nearby structure in the blink of an eye. Good fish havebeen showing up the Coomera River, Nerang River, Logan River, Jabiru Island,Sovereign Island, Ephraim Island and Tweed River.

We have seen plenty of Bull Shark action again this week in thecanals and rivers with a variety of sizes of Sharks being landed. I use a tracesize of around 1 to 1.5m of either 50 to 90 pound nylon coated leader crimpedto a suitable sized swivel on one end then matched with either a size 6 to 8circle or octopus hook. Mullet have been great bait and also Pike or FreshWater Eel are a great option especially if there are a few Mud Crabs aroundmunching on the baits. The Coomera River, Pimpama River, Nerang River, LoganRiver and the Neverfails and all good spots to try your luck.Jumpinpin has alsoseen quite a few baby Hammer Head and small Black Tip Sharks being caughtaround the Bar entrance and Tiger Mullet Channel.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed themiddle to upper reaches of the river continues to be the best place to look forfish. With the prospect of some rain in the coming weeks, we should see the MangroveJack and Whiting fishing improve, and the Mud Crabs will get moving. Jacks caught on ourcharters this season are averaging over 50cm in size. Whitingare still taking well-presented surface lures over the shallow sand banks, withMMD splash prawns one of our favourite lures to use. There is also sometrevally around way upstream.

Clint says to head over to Brad Smith Fishing Charters Facebook page for a bushfire fundraising relief auction they are running, you can bid to win a spot on a mangrove jack fishing charter with a sporting legend.

This week once again the Mangrove Jacks were around, with the bigger fish feeding aggressively at times. These fish often have small bite periods and it pays to be patient and wait for them to switch on. The Broadwater has fired up with a few nice Flathead, lots of Squid, Squire, Tarwhine, and Whiting. We have been boating 10-15 squid a day and these tasty critters are absolute suckers for Ecogear ZX40 and Samaki Vibelicious lures. Smear some Sax scent goldprawn on the lures and lift and drop them in water 4-8 metres deep.

Hope you have a great weekend! If you have any catches or photos you would like to share, please email us.

New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Marine forecast

January 10, 2020

The Tweed and Gold Coast just keep on turning on perfect weatherfor getting outdoors and enjoying our awesome part of the world. The New Year’scrowds have slowed down a bit with lots of people heading back to work thisweek making fishing conditions a bit nicer on the water with a bit less traffic.Let’s see what action has been happening this week.

Customers are having a good run landing plenty of Black Marlin andDolphin Fish from the Tweed and Gold Coast this week. Off the Gold Coast DaveFaizzo did well landing his first ever Black Marlin fishing the 36 fathom fadoff Surfers Paradise (see photo in report). Boats are reporting multiplestrikes and fish caught and released which is great news to see good numbers offish moving through the Gold and Tweed Coast reefs. The fad on the 24 and 36fathom reefs have been holding good sized Dolphin Fish as well and BlackMarlin, also work the 36 fathom line, spot X and the 50 fathom line to findgood fishing. Always be on the lookout for surface activity, birds working baitschools and the skipper keep an eye on the sounder for any signs of life.

Current permitting the 18 and 24 fathom reefs have been producinga great feed of Snapper for those willing to get up early and take advantage ofthe sunrise bite. Leigh (see photo in report)did well fishing with Wayne Young last weekend landing a cracking 93cmSnapper. A mixed bag of Snapper, Moses, Tusk Fish, Maori Cod, Trag and a few Jew Fish have beencaught float lining WA Pilchards, Squid, Live Yakka’s, Butterflied Yakka’s orMullet Fillet. Sinker size is important, just use enough weight to get to thebottom as you want your bait to float down at a slow pace to attract a bite onthe way down. Soft plastics have also produced some great Snapper on the dropand also dead sticked by leaving you rod sit in the holder and let the boat moveup and down on the swell do all the work.

Reports of some quality MangroveJack have been coming in this week, the warm water temp up the rivers is makingthem quite active. The Coomera River holds some top quality fish, try theHighway Bridge, Regatta Waters boat ramp and rock bar, Railway Bridge for thosewith boat access. Also next to our shopat the end of Shipper Drive, Santa Barbara boat ramp, Coomera Waters boats rampand jetty or the Hope Island Bridges are all worth a go. Other good spots areSovereign Island, bridges at Paradise Point, Runaway Bay canals and the NerangRiver bridges, pontoons and rock walls. Live Mullet, Winter Whiting, Herring orPike are great. Also throwing a mixture of Zman plastics and Zerek hard body lureshave been working a treat for those that prefer to fish lures.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed the surface action continues at the middle to upperarea of Tweed River with Whiting, Breamand Flathead getting caught on daily charters with MMD splashprawns and BassdaySugapens. There are some shallow sand banks which are holding goodnumbers of Whiting.Mangrove jacks will feed aggressively as the waterkeeps warming, especially if the river experiences some decent rainfall.

Clint reports in the Broadwater the Mangrove Jack action has been insane on our eveningcharters. We have boated 24 in the last month and 10 in the last three trips.The river water temperature is now over 29 degrees on the run out tides,speeding up their metabolism, and they are very hungry. There seems tobe Jacks at all spots in the river hunting schools of Mullet and Whiting atnight. All jacks on our charters are released unless gut hooked, as we believethey are too nice a fish to catch once. There have been big jacks toowith a good number of fish measuring 57 to 60cm. They’re all fat and healthylooking which shows what a healthy system we have. One night we had a fish thatlooked 70cm plus bust the leader right next to the boat. The ups and downs ofjack fishing! Apart from the red devils, we have been catching Whiting,Blackspot Tuskfish, Flounder, the odd Flathead,Tailor, Tarwhine, Bream, Squire,Grassy Emperor, Spangled Emperor, and a lot of Squid. Best lures have beenEcogear ZX40’s in the colours 440, 411 and 441. We smear a dab of Sax scentgoldprawn all over the blades for added effect. Best baits have been livebeachworms and yabbies. Deeper areas on the edges of the main channels arewhere the fish are holding, due to the water traffic and clear water.

December 20, 2019

It was nice to see some much needed rain last Friday, giving the rivers a bit of a flush out. With Christmas just around the corner it’s a great time of year to get out for a fish with the family and friends on the Tweed and Gold Coast.

Christmas is a very busy time on the water, and we hope everyone heading out enjoys a well-earned holiday. Just because there will be a bit more boat traffic doesn’t mean the fishing will be quiet, the fish on the Gold Coast are used to a bit of boat and jet ski traffic and should be on the bite for those that want to chase a feed.

Some good rain last Friday combined with the full moon largertides was just what the rivers needed giving them a bit of a flush out. Thegood news is it stirred up the Mud Crabs just in time to Christmas lunch,customers did well scoring a few nice healthy looking bucks. I’d recommendgetting the pots in and having a go at catching a great feed of Mud Crab, trythe Coomera River, Pimpama River, Logan River, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point,Tiger Mullet Channel and Canaipa Passage. Whole Mullet and Fish Frames workwell. Changing the bait regularly is a must as they prefer fresh a fresh feed,I also recommend using a bait bag to keep the little fish and eels fromstealing the bait.

We’ve had reports of the oddLittle Black Marlin showing up this week off the Gold and Tweed Coast is goodnews for anglers keen to get out over Christmas. Fish have been spread outmostly between the 18 to 50 fathom line. The old saying is find the bait andbirds and you should be lucky enough to find the fish. Keep your eyes peeledfor the smallest log or bit off rubbish acting as a FAD floating on the water,even large jelly fish will attract small bait fish and will also hold pelagicpredators like Billfish, Dolphin Fish and Wahoo. Trolling small skirted Pakulalures rigged on 80 to 100lb mono is my method of catching pelagic species, it’sa very exciting and visual way to fish.

Whiting have been around innumbers this week, customers have been landing a nice feed with some good sizedelbow slappers on the chew. A few goodspots to try are Canaipa Passage, Tiger Mullet Channel, Bedrooms, Coomera Riverboth arms, Paradise Point, Pimpama River and the Nerang River. Worms and Yabbies are the best bait. Anotherfun and popular method is casting small surface poppers and surface walkers inthe shallows, Whiting are very aggressive feeders and will chase down your lureand smash it.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed thisweek’s report is much the same as last weeks with the highly visual surfacefishing producing the results. Flathead, Bream and Whiting as we know are allpredominant bottom feeders but by choosing the right lures that skip along thesurface like MMD Splash Prawns and Bassday Suga pens these fish will readilyrise and explode from the bottom to devour them. Itis also important to choose the correct areas to use this technique which arethe shallows that contain a mixture of sea grass and yabbie banks and the TweedRiver has plenty of these types of grounds. This is the right time of the yearto try this fun technique with the surface fishing being at its absolute bestfrom now right through to April.

Clint reports in the Broadwater Mangrove Jacks have been feeding aggressively at timesin the Nerang River, and we have been doing well on our evening charters withsome big fish boated and released. Most are over 50cm and up to 58cm withbigger fish out there that are hard to stop. Live Whiting is quickly becomingthe bait of choice as the season goes on. Winter whiting are best as they haveno size limit and are easily caught on Ecogear ZX40 blades and SamakiVibelicious in the Gold Coast Broadwater. Fishing the broadwater thereis variety on offer but not much size out there at the moment. We have beencatching Winter whiting, Flathead, Tarwhine, Squid, Tuskfish, Snapper, Grassyemperor, Spangled emperor. We have been running night charters for MangroveJacks in the mid to lower reaches of the river, timing the tides is crucial toget the bites. No run no fun but too much run no fun either. There are thatmany big Bream in Nerang river at the moment it is insane. The biggest ones of40cm and over come out at night and are very hungry and in huge numbers.

We wish everyone a very Happy and Safe Christmas, keep in mind it’s the busiest time of year on the water and extra patience will be needed especially at the boat ramp.

Hope you have a great weekend! If you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how you went.

New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Marine forecast

December 12, 2019

I can’t believe that School Holidays are here and Christmas is just around the corner! The standard weather pattern on the Tweed and Gold Coast continues with stronger Northerly winds hanging around. Let’s have a look at a few options to get the kids out of the house and go fishing.

School Holidays are here, it’s anopportunity to get the kids out of the house and go fishing. We have plenty offishing locations on the Gold Coast and Tweed for kids to try their luck. Somegood spots to try are the Coomera River Highway Bridge, Grand Hotel Labrador,Broadwater Parklands, Southport Bridge, Paradise Point, Hope Island, NerangRiver and Jacobs Well are all good options. A basic running sinker rig on akiddies combo and a prawn should do the trick on common species like Bream,Tarwhine, Whiting, Flathead, Trevally, Moses or Mangrove Jack to name a few. Wehave plenty of sandy beaches in the Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek,Southport Spit, Biggera Waters, Runaway Bay and Paradise Point which are greatspots to take the kids.

Customers have been scoring a mixedbag of Whiting, Bream and a few Flathead this week throughout the Broadwaterand Jumpinpin. Local kids on holidays are catching a few Bream, Trevally andthe odd Jack off the bank next to our shop in the Coomera River. Our Houseboat customers have found a few nicefish around Tipplers Passage, Dux, The Never Fail Islands, Tiger MulletChannel, Bedrooms, Jacobs Well, North Arm of the Coomera River and Wave BreakIsland.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed thebulk of the success over the past week has come from finding protected areas ofthe river out of the constant howling Northerly winds and fishing theshallows. Fishing the flats with top water lures such as mmdsplash prawns and Bassday sugapens is a ton of visual fun, as you watch thefish smash these lures on the surface.Whitingare the main players when it comes to taking surface lures especially now andall through the summer months and they fight hard on light equipment in only afew feet of water.Flathead and Bream are also players when itcomes to crunching lures on the surface. We had a session earlier in the weekwhere the Flatties dominated the catch.

It is an awesome sight to see when that big bucketmouth of a flattie comes up from the bottom and devours a surface lure.

Clint reports in the Broadwater as expected with thehot weather Mangrove Jacks are firing up more each week. A lot of bigger 50cmplus fish are getting caught on lures and bait.Irun Gold Coast afternoon/ evening trips for jacks, using bait and livies. Formore info on our mangrove jack charters SMS me on 0432 990 302. In the GoldCoast broadwater this coming week neap tides will make it easier to fish, lookfor areas clear of weed then bait on the fish finder and you’ll find someTuskfish, Flathead, Bream, Tarwhine and Whiting.

Pump some yabbies with the kids at low tide at thebig sand banks near the Western shoreline at Southport and Labrador. Then startfishing with light sinkers and no.4 size bait holder hooks, right near whereyou pumped the yabbies. The neap tides will make it easier to fish the lower tomid reaches of the rivers for big Mangrove Jacks. Up the rivers could be slowon the smaller tides with the lack of run. There are still a lot of Trevallygetting about, they’ll feed more aggressively on days when a South or SouthEasterly wind change pushes through.

Hope you have a great weekend. If you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how you went.

New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Seabreeze marine forecast

December 6, 2019

We had a rough start on the Gold and Tweed Coasts with a howlingW/SW hammering us on Monday making finding a spot to fish very hard. Luckilythe rest of the week has been nice with light to moderate winds and a niceforecast as we head into the weekend.

With a nicer forecast during theweek, local fisho Wayne Young and Ben hit the local 18 fathom reef and came uptrumps with a good mixed bag including a nice Jew Fish, Snapper, Moses andplenty of Trag Jew. This time of year the bottom fishing can be a bit hit andmiss depending on the amount of current running as getting bait to the bottomcan be near impossible. Trolling Skirted Lures or Live baits this time of year anywherefrom the Seaway to the 50 fathom line of the Gold Coast or from the Tweed Barto the close reefs is a great option as we should start to see a few juvenileBlack Marlin moving past our Gold and Tweed coats as they migrate south. Baitis the biggest indicator that predators will be close by feeding, just keep aneye on the sounder as well as in the sky for birds feeding on bait balls andscraps pushed to the surface. Otherpelagic species will be on offer on the closer reefs such as the weather warmsup like Dolphin Fish, Wahoo and Tuna and Mackerel.

Customers have done well landinga few nice Flathead on the Tweed and Gold Coast. In the warmer conditions tryhunting in the deeper water or in the rivers look for deep holes as the fishwill be looking for a bit of cooler water. When the fish are a bit scatteredtrolling diving lures is a great method to cover as much territory until youcan locate a few fish in the one area. Once located you can switch to throwingsoft plastics or vibes to tempt a bite. Drifting Live baits like Yabbies,Herring or dead bait like White Pillys or Blue Biats are a great option tocover an area.

Some solid Mangrove Jack havebeen caught and released in the Nerang River and Coomera River the past week ona mixture of live bait, dead bait and lures during both the daytime and nighttime.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed the best fishing is still upstream, Whiting are themain target on surface lures with MMD splash prawns the lure of choice. A fewBream are also falling for these great looking lures. The best chance ofcatching Flathead is by trolling hardbody lures in the 2-4 metre depth range,or tea bagging blades and Samaki Vibelicious soft vibes in the deeper holes upTweed River. The hot weather will further bring on big Mangrove Jacks which canbe caught on deep diving lures trolled close to structure such as rock walls.

Clint from the Gold Coast reports in the Broadwaterwe caught a few Flathead and Whiting on Ecogear ZX40 blades coated in Sax scentgoldprawn, then moved up Nerang River to find shelter from the breeze. Trolling Pontoon 21 crackjack and Savage Gear 3d xdr shrimpsproduced a birthday feed of Flathead for John. The Flathead are very scatteredand you have to cover a lot of ground to find them. The rest of the week wefocused on targeting Mangrove Jacks in the evenings. With the Northerly windspersistent in the Broadwater we ventured into the local canals with cast netsto catch Winter Whiting, Silver Biddys, and Poddy Mullet. We have managed tocatch Jacks on every charter this week, all fish measured over 50cm and allwere released. Mixing up baits pays, like any fishing keep trying differentthings to find what works. Always hold on tight to your rod, they hit liketrains and often there is no warning. There is a lot of big Bream around atnight up the rivers. There has been large schools ofBigeye Trevally feasting on jelly prawns during the run out tides. These guysare terrific fun on light tackle and small lures.

If you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how you went.

New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Seabreeze marine forecast

29/11/19

Looking for feed of Whiting would be a great option this weekend onthe Tweed and Gold Coast, the Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek,Nerang River, Coomera River, Pimpama River and Logan River all offer you somegood spots to hide out of the wind and chase a feed of yummy Whiting. ChasingWhiting is a nice relaxing form of fishing, great for young kids who can getinvoked in gathering bait and winding in their catch. You only need a basiclight estuary combo 2-4kg spooled 6 to 8lb mono, run a long 6lb fluro carbon leader, size 4 to5 ball sinker matched with a short shank size 6 bait holder hook for usingworms or a size 4 long shank hook bait holder hook if you are using yabbies.Gathering bait is fun for the kids, pumping Yabbies or catching beach worms isa great experience. You are looking fora spot that has good tidal flow with a sandbank on one side and deeper water onthe other, just vary where you cast until you find the depth of water the fishare feeding in. Other species like Bream, Tarwhine, Grunter, Flathead and JewFish just to name a few are always an option and will put up a great fight.

Plenty of solid Mangrove Jackhave been landed this week from the Nerang and Coomera Rivers. The CoomeraRiver is still holding plenty of bait schools of Herring at the moment which isgood news for anglers chasing Jacks, Trevally and Cod to name a few species onoffer. The Nerang River has been fishing well around the bridges from Sundaleall the way down river. Try targeting jetties, pontoons, bridges, rock wallsand snags will be the best places to encounter a Jack or other species. Castinghard body lures or Zman 3’ or 4’ minnows are a popular choice, 30lb trace willbe a good starting point to avoid getting busted off although you may have toupgrade to 40lb+ around heavy structure as there are a few submarines beengetting around. Bait fishing is a very successful method and either Live orwell-presented dead baits will prove irresistible. Herring, mullet and pikewill work or mullet filet will also work a treat.

The Gold Coast seaway Pipelinehas produced a few nice Jew Fish and Trevally this week, drifting through theSeaway and in the main Broadwater channel is also a good option. Live Pike, Herring or Mullet are great livebaits. Large Zman Plastics, Micro Jigsand Switch Blades will do the job. Bestto fish this area the hour before and hour after the tide change when the tidalflow slows down.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed fishingaround the areas close to the Tweed River mouth has been tough again due to thehuge amount of cornflake weed being carried in by the constant northerly windsthat have been blowing.The mid to upper reaches of the river is the placeto be for success. Casting mmd splash prawns and bassday sugerpen lures acrossthe surface around the shallow flats has provided some great visual action onsome whiting and bream.We had theopportunity to watch a huge flathead trying to swallow one of the Whiting myclient was trying to land. The flattie was snapping at the fish all around theboat in about a foot and half of water it was dramatic to watch and shows whatmean and aggressive fish flatties can be. Speaking of Flathead we have beengetting a few but mainly very early in the mornings around the tidechanges.During this hot weather period the water temperature has beengetting a bit too warm for them through the middle of the day.

Clint from the Gold Coast reports this week a nice mix of fishing trips this past weekfor me with some night time Mangrove Jack charters, Whiting charters, dayfishing up the Nerang River for Trevally, Grunter, Flathead and Whiting, and afew trips to the Broadwater. The bigger jacks are firing up more withthe water temp exceeding 28 degrees in some places. We have had some monsterfish hooked up for guests and soon we will stop one haha. The Whiting are notin big numbers yet but there are some decent ones around, our biggest this weekwas 41cm caught by Evan, who also caught a solid bigeye Trevally on a whitingrod with yabbie as bait. Some nice GiantTrevally are hunting baitfish in Nerang river, these bruisers are top fun onlight tackle and definitely keep us on our toes. Trolling hardbody luressuch as Pontoon 21 crackjacks and Savage Gear xdr 3d 50mm shrimp over shallowsandflats will often result in a savage strike and long sustained run on 6 lbline. The Ecogear ZX40 blades and Samaki Vibelicious 70mm soft vibes are stillworking well in 5-7m deep holes for flathead and trevally.

Hope you all have a good weekend and get out for a fish, if you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how you went.

New Qld fishing regulations Hire a Tinnie Seabreeze marine forecast

22/11/19

I headed out last Sunday with the kids to look for a Mangrove Jack in the Coomera River land based, there was plenty of Mullet and Herring around making gathering live bait pretty easy. Fishing was a bit quiet until after we got hammered by hail and rain, once the sun came out the humidity peaked and we got a few bites. The Jacks were a bit tentative on the live baits so I decided to butterfly a mullet and got slammed, after a good fight and seeing the 60cm+ Jack a few times I unfortunately got busted off by a snag before we could land it. My daughter Bec did well landing a hard fighting 46cm Jack (see photo in report) using Herring for bait the next day. There are plenty of land based options from the Tweed to the Northern Gold Coast. Google maps are a great way to pick an area to target. Just look for structure like Jetties, Rock Walls or Bridges and put in the time and effort am I’m sure you will get lucky. We also have seen plenty of Trevally smashing bait throughout the Coomera River on a daily bases this week.

Young Jai had a great Houseboat Holiday (see photo in report)catching a quality Bream in the mouth of the Coomera river, it’s great to seethe smile on the kids faces after landing a fish they will remember for yearsto come. Catches of some nice bread and butter species like Bream, Whiting andFlathead have been have been reported by customers from the middle reaches ofthe Tweed River, Nerang River, Paradise Point, Coomera River, Pimpama River,Jacobs Well, Canapia Passage, and the Logan River.

It’s that time of year when focus turns to targeting Bull Sharks,we have seen plenty free jumping in the Coomera River and the main Broadwaterthe past couple of weeks and we have also landed a couple in the main Coomeraup to the 1.2m in length. For targeting the average sized Sharks you reallyonly need a medium sized rod around 7ft long matched with a 5000 to 6000 sizedreel, 20lb line and trace up to 100lb will work fine. Either a circle or J hookaround 7/0 should work well baited with a piece of Fresh Water Eel, Catfish orMullet are all good options. You can target Sharks during the daytime or nighttime quite successfully. Some good spots are the Coomera River, Nerang River,Main Broadwater Channel, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well, Logan River, UpperReaches of the Tweed River and Tallebudgera Creek.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed conditionsthis week have been a bit tricky with strong winds blowing most days and aninflux of cornflake weed being pushed in around the river mouths.Findingprotected areas well upstream allowed us to do some deep and shallow watertrolling for some Flathead, Bream, Whiting and a few small GT’S. When the tidalconditions suited we took advantage of it and started casting some mmd Splashprawns and caught a few Whiting and Bream on the surface which was greatfun.

Clint from the Gold Coast reports this week featured mixed wind directions andtemperatures. In such conditions we do need to cover a lot of ground to findwhere the bait and fish are holding to keep our guests entertained. David andhis six year old son Mathew booked a Nerang river charter with me. Mattyclearly out fished us, catching 20 fish for the day including some niceWhiting, Bream and Trevally. I like the look of the air temperatures inthe week ahead. When the day time raises to around 30 degrees Celsius and nighttime only drops to around 20, the Jjacks will get more aggressive and fishingfor them will be more consistent, as will the fishing for big Whiting. In theBroadwater there will still be some strong run. Get out there early to takeadvantage or the optimum fishing time. Let’shope we get some rain at some point and lighter winds soon to provide somerelief to all those suffering from the bush fires.

If you have any great catches to report or fishing photos pleaseemail them to brett@fishotackle.com.au. Goodluck with the fishing!

15/11/19

Local angler Wayne Young (see photo in report) did well catchingand releasing a nice Jew Fish from the Gold Coast Seaway using a soft plasticfished on the tide change. The key to fishing the Seaway is to try to time yourtrip to fish the hour before and after a tide change giving you an opportunityto fish as the current slows down making it easier to get your lure or baitinto the strike zone. A few big Flathead have also been landed as they gettowards the end of spawning season.

Good numbers of quality Whiting have been landed in the TweedRiver more towards the entrance by locals using beach worms and yabbies forbait. Local fisho Bree (see photo in report) did well on her Houseboat Holidaylanding a great feed including a quality 37cm Whiting at Jumpinpin. The NerangRiver has been fishing well at night, also try the Logan River for a feed.

The rivers are still holding plenty of bait, in turn predatorshave been quite active especially early morning and at dusk. Quality MangroveJack and good sized Trevally have been showing up with anglers having a greattime tangling with these bruisers. The Nerang River, Coomera River, ParadisePoint, Hope Island, Jacobs Well, and Logan River should produce for anglerswill to put in the time and effort.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed thereare some solid Flathead feeding upstream, feeding on bait fish. Small minnowlures and vibes are working best. Trevally are still coming through and huntingfood in the middle to upper reaches of the Tweed River. Giant Trevally are veryexciting to hook on light tackle, trolling and casting hard bodies and softplastics will get strikes. As the water warms the big Whiting which the Tweedis renowned for are aggressively hitting mmd splash prawn surface lures. In theclear water and sunny days use translucent colour lures in shallow water.

Clint from the Gold Coast reports strong Northerlyand then Southerly winds in the past few days will stir up the water, I can’twait to get out explore the area once everything calms down. Whiting in NerangRiver should be feeding hard leading up to full moon, as will Mangrove Jacks.Inthe Gold Coast Broadwater Winter Whiting will be in good numbers, and someFlathead. Surprisingly there is a lot of Squid out there at present aroundmoored boats and weed beds. The best lures tocatch all of the above are Ecogear ZX40 blades in non UV colours such as 411,and Samaki Vibelicious 70mm soft vibes in white bait, clear mullet, pearlshrimp, and squid colours. I have a few jack charters coming up over thenext week, as well as Broadwater trips. Looking forward to catching andreleasing some big ones!

There has been a lot of big bream around at night.It’s when they go quiet that you know the Jacks are coming through.

Hope youcan all get out for a fish, if you have any great catches or photos you wouldlike to share, please email usand let us know how you went.

Report 8/11/19

Last weekend Gold Coast Fishing Fanatics Facebook Page and MyCatch Australia held the Tilapia Busters comp at Robina backed by the GoldCoast City Council Wow! What a great day! 404 participants attended today’sevent and contributed to catching 347kg of Tilapia. An outstanding effort in conditions that weren’t exactlyfavourable. Keep your eyes out for the next comp and do your bit for our localwaterways.

Local Fisho Alex (see photo in report) did well managing to drag ahard fighting Mangrove Jack out of structure while fishing live baits at nightin the Nerang River. Customers have reported that numbers of Jacks being caughtis increasing as the weather heats up, they really like those humid conditionsswitching on their feeding pattern making them very aggressive. We have plenty of great spots to target Mangrove Jack from either land based or byboat from the Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Nerang River and the Canal systems south toBroadbeach, Runaway Bay, Paradise Point, Coomera River and Logan River allbeing prime locations. At the moment the Coomera River has good numbers of baitschools of Herring and Mullet moving around, this is great news as thepredators like Jacks will be around in good numbers. Lure fisho’s have alsobeen doing well tempting some top quality fish on a mixture of 3” to 4” softplastics and hard body lures. By catch like Trevally, Cod, Jew Fish and eventhe odd Barramundi (keep in mind its closed season to target Barra) are awesomefun if the Jacks are slow. Just mix your methods and try either day time ornight time sessions and I’m sure you will come up trumps if you put in thehours.

Customers caught some good sizedWhiting and Bream off the sandbanks east of Cobby Passage this week, also theLogan River, Western end of Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well and the Bedroomsare worth a look. Yabbies and Worms aregreat bait.

Sand Crabs have been around in good numbers from the SouthernBroadwater all the way to Russell Island. Target a few depths of water untilyou find better numbers of Crabs. Fresh fish frames work well and also wholeMullet are great bait.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on the Tweed consideringthe amount of seriously strong winds this week the fishing was fairlygood.Both casting and trolling Pontoon 21 crackjack lures across thefront of drains and feeder creeks on the run out tides produced some niceschool sized Flathead and 2 fish over the 70 cm mark.Trolling the deeper channels of the river is stillconsistent for finding some small but hard fighting Giant Trevally. We playedone monster fish for over 40 minutes to unfortunately lose it right beside theboat. We found protection from the wind in a couple of shallow sea grassed bayson a mixed things up by casting some MMD splash prawns on the surface andcranked some shallow running lil mate lures. This produced a lot of fun withsome nice Whiting and a lot of Bream eager to play the game.

Clint from the Gold Coast reports some interesting catches on my boat this week includesMangrove Jack, Mulloway, Giant Trevally, Tailor, Flathead, Squid, Whiting. Bestareas in the Broadwater were Labrador and Runaway Bay in the three metre depth.Best time to fish during bigger tides is last two hours of the run out andfirst two hours of the run in. Nerang River has been very inconsistent duringthe daylight hours, due to the long term lack of rain. Fishing structure anddoing the miles to find bait schools is the way to go. I’d recommend nightfishing for jacks in the upper reaches while the tides are still bigger, thenthe middles reaches as we move into the neap phase of the moon. Tim,Steph, Grant, and Soba noodle toy poodle booked a jack trip on Sunday night. Wemoved spots several times after Tim caught a big bream and tailor, eventuallyfinding his first ever Jack for him way up river on the start of the run outtide. I have been using live baits for Jacks but we are getting more hits onwell-presented dead baits such as mullet and bonito fillets. Jacks will hunt inshallow water in the evenings. Don’t go too light on tackle and line/ leader.The bigger models will smoke you, there are some 70cm plus fish in our localrivers.

If you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how you went.

Report 1/11/19

Offshore the fishing has been quiet good on the close reefs withregular contributor Wayne Young and mate Rob (see photo in report) doing wellon a recent trip scoring a great feed of mixed species including Rob’s new PBJewfish, Snapper, Moses, Tusk Fish, Pearl Perch and Bonito from the 18 fathomreef south east of the Gold Coast Seaway. Current permitting sound around untilyou find bait or fish on the sounder worth fishing on then anchor up and floatline WA pilchards, Squid and flesh baits will do the job.

Local Fisho Ben White (see photo in report)did well landing a niceJew Fish and some Flathead fishing the Gold Coast Seaway, best time to fish theSeaway is an hour before to an hour after the change of tide when the current flowslows down making fishing the structure much easier. Soft Plastics, Vibes, LiveBaits or Flesh baits will all work depending on the angler’s preference.

The upper reaches of the Coomera River has been producing somegood catches of Trevally, Mangrove Jack and Estuary Cod. Local angler JohnLewis had some fun landing a nice Trevally (see photo in report). Trevallyfight hard pound for pound making them a great target on light or mediumtackle. Depending on where the fish are feeding surface lures, metal slugs,trolled hard body lures or Live bait are all good options.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on that Tweed thisweek on the Tweed was much the same as last week with both Giant and Big EyeTrevally on the prowl, and some thumper Whiting smashing our lures. TheTrevally have at times been busting up on the surface which has allowed us tocast surface lures at them with the MMD Splash Prawns working well. When theTrevally has not been visually spotted we are getting them by trolling Pontoon21 lures in the deeper channels. The Whitinghave been feeding in the dirtier water where we are getting them on the trollwith both Pontoon 21 and Ecogear SX48 minnows, and a few casting EcogearZX40’s. In between there are also a few Flatties around to mix up the speciescount on the day.

Clint from the Gold Coast reports fishing the areafrom the Seaway to Crab island mainly in the six metre depth zone, catching avariety of fish and getting a feed of Flathead, Squid, and Whiting. Best lures for the Broadwater now to catch a greatmixed bag are Ecogear ZX40 blades in colour 411, 414, and 417 (non UV in clearwater and sunny days) and Samaki Vibelicious 70mm soft vibes which come in anincredible range of deadly colour. On the other days we fished up the NerangRiver, covering the ground and working the tides to catch Whiting, Flathead,Giant Trevally, Grunter and Bream. Mangrove Jacks slowed down a bit atnight with the cooler winds but warmer conditions this week are looking good,especially with the bigger tides. Whiting will be feeding hard on worms andyabbies when there is flow. Best fishing is at night in the with the clearwater around due to prolonged lack of heavy rain. Try worms and yabbies on arun in tide in the Southport to Capri area.

Hope you all have a good weekend and get out for a fish, if you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how you went.

Report 25/10/19

As the weather heats up Mangrove Jack have been more activethroughout the Tweed and Gold Coast waterways, this is a great sign for thosethat enjoy chasing these hard fighting Red Devils. Customers have reported somenice Jacks up to the mid 50cm mark in the Coomera River from the Weirdownstream to Coomera Waters in the North Arm and the South Arm to ParadisePoint. These areas offer multiplestructure options to fish such as rock walls, bridge pylons, natural rock bars,and pontoons with or without moored boats. All these spots are prime targetareas as they will hold bait trying to shelter from predators in the mainriver, the Jacks will just sit and wait for the bait to swim past before theynail it. Local anglers have been doing well casting and retrieving Zman Minnowzin the 3 or 4 inch range matched with heavy duty TT Headlockz jig heads. Baitfishing is one of my favourite options, live Herring, Mullet, Silver Biddiesand Winter Whiting are great bait. If you have trouble catching live baitMullet Fillet will also work well. The Nerang River, Tweed River, TallebudgeraCreek and Logan River all offer great structure to target Jacks, Cod andTrevally.

Customers have been doing well fishing for a feed of Whiting,Dart, Bream and Tarwhine off the Surf Beaches from South Stradbroke Islandsouth to the Tweed Coast. Collecting fresh bait from the Surf Beach is alwaysgreat fun digging for Pippies and catching Beach Worms which make awesome bait.Yabbies or Prawns will also work well. Smaller swell this week has made fishingeasier, just look for a gutter and you should find fish. If it’s a bit slowjust keep moving up the beach until you find a school of fish feeding. I uselight beach outfit around 10 or 11ft long spooled with 8 lb mono and 8lb flurocarbon trace.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on that Tweed wasn’tit great to get a bit of rain the past couple of weeks, hopefully we might getwell over 50 mm plus of rain in the near future and give all our localwaterways a much needed flush out. The report this week is much the same aslast week with small Giant Trevally, Flathead and a few Bream and Whiting beingthe main players.The Trevally are migrating up and down the riverfollowing the tides and we have been trolling a combination of deep and shallowrunning lures for the best results on them. Fishing the deep holes with bladelures around the tide changes has worked to pick up a few Flatties and fishingthe pockets of dirty water when we can find them is the place to find the Breamand Whiting.

Clintfrom the Gold Coast reports he lovesthe rising temperatures as it means the Jacks will keep firing up and so willthe Whiting and various species of hard fighting Trevally. Spots are bookingfast for Mangrove Jack trips in the Spring and Summer months so contact us asapto secure your date. The Broadwater has been fishing ok on a run out tide withthe staples being school size Flathead, Whiting, small Squire, Queenfish,Tarwhine and Bream. While up the river there has been Trevally, big Bream,Whiting, Jacks, and the odd Mulloway and Grunter. Besttips this week is pump yabbies and use on lightly weighted hooks at both theBroadwater and Rivers, Ecogear ZX40 colours 440 and 411 will catch fish too.Try Mullet, Whiting, and Bonito fillets for Jacks around tide changes, nearstructure, and just after sunset.

Report 18/10/19

It was nice to finally get some long overdue rain over the weekendon the Tweed and Gold Coast. It will take a lot more rain to give the systemthe flush out required to help with the fishing and crabbing but we are happyto take any rain for now.

Local Fisho Paul Wilshire took advantage of a great weather windowon Monday and headed out to the 18 Fathom reef off the Seaway and scored acouple of big Snapper (see photos in report) fishing soft plastics. Off shorehas been a bit hit and miss depending on the water depth you fish and howstrong the current has been running. Reef fishing is always a great option aslong as the current allows you to drop bait or a lure into the strike zone. Asthe water warms up the focus will shift to chasing pelagic species like Spottedand Spanish Mackerel, Dolphin Fish, Wahoo and the much anticipated run of litheBlack Marlin we have off the Gold and Tweed Coasts. It’s time to dust off thegame fishing gear, re rig the lures and keep an eye on the sea surface tempcharts for signs of quality water to fish in.

As the temp heats up chasing Whiting at night time in the riversis a good option, local angler Wayne Young had a great trip up the Nerang Riverlast week landing a fantastic feed of good sized fish up to 40cm long. Waynewas using Blood Worms for bait, Beach Worms and Yabbies will also make goodWhiting baits. Moving around to find the fish is important, once you find aschool and catch a few you may need to move on to the next spot until you findgood numbers of fish feeding. How you rig your rod is important, use a long 6lbFluro Carbon Leader , size 3 – 5 ball sinker depending on how strong thecurrent is and a size 6 short shank bait holder hook. The Logan River, PimpamaRiver, Coomera and the Nerang River, Tweed River, Tallebudgera and CurrumbinCreek will all produce a good feed.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on that Tweed thewater temperature in the River this week rose up 25 degrees on some days whichslowed the Flatties down a bit.The good news is that schools of bothGiant and Big Eye Trevally were around terrorizing the local baitfish and ourlures. Trolling pontoon 21 lures along the middle of the deep channels in theriver was the most consistent way for us to find these trevally.The warmer water also helped the Whiting to starthitting our lures and they will become even more vigorous as we go into oursummer months.

Clintfrom the Gold Coast reports the Gold Coast Broadwater is still the most consistent fishingarea for me. I run charters daily anywhere between Sundale Bridge and SovereignIsland. There is always fish and squid to be found somewhere in that areaprovided the wind is light enough to get out there.Again as the drought continues it’s best to fish ona run out tide and deeper areas 6-10 metres when the water is calm and clear. I like to mix up lures to keep it interesting and myfavourites are Ecogear ZX40, Pontoon 21 crackjack’s, Samaki Vibelicious, andStrike Pro cyber vibes. It’s often hard to go past theEcogear ZX40’s in the Broadwater, they just catch so many fish and squid, andproduce results even on slow fishing days. Flathead are still around andscattered with the average size on our light tackle varying from 30cm to 65cmlately. There has also been Squire, Tarwhine,Bream, Flounder, a few Tuskfish, Best areas to fish have been between Sovereignand Ephraim, halfway between North and South Currigee, and Labrador toSouthport main and Western channel. I have some specialised mangrovejack trips coming up so hopefully we find and release some more red dogs to addto the early season tally.

Report 4/10/19

The Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend is looking good with plenty ofsunshine on the way. School Holidays has been a busy time on the waterways withlots of people enjoying time outside Gold and Tweed Coasts. Let’s have a lookat some fishing options.

Exciting times this week with hundreds of anglers out competing inthe Gold Coast Sports Fish Club 2019 Flathead Classic. Conditions have beenpretty tuff leading up to kick of Wednesday 2/10/19 with plenty of weedclogging up normally productive fishing areas. I will have more details howeveryone went in next week’s report.

It’s good to see a few localanglers have started to target Mangrove Jack around the Gold and Tweed Coast asthe days get longer and the weather warms up. A few good spots to look are theCoomera River, Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Logan River and Nerang River.Targeting structure like jetties, pontoons, moored boats, bridges and rockwalls in the search for a Red Bruiser. Zman 3” & 4” minnows in Pearl White& Red Calico Candy seem to be a favourite choice in the river. Just keep oncasting and varying your retrieve and eventually you will be rewarded. Fishinglive baits is very rewarding and productive if they are not looking at yourlure. Herring, Garfish, Silver Biddies and Mullet will all get crunched by aJack. Bycatch like Estuary Cod and Trevally will be a bonus whilst searchingfor a Jack.

Customers have had some fun thisweek making the most of School Holidays catching some nice Bream and Whitingaround Jumpinpin and the Southern Broadwater. Yabbies, Worms and Prawns havebeen the go to bait producing some quality fish. Some good spots are CanaipaPassage near the mouth of Cobby Passage, Short Island Huts, Slipping Sands,Crusoe Island, Gold Bank, Eden Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Coomera Rivereither North and South Arms, Paradise Point, Crab Island and Wave Break Island.Land based try Paradise Point, Esplanade at Runaway Bay, Grand Hotel Jetty,Sundale Bridge, Marine Stadium, Nerang River and Jacobs Well.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on that Tweed thewater in the Tweed River is probably the clearest I have seen it due to theobvious lack of much needed rain.At times like this the fish spread outand are happy to move well upstream with the high salinity levels. Trolling isa great way to go when the fish are spread out as trolling allows you to covera lot of ground.Flatties have been themain player while trolling with a few small Bream and Whiting taking thepontoon 21 lures as well. This could be a good season for Giant Trevally asthey normally start their campaign from October onwards but we have caught theodd small one while trolling and have seen some bigger models busting up thebaitfish.

Clint from the Gold Coast reports the water is nowaround 24 degrees in Nerang River and the Mangrove Jacks will be gettingactive, especially with warmer days and muggy, stormy nights. With the lack ofbait around the Jacks will be hungry.

In Nerang River our charter catcheshave consisted of school Flathead, good size Spotted Grunter, Bream, and a fewsmall Jewfish. Best spots to fish have been the deeper holes and also thecanals off the main river. On the Gold Coast Broadwater there are schoolFlathead, Squid, Tarwhine, small Trevally, Bream, Flounder, Cod, and Whiting.Best areas have been all around Crab Island and the main channel aroundSouthport. For Jacks try Mullet and Whiting fillets in the evenings around thetide changes and near structure. Make sure you use strong hooks like Mustadhoodlums or the jacks will straighten them for you.

Hope you all have a good weekend and get out for a fish, if you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how you went.

New fishing regulations now in effect in QLD

Report 27/9/19

Hi everyone, hope you’ve all had a great week, It’s nice to see all of our Houseboats out on the water with lots of families and friends enjoying the School Holidays and catching a few fish and crabs. The weather has been nice on Gold and Tweed coasts for getting outdoors and having fun. Let’s see what’s been on the bite this week.

The Gold Coast Sports Fish Club 2019 Flathead Classic kicks off onTuesday 1^st of October with hundreds of teams of keen Fishos ready tohit the water in search of the famous big Gold Coast Flathead. Good luck toeveryone, hope you enjoy the event and are lucky enough to find some qualityfish.

Customers have reported greatcatches of Whiting this week, as we transition into the warmer months thefishing will just get better. Whiting are a great target species and can befound schooling in numbers during the day and night time. We are lucky on theTweed and Gold Coast as we have quite a few land based options as well as spotsto try in the boat. Worms or Yabbies are the best bait to try, I recommend touse a long trace of 6lb fluorocarbon leader matched with a size 6 bait holderhook for worms or size 4 hook if you’re using yabbies. Sinker choice isimportant, if you go too light all you will catch is Bream. I use either a 4 or 5 ball sinker to keep youbait on the bottom where the Whiting feed. Tidal flow is also a big factor, asthe old saying goes “no run no fun” and this is very true when targeting a feedof Whiting. Some good land based spotsare Paradise Point foreshore, Runaway Bay, Labrador, Marine Stadium, NerangRiver and Jacobs Well. In the boat tryCoomera River, Logan River, Pimpama River, Wave Break Island, Tweed River,Currumbin, Tallebudgera Creek or Nerang River.

Smithy from Brad Smith FishingCharters reports on that Tweed River once again Flathead have been the main fish caught on my charters thisweek, with Whiting also beginning to appear in numbers again, they will getbigger and more numerous over the warmer months. Until we get heavy rain themiddle to upper reaches of the Tweed River are the best areas to fish. Trollingfinesse lures such as Pontoon 21 crackjack and Ecogear SX48 minnows oversandbanks at high tide early in the morning will always get strikes from avariety of species including Flathead, Whiting, Trevally and Bream. I havebegun surface fishing over my super banks with MMD splashprawns and BassdaySugapens. This exciting and visual form of fishing will provide my clients withplenty of thrills through Spring and Summer.

Clint from the Gold Coast reports he has been running some charters this past week up theNerang River and also in the Gold Coast Broadwater as far North as Sovereign Island.We are noticing the continuing effects of lack of heavy rain for months now,with the estuary systems needing a reset and flush. We can’t do anything aboutthe weather, so we have to work even harder to find fish daily for ourguests. Neutral and non UV colour lures are working best, such as EcogearZX40 in 411 colour code, and more transparent soft vibes. Bigger numbersof fish are hard to come by up Nerang River but there are some nice Flatheadaround the bait schools in the far upper reaches, and also Grunter, Trevally,Whiting, Bream. In the Broadwater Flathead, Flounder, Whiting, Squid, Squire,Bream, Tarwhine and small Queenfish dominate the daily catch.

Try the deeper areas around the tide changes thenmove to the shallower areas when it starts running.

Hope youall have a good weekend and get out for a fish, if you have any great catchesor photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how youwent.

New fishing regulations now effective fisheries Queensland http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2019/9/1/new-fishing-regulations-now-effective

Report 19/9/19

School Holidays is the perfect time to get the kids out intothe great outdoors and have some fun trying your luck. There are plenty of Landbased options on the Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek, NerangRiver, Southern end of the Broadwater around Marine Stadium, BroadwaterParklands, Marine Parade Labrador, Paradise Point, Coomera River and JacobsWell to name a few spots that will produce some action. A basic running sinkerrig on a light estuary outfit will do the job, Prawns, Worms, White Pilchardsor Yabbies make great bait. Fishing from the shore you will have a chance oflanding Bream, Flathead, Whiting, Trevally or Tailor just to name a few morecommon species. The kids should have a fantastic time, make sure you send in aphoto of their catch.

Customers have reported some big Flathead have been caught this week, Andy hadan awesome session catching and releasing a 90+cm Flathead (see photo inreport) this week on his Houseboat Holiday at Jumpinpin. Large fish from80-90cm have been caught in the Pin Bar mouth and surrounding area and also inthe Gold Coast Seaway. The big females are getting ready to spawn in the deepwater around the ocean mouths just in time for the Flathead Classic. If youfind a large fish just keep on fishing the area as there should be plenty ofmales in the 45cm to 50cm range hanging around, these guys make a nice feed.When you catch a large fish remember to handle them with care as they are thefuture of fishing, a quick photo and then release your prized catch. The legalsize limit in Qld is min 40cm Max 75cm. Large Soft Plastics, Vibes and Bladesrigged on 20lb fluro carbon leader is a good way to fish deep water.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on that Tweed River the strongwinds that have been blowing over the past week have been enough to blow themilk out of your coffee and have unfortunately helped the tragic bushfiresraging in our Hinterland.

Our thoughts and best wishes go out to the people along the range that havelost homes and property and the emergency services that are fighting adangerous battle to try and control this devastating blaze. On the water Ioften take advantage of the wind especially finding shallow areas where thewind is blowing hard against the tide as this rough area rolls the bottom overand discolours the water which I call stirring the pot. The Flatties and Breamin the Tweed over the past few days have been smashing the vibes and hardbodied minnows in this agitated water. On the flip side I have had to find somecalm water out of the wind to fish the deep holes where we caught some Flattiesand small Jewfish.

Clint from the Gold Coast reports as Smithy said we are thinking of thoseaffected by the bushfires, and we are donating to help, hope you can too. Let’shope we get some rain soon to settle everything down.

This week the weather has forced us to fish upstream and it has not been easy,the GT’s are making a welcome appearance. The next few months are prime timefor these brutal speedsters, and other species of trevally. They provide nailbiting fun on light tackle. My charters up Nerang river have also provided someschool size Flathead, Bream, Grunter and Whiting. There are small patches ofbait way upstream as expected with the lack of rain. When the wind drops I willbe eager to get out to the deeper reef in the Broadwater again, to findFlathead, Squid, Whiting, Tuskfish, Flounder,Squire and many more for mycharter guests. School holidays are coming soon so book your charter asap toavoid missing out. The warmer weather will see the mighty Mangrove Jacks becomemore active. Your best bet in the clear water will be to fish in the earlymornings and evenings around the tide changes, getting your lures or baits inclose to structure such as bridge pylons, drains, rock walls, pontoons, andmoored boats.

Report 29/8/19

Snapper fishing has been first class the past couple ofweeks with all depths fishing well from 18 to 50 fathoms depending on current.

Local fisho Paul Wilshire did well on Monday (see photo below) scoring his baglimit of quality eating sized Snapper from the close reefs south east of theSeaway. Float lining lightly weighted baits is the best way to target Snapper,and the majority of the time they will hit the bait on the drop. This is thebest feeling as an angler as the line starts peeling off the reel, it’s just amatter of closing the bail arm or engaging the reel into gear to set the hooks.Snapper will feed fairly high in the water column, especially if you have aneffective berley trail going. My favourite bait is a WA Pilchard followed bywhole large Squid, Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet, Tailor Fillet then liveYakkas. At the time of writing the report it looks like the weekend will be abit windy for heading offshore, early next week is looking better. Just makesure you have the most up to date forecast before heading out to sea.

I took the kids out for a look last Saturday, we started in the Pimpama Riverand found a few small Flathead casting Zman StreakZ 4” on 3/8 TT Head LockZ jigheads. We then headed south towards Brown Island and started to work Eco Gearand TT Switch Blades along the channel until we reached the Currigee area. Wescored a good variety of fish including plenty of Flathead, Flounder, Bream,Trevally and Squid. The best fishing was in the deeper water around 5m, thisdepth seemed to be holding a fair bit of bait.

Customers reported some quality Tailor from the Tweed and Gold Coast beachesthis week, the tides were perfect with the evening high producing the primebite time. Depending on wind and swell, this weekend will also be great tidesfor night fishing.

Suggested reading: Better beach fishing with bait

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed there is no doubtthat the old saying “August is the windy month” is true with Westerlies beingthe dominant wind. In saying this we have had some great weather and the watertemperature is on the rise which means i will be starting to do a bit moresurface lure fishing in the near future. We have had the odd Bream rise andtake the MMD splash prawns and Bassday Sugapens but no luck at this stagegetting a Whiting or Flattie to rise off the bottom. The most consistentresults have still been coming from trolling the shallows and fishing the baitschools in the deeper holes for Flatties. We did get on to a school ofTrevally, Queenfish and Tailor over the weekend. Although they were all verysmall they did provide some fun on light gear. To catch these juvenile sizefish is a healthy sign for the waterway with the big Giant Trevally usuallyarriving and destroying the bait population from October onwards.

Clint from the Gold Coast reports the average water temp increased this weekand there are more bait fish in the Gold Coast Broadwater. It looks like Jackseason will start early and be a good long one, especially if we get somedecent amounts of rainfall in Spring. We have been catching Tailor, Flathead,Flounder, the odd Squid, Bream, Tarwhine, Squire, and a few Tuskfish on ourcharters this week. Our guests have enjoyed keeping a few for dinner. Bestlures have been Ecogear ZX40 and Zerek Fish Traps. It pays to smear a drop ofSax scent goldprawn over your vibes to attract that return bite when fish missthe hooks.

The most consistent spot has been the area between South and North Currigeealong South Stradbroke island, in the early mornings. An effective techniquewhen the flathead are spread out like they are now is shallow water trolling.This helps firstly get a few fish on the boat, and secondly if they areschooled up it helps you find “nests” of feeding flathead. You can then stopand cast at them with lures.

Report 23/8/19

Customers have been scoring some nice Bream this week,Jumpinpin has been fishing well around Tiger Mullet Channel, Short Island,Crusoe Island, Eden Island, Mc Kenzies Channel, Kalinga Bank and thePowerlines. Most bridges and jetties around Paradise Point, Runaway Bay,Southport and Nerang River are all holding some nice Bream. Prawns, MulletFillet, Squid, White Pilchards, Worms and Yabbies are all great bait. Smallsoft plastics, Vibes and surface lures worked around structures are an excitingway to fish for Bream if you like to mix up your fishing methods.

A few Tailor have been showing up the in the surf beach gutters along the Tweedand Gold Coast on the night time incoming tide for those that like their beachfishing. Whole WA pilchards on gang hooks will work, I start by using a monotrace rather than wire. You will find you get a lot more bites if the fishingis a bit slow, I only go to a wire trace if the fish are thick and you aregetting regular bite offs. The Broadwater has been fishing a bit hot & coldfor Tailor, there is no shortage of bait schools around it’s just a matter oflooking for the feeding birds and activity on the surface. Try the main channelnear Currigee and around the Seaway and the Pin bar mouth and around CrusoeIsland.

Some big Snapper have started to move into the closer reefs last week which isgreat news, local anglers Bob did well landing an 10kg monster and Ben(seephotos in report)a 80cm fish on separate trips. We have a big spike in swelldue over the weekend so offshore fishing will be best when the swell easesearly next week. Big bait schools have been hanging around the 18 and 24 fathomreefs off the Seaway, just keep an eye on the sounder for fish arches aroundthe bait this will be a predator such as a big trophy Snapper. Live Yakkas orSlimy Mackerel are great bait, the old humble WA pilchard is still my favouritego to bait, whole large Squid the Mullet or Bonito Fillet will also work well.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed what a hot thencold and windy period we have been through earlier in the week. The fishing andthe conditions were very tough with wind as well as water temperature andbarometer drops. The great news is that as from today and right through untilnext week the weather is looking fantastic with the water temperature and thebarometer already starting to rise. The wind made conditions very hard to domuch deep water jigging earlier in the week so trolling a combination of deepand shallow running lures around the mid to upper reaches of the river was theway to go. Some Flatties, Bream and the odd Whiting was caught on the trollwith the majority of the fish favouring the shallow warmer stretches of theriver.

Now that the weather has come good I will be able to mix it up with some deepwater jigging for some Jewies around the tide changes as there are good schoolsof baitfish showing on the sounder in the deep holes. Deep water jigging underthese bait schools should also produce some Flatties as well and hopefully somenice Bream and the odd Tailor. I also intend to start doing some surfacefishing for some bream and maybe a couple of early season whiting of theshallows.

Clint form the Gold Coast reports Typical winter days warm up nicely here withlight winds as the Westerlies drop. The fish have been coming on the bite asthe week goes on, especially as the barometer rises again. I’m finding a lotmore bait fish are now present in the Broadwater everywhere from the Spit toEphraim Island, resulting in catches of big Flounder, Dusky Flathead, BartailFlathead, Sand Whiting, Winter Whiting, Squire, Tarwine, Bream, GrassySweetlip, and a few Squid. Simply look for bait on the fish finder and driftwith it, changing lure colours until you crack the code on the day. The midsize tides have made it possible to fish the deeper areas, which helps when thewater is clear. On the run out tide there has been some slightly discolouredwater running along the inside of South Stradbroke island. This helps predatorssuch as Flathead ambush their prey at close range, and it’s in these areasyou’ll find nest of fish feeding, ideally with a water temperature of around 18degrees. Tarpon are still around, you’ll find then near the seaway and alongthe main channel running North. Best lures this week: Ecogear ZX40 in colours415 and 440, Gulp Crabby in camo colours. Yabbies are catching plenty too.

Report 15/8/19

Flathead have been quite active this week leading up to thefull moon, Coomera Houseboats customer John (see photo in report) did wellcatching and releasing a cracking 78cm fish at Kangaroo Island Jumpinpin on aYabbie as bait on his holiday. Some bigger Flathead are starting to show upmore consistently as we head closer to the prime breeding time inSeptember/October. The big females will attract quite a number of smaller maleswhich are a good size fish if you want to keep a couple for a feed, justremember the rules in Queensland minimum size is 40cm and maximum sizelimit is 75cm. Drifting with bait is a good way to cover ground andfind Flathead if you not used to using lures. Yabbies, White Pilchards, BlueBait and strips of Mullet Fillet make great baits.

For the lure fisho’s trolling hard body lures along the Mangrove lined banks ofIslands and edges of Sandbanks is a great method as Flathead will sit head intothe current waiting for bait fish to swim past. Trolling against the tide isnot recommended as the fish will have to turn to attack your lure and will 9times out of 10 result in no hook up. Some good areas to try your luck areBedrooms, Tipplers Passage, Paradise Point, Aldershots, Never Fails Islands,Kalinga Bank, Tiger Mullet Channel, Cabbage Tree Point, Currumbin Creek and theLogan River Mouth.

Schools of Tailor responded well to the cold westerly winds last weekend withkeen anglers getting stuck into some nice quality catches. Gutters along SouthStradbroke Island produced good numbers of nice fish, also Main Beach North toPumping Jetty, Palm Beach, Burleigh Heads and from Fingal north to the TweedBar. Throwing metal slugs, surface walkers and poppers is a fun and veryvisually rewarding way to target Tailor with some awesome bite action to fireyou up. Whole WA Pilchards were the best bait followed by Mullet, Bonito orTailor Fillet on ganged hooks.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed the ongoing greatwinter weather continues with cool clean morning starts and warm windless days.Not a lot has changed from last week’s report and the Flathead are stilldominating the catch rate. Being in the right spot around the tide changes isthe time that really triggers their feeding instinct. A pattern that is notuncommon for all our species. The deeper holes in the rivers are producing theodd nice size Tailor and very small School Jew but these little guys still gowell on light line. The slight increase in water temperature has also allowedus to have a bit of fun chasing some Bream on surface lures. The water is veryclear in the river at present so very natural coloured lures are working thebest.

Clint form the Gold Coast reports typical beautiful winter weather has made forsome very pleasant days out on the Gold Coast Broadwater. Flathead tended tostart feeding later in the day, and the large schools of Winter Whiting havemoved out to the open ocean to find food. There has been a distinct lack ofbait fish in the ultra-clear water, apart from white bait. As the old sayinggoes “match the hatch” and try Strike Pro blades, Zerek fishtraps in OliveGuppy colour. There has been a few nice Flathead, Bream, Whiting in the canals,and the odd small mulloway up the river. The Broadwater Flathead can be foundat the Aldershots, on the eastern side of Crab island, Anglers Paradise, andupriver from TSS on the western side. The rest of the catch in the Broadwaterhas consisted of Flounder, Squid, and Winter Whiting. Look for signs ofactivity such as patches of bait and arch shapes for bigger fish on the fishfinder.

Report 1/8/19

With good weather conditions hanging around heading offshorehas been a great option on Tweed and Gold Coasts. Last Saturday we took advantageof the weather and headed out with my mate Wayne and my daughter Bec to try ourluck on the 24 fathom area SE of the Gold Coast Seaway. We hit the water earlyand found some good shows of bait and fish to try our luck just as the sun wasrising which is the best bite time. We started well landing a couple of niceSnapper and Tusk Fish, we kept a burley trail going but then the bite sloweddown and lots of small undersized Squire started to show up. We then decided tohead back into the 18 fathom area for a look, we found plenty of bait schoolsbut unfortunately no good fish on offer.

After a bit of talk we then decided to make a late run out to 36 fathoms SE ofthe Seaway as there has been reports of good Snapper, Pearl Perch, Amberjack,Sampson and Cobia. The NW wind made conditions a bit choppy but not too bad. Onarrival we sounded around and found some nice signs of fish on the sounder sowe anchored up and float lined WA Pilchards and straight away got hit on thedrop and landed some nice Snapper. Next drop Bec got smacked on the way downand her line took off peeling drag flat out, the fish then headed for thesurface then back down to 65m before slugging it out. 20 minutes later Bec (seephoto in report) had landed her first Cobia going 17kg on the scales, a greateffort on 20lb gear. The 24 fathom area seems to be fishing better than the 18at the moment with better numbers of Snapper, Moses, Trag, Tusk Fish, Cobia andTailor being caught. Just keep an eye out when navigating as there is a largenumber of Whales moving along the coast at present.

The Broadwater has been fishing well around the Gold Coast Seaway seeing quitea variety of species showing up, reports of schools of hard fighting Tarponhave been keeping anglers on their toes. Fishing a mixture of soft plastic,vibes or bait around the entrance of the Seaway and into the Currigee channelhas produced Grassy Sweetlip, Spangled Emperor, Tusk Fish, Squire, Bream and afew Tailor.

Bream are still the main target for anglers chasing a feed around Jumpinpin,Crusoe Island, Short Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Kalinga Bank, WhalleysGutter, Little Rocky Point, Power Lines and Marks Rocks up the Logan are allworth a look. My favourite baits are Mullet Fillet, Mullet Gut, Prawns, WhitePilchards or Yabbies.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed reports it hasbeen a week of great weather and a massive work load finding Flatties for ourguests, and helping train visitors from the United Kingdom and Sweden, here tocompete in the World Hobie Bream tournament on the Gold Coast. The Flatties arestill fishing well in the deep holes on blades and are taking our trolled luresover the shallow warmer water. We have been training our bream tournamentanglers on how to fish rock walls and jetties but the most fun and best resultscame from cranking shallow running lures over and around the seagrass beds. Wealso caught Bream on surface lures in the same area which is always greatvisual fun.

Clint reports on our Gold Coast Broadwater charters we have found the fish aremoving around a lot searching for food, which has forced us to cover a lot ofkms to find them some days. They may be in one area one day and gone the next.As always if you don’t spot activity on the fish finder keep moving.

Inevitably the bites will come if you find patches of bait. The water is veryclear at the moment so it may pay to fish areas like the Aldershots andTipplers channel to find bigger and more Flathead. They’ll be there in the morediscoloured water ambushing baitfish to feed themselves up before breedingseason. There have been a lot of 40-45cm flathead in the Currigee area at SouthStradbroke island, as well as big winter Whiting up to 28cm, Flounder, Squid,Bream, Tarwhine, and a few Tuskfish. The Nerang river is getting harder to findnumbers of fish due to lack of bait, but we did manage some good Whiting,Flathead, and a nice Mulloway caught by Rebecca.

Report 26/7/19

Last Saturday I headed up around Jumpinpin with the kids tohave a look around for a few Flathead using my favourite 4” Zman Streakz curltails. We started in the mouth of Tiger Mullet Channel on the rising tidethrowing lures around the weed beds landing a number of smaller Flathead thatwere tending to be sitting on the patches of sand between the weed. We thenchanged tactics as the tide neared its top heading to the Pin Bar mouth tocatch the turn of tide. This produced a few nice Bream on Switch Blade vibesand even 20 gram metal slugs that we were jigging for Tailor. There was not alot of bait around the Pin Bar so as the tide turned and started to run out weheaded up Canaipa Passage to fish the sandbanks opposite Cobby Passageentrance. This area produced a few nice school sized Flathead up to 50cm. TigerMullet Channel and Whalleys Gutter also fished well, the key was to find thebait schools and the Flathead were hanging around. Good numbers of solid Breamwere also hitting the soft plastics hard as they are feeding up ready to spawnthroughout the winter months.

[Suggested reading: Are your flattyskills up to scratch?]

Small swell and light winds have been a great combination for anglers headingoffshore the past week. Customers have reported mixed results on the Snapper,the current has been a bit unpredictable at times running pretty hard oncertain days making fishing tuff. Best catches of Snapper are still coming fromthe 36 and 24 fathoms reefs off the Gold Coast. A good mix of species is alsobeing caught like Tusk Fish, Trag Jew, Moses, Cobia and some big Jewfish. Tryfloat lining WA pilchards, Squid, Mullet Fillet or Live Yakkas

Coomera Houseboat customers have been getting stuck into some great qualityBream from Jumpinpin this week. Numbers have been ok during the day but fishingat night is still the best option for bigger quality fish. Best spots are ShortIsland Huts, Kalinga Bank, Crusoe Island, Perrys Hole and Tiger Mullet Channel.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed the good news isthat after the chilly early morning starts the days warm up, and the fish areon the bite. The deep holes are producing some nice sized Bream and smallJewfish on the zx40 and strike pro vibes providing you find the holes that areholding bait. We have also been catching a few Flatties in the deep holes butthe best results have been coming from trolling pontoon 21 crackjack andgreedyguts lures in the warmer shallower water around the top of the tide.

Clint reports this week the cooler early morning weather has not stopped thefish biting, with sessions at Nerang river producing 20 plus Sand whiting attimes, as well as school size Flathead and the odd 50-60cm fish. The whitinghave been quite big and fat, which goes to show how well fed they are locally!Best bait for them if you can’t get bloodworms is Prawns. The Broadwater hasbeen a bit quiet at times with clear water. The bigger tides have been atnight, which could be when the fish are feeding more aggressively. There areBream and Tarpon at the Seaway but the better eating species such as Flatheadare best targeted at Southport, Lands End, Wavebreak Island, and ParadisePoint. The Tarpon are terrific sportfish and have been busting up on bait ballsevery day this week, mostly near the canyon off the Northern wall of WavebreakIsland.

Report 18/7/19

Fisho Tackle customers have had perfect weather for fishingthis week. They have been doing well trolling hard body lures on the edges ofweed beds around the Never Fail Islands, Jacobs Well, Cabbage Tree Point,Tipplers Passage, Tipplers Island and the Bedrooms temping a few nice Flathead.Trolling lures is a great way to cover ground and find fish this time of year.Once you locate fish there will usually be quite a few in the general area. Tryswitching to soft plastics or vibes and pepper the area to find the bigFlathead that is attracting the school sized fish.

With nice weather conditions continuing finding a day with smaller swell haspaid off for crews fishing the offshore grounds of the Tweed and Gold Coastwith customers consistently catching some great feeds of Snapper. The GoldCoast reefs from 18 to 36 fathoms have been producing some good mixed bags offish including Snapper, Moses, Tusk Fish, Cobia, School Mackerel, Trag Jew,Pearl Perch and plenty of big Jew Fish. Hope you get out for a fish whilst theweather is good.

Some big Bream are showing up around Jumpinpin, some good spots are KalingaBank, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Short Island Huts, Perrys Hole,Little Rocky Point and the Power Lines. Best tip is to keep a consistent burleytrail going, sometimes once you start catching fish you forget to burley andthe fish will go off the bite. Try using Mullet Fillet, Mullet Gut, Prawns,White Pilchard and Yabbies.

Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed that now that we have clearskies and the comfortable Winter sun it’s got the Flatties on the bite.Flathead are still dominating our catch rate and will continue to do so overthe next couple of months. The fish are holding up in the deep holes that havegood bait schools in them with the blades and Ecogear zx40 lures doing the jobon them with the odd big Bream as well. Some nice size flathead are moving upin the shallows during the day to take advantage of the warmer water and aretaking trolled pontoon 21 Crackjack and Greedy Guts lures.

Clint has been catching some good Flathead and Bream in shallow water in themiddle to lower sections of the Nerang River and its canals. Drifting withEcogear ZX40 blades coated in Sax Scent goldprawn, especially colours 440 and 447,and trolling with Pontoon 21 crackjacks and greedy guts in Bloody Tiger prawnand Spanish Red colours, have been the most effective methods. This usuallyensures a fresh feed in the esky and plenty more released to keep growing andbreeding. We caught a variety of fish on lures in the Broadwater, everywherefrom Cronin island to Sovereign Island. There are heaps of arrow squid around,easily caught on Ecogear ZX40s and squid jigs, Jewfish love a squid too so trythem as live bait.

Report 12/7/19

I was lucky to score some nice weather so we headed out fora fish on Tuesday, Crab Island and Currigee produced a few smaller Flathead onZman soft plastics. The Seaway was holding some bait and schools of fish on thepipeline and the Seaway entrance opposite the North Wall. We scored a few niceBream on TT Switch Blades, got smoked by some bigger fish and even landed aLeather Jacket. The weed beds around Wavebreak Island fished well for Squid onhigh tide, the 2 to 2.5 inch jig worked well, even the Flathead tried to smashthe jigs in the clear water.

After all the rain the rivers seem to be holding good bait schools of Herring,Mullet, Silver Biddies and Garfish. The water is still quite clear in theBroadwater making fishing a tuff at times, the rivers will be worth a go on theweekend. Try the upper reaches on the Tweed, Nerang, Logan, Pimpama andCoomera. Flathead will be a main target along with Bream, Whiting, Trevally andthe odd Jewfish might even show up. The dirty water gives the bait fish a bitmore shelter, try to target areas where there is a change of water quality or acurrent line. As the tide runs out fishing the river mouth is a great option asthis can be an area where the predators will wait for the bait to be flushedout.

Surf fishing will be a good option now the swell has started to ease, hopefullythe schools of Tailor will move into gutters from the Tweed Coast up to SouthStradbroke Island. Early morning and late afternoon and night is the best timeto target Tailor.

Suggested reading: Gold Coast tailor fishing

Another species worth targeting is Jewfish. Big Jewfish will enter the guttersas the tide rises chasing the Tailor or Mullet, using a fresh fillet of eitherTailor or Mullet is a great way to land a prized Jewfish.

Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed It has been good to receivesome much needed rain to get the rivers, creeks and drains running which are avital need for the health of our waterways. Good quality bream are making theirpresence felt and are taking Pontoon 21 crackjack minnows around the shallowsea grassed areas, and blades in the deeper holes around the tide changes.Flathead are still the main target species and will continue to improve in bothsize and numbers over the few months .The rain will also help to encourageJewfish to come on the bite so I will be very focused on locating some of thesegreat fighting fish around the tide changes in the deep holes.

Clint ventured out to the Broadwater once this week with regular guests Scott,Tim, and Terry. Tides were a bit slow and the water was clear and calm at hightide, so we had to work hard to find fish. The night tides leading up to newmoon have been a lot bigger, and this is when the fish could be feeding moreactively. Some Squid, Winter Whiting and Flathead came on the bite on EcogearZX40 blades coated with Sax scent goldprawn.

The rest of the week was dominated by Southerly winds which made fishing upNerang River and the canals a more comfortable option producing some greatcatches like Jacks thumper Bream (see photo in report) on a Pontoon 21crackjack 48mm SP DR lure, plus a bunch of Flathead and a solid Sand Whiting.Best areas to fish were the Broadbeach waters canals, Benowa, and Carrara.Shallower water to 3m in depth held the most fish.

Report 5/7/19
With the wind and swell stopping fishos from heading offshore, I’d recommend fishing around the open ocean entrances inside the Tweed Bar, Gold Coast Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar in the calmer water. The large swell offshore tends to stir up close reefs which in turn stirs up bait fish and can often push some quality Snapper, Spangled Emperor, Moses just to name a few species into these areas. The bit of rain we have had will also push bait out of the rivers and into the bar entrances, big Jewfish, Trevally and Tailor will be patrolling waiting for a feed.

Customers have done pretty well this week managing to hide out of the wind and put up with a bit of rain scoring some quality catches of Bream around Jumpinpin. Crusoe Island, Kalinga Bank, Perrys Hole, Short Island, Mc Kenzies Channel and Whalleys Gutter are some great spots to look. Logan River around Marks Rocks, Nerang River and the Tweed river are all fishing well around structure like rock walls, jetty or bridge pylons holding good numbers of Bream. Burly is a big part of a successful Bream session, I use a pellet based burley from Stimulate or Wilson. Just a bit at a time will keep them interested, if you feed them too much they may lose interest in your bait. Best baits are Prawns, Yabbies, Mullet Fillet, Mullet Gut and White Pilchards. You can pretty much just leave the rod when you’re getting a bite and they will hook themselves, don’t be too keen and strike and just pull the hook and bait away from the fish.

[Suggested reading: Winter bream on blades]

Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed the rain will get the creeks and drains running, washing food and nutrients into the rivers which will all go towards the success of a better winter fishing season. It is still the Flathead show at present with good numbers of fish still holding in the shallower middle reaches of the river. Some nice quality bream are starting to show in the deeper holes and will continue to increase in both size and numbers throughout July.

Clint reports from the Broadwater fishing around the Seaworld area produced some Winter Whiting, Flounder, Flathead and Cuttlefish. In the Nerang River Birthday Girl Jan (see photo in report) skilfully landed a monster 87cm croc Flathead after a 10 minute fight, showing great patience to net the big girl on 2.7kg braid and 8lb fluorocarbon leader. The fish first came up when hooked and had a look at the boat, giving us a glimpse of its massive head and girth, then produced a couple of big runs in the shallow water. The Nerang River is a great option in the wind and is producing some good catches of Whiting, Bream and Flathead.

Report 28/6/19

With School Holidays kicking off this weekend it was nice tosee plenty of family’s heading out on our Houseboats and also calling in to askadvice on how to get the kids involved in fishing. A light estuary outfit witha running sinker rig will work well, Prawns, White Pilchards, Worms or Yabbiesare great bait. We have seen some nice Bream, Whiting and Flathead landed andthe smiles from the kids say it all. With so much technology at your fingertipsnowadays it’s nice to get back to basics and enjoy some quality time fishing.If you have a boat on the Gold Coast you have lots of options from Rivers, Canals,the Broadwater or Jumpinpin. Land based fishing is a great option especiallywith younger ones as you can access beaches and facilities in most of the parksthat have water and jetty access. Some good spots to try are Coomera River,Paradise Point, Runaway Bay, Labrador, Biggera Waters, Broadwater Parklands,Marine Stadium, Nerang River and Jacobs Well.

Customers have reported Flathead in the shallow water on the top of sandbanksthroughout the Broadwater and Jumpinpin at high tide. Try the deeper edges ofthe sandbanks as the tide starts to fall along with creek and river mouths.Deep gutters are also a good spot to look as Flathead are ambush predators asthe bait swims off the sandbank on the falling tide they will sit in thegutter. Casting Zman soft plastics, TT Switch Blades, Zerek Flat Shads, Zerek Fish Traps and Storm soft vibes are all goodmethods to target fish.

Pryor to the wind and rain offshore fishing has been good off the Tweed, GoldCoast and Jumpinpin with some quality catches coming in. Fido’s and Nine Mileoff the Tweed have produced a good mixed bag of Snapper, Tusk Fish, Maori Cod,Trag and some nice easting Wrasse. The 36 fathom grounds off the Gold Coast andJumpinpin has seen some quality Snapper taken on bait and soft plastics. Oncethe wind and swell eases it will be worth targeting Jewfish and Cobia on theclose reefs with good numbers of these prize eating fish around so far thiswinter.

Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports fishing has been very good with theFlathead still dominating the scoreboard and are holding through the middle toupper reaches of the river. Brad has done some exploratory runs down to themouth and lower reach of the river in search of the big bream and tailor thatwould normally be around by now without much success but they will come. Whenthese fish start their spawning run late it is not a bad thing as it usuallymeans an extended season and can see them come on thick through to the end ofAugust.

Report 21/6/19

Cool Winter nights signals Bream season with customersfinding some quality fish the past few weeks. Bream are a great fish for thekids to target as they will keep the little ones occupied and you can teachthem the skill of how to land a fish. Depending on the areas you fish Bream areusually hunting and feeding on schools on White Bait throughout the TweedsRiver, Broadwater and Jumpinpin. Some good spots to try your luck are ShortIsland, Crusoe Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Whalleys Gutter, Jacobs Well, Dux,Wavebreak Island, Paradise Point, Logan River and Tweed River. Land basedanglers have multiple choices which all produce good catches of Bream, try theGrand Hotel Jetty, Lands End at Biggera Creek, The Southport Bridge, HopeIsland Bridge, Paradise Point Jetty and Coomera River highway bridge. Breamlove structure and land based anglers have a great advantage with so many rockwalls and jetty’s that can be easily accessed. When fishing for Bream a goodburly trail is a must, keep your baits close to the snags or rock walls wherethe fish school up. Fishing line of around 8lb and also 8lb fluro carbon tracewill work for most areas, just adjust the sinker size to suit the area andtides you fish. I recommend a bait holder hook around size 2 – 4 dependingwhich bait you are using, they are a good choice to keep the bait looking morenatural. I like to use Prawns, Mullet Fillet, White Pilchards, Mullet Gut orYabbies.

Offshore fishos have had a great run of weather landing some top quality fish.Staff member Adrian and his mate Steve had a great morning on the 24 fathomsgrounds east of the Seaway scoring a mixed bag including a great sized Snapperand a quality Yellow Fin Tuna (see photos in report). Reports of big Jewfishfrom 15+kg have been coming in consistently the past week, the best time totarget these fantastic fish has been late afternoon into the early evening.Collect your live baits like Yakkas, Slimy’s or Pike, find a good rock holdingbait to anchor on and float line your live baits until you get slammed. Snappernumbers should increase as the water temp starts to cool off, early morning andlate afternoon are prime time to target a feed.

Flathead are starting to dominate catches through the estuaries of the Tweedand Gold Coats, best time to target a Flathead is a falling tide. Target theedges of sandbanks and drains as they will be lying in wait as the bait movesoff the shallows as the tide falls. I prefer to throw soft plastics like Zmam 3inch MinnowZ or 4 inch curl tailz in these areas rigged on a 3/8 or 1/4 ouncejig head tied to 12lb fluro carbon trace.

Fisho Tackle customers have been scoring a great feed of Sand Crabs from thechannels near Wave Break Island, Aldershots, Never Fail Islands and CanaipaPassage.

Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports Flathead are still dominating the catchrate in both the Nerang and Tweed river systems which is not a bad problem tohave as an angler. There has been a few Whiting taking our lures but the sizeof the fish have not been big as have the Bream which have been slow to startthis season in both size and numbers.

Report 14/6/19

With light winds and a small swell hanging around chasingTailor from the surf beaches from the Tweed to the Southport Spit is a greatoption. Finding a good gutter is essential, going for a look at low tide makesspotting a gutter easier, you are looking for a deep section of water with asandbank behind it and with deeper water at either end. The best time to targetTailor is the last 2 hours before high tide either early morning or lateafternoon into the evening. Hopefully bait fish will make their way into thegutter to hide and the predatory Tailor will follow. The most common rig is aset of 3 or 4 gang 3/0 or 4/0 hooks depending on the size of bait combined witha running sinker rig. I do prefer to use a long mono trace and you will alwaysget more bites, sometimes you will get bitten off but it will be moreproductive than a wire trace. If the fish are thick the wire trace will workfine. The best baits are WA Pilchards, Mullet Fillet, Bonito Fillet and evenTailor Fillet if you running low on bait. Throwing metal slugs is another greatoption if you prefer lure fishing, try a few different size slugs until you canmatch the size of the bait fish they are feeding on. If the Tailor fishing is abit slow you can also down size your rig and target Dart and Bream for a greatfeed.

Fantastic conditions for those lucky anglers keen to get offshore for a look,the 50 and 36 fathom reefs off the Gold Coast are fishing well with somequality Snapper, Pearl Perch, Amber Jack, Cobia and mixed reef species. The 24and 18 fathoms reefs have also been producing for those with smaller boats ornot wanting to travel out so far seeing some nice Snapper, Cobia, SchoolMackerel, Jew Fish, Trag Jew, Moses and Tusk Fish.

Bread and butter species like Bream, Whiting and Flathead have been the maintarget for anglers fishing the Tweed River, Broadwater and Jumpinpin areachasing a feed. Customers have done well scoring a nice feed from the Tweed River,Nerang River, Coomera River, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well, Tiger Mullet Channel,Whalleys Gutter, Short Island and Logan River. Prawns, Yabbies, Worms, MulletFillet or Live Herring are all great baits.

Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the middle reaches of both the Tweed andNerang Rivers are producing amazing numbers of Flathead of all sizes atpresent, with most days producing over 20 fish per trip. There have been somegood numbers of Bream attacking our lures as well in the same area but at thisstage they have been small. The big Bream are not far from entering our rivermouths. Small Giant Trevally are still hanging around the deeper holes in themiddle reaches and are hitting the lures around the first of the run in tides.

Report 6/6/19

Weather permitting the off shore action has been great thepast couple of weeks with a good variety of species being caught. Reports ofgood sized Amberjack, Samson, Yellow Tail Kingfish and Snapper from the 50fathoms line NE of the Seaway. Customers have been doing well on the 18 and 24fathoms reefs east of the Seaway scoring some monster Cobia and great qualityJewfish on live baits and fresh Tailor and Mullet Fillet. When chasing Cobia orJewfish you should be looking for an isolated rock structure that is holdingbait, anchor up and start a burly trail. Try the 36, 24 and 18 fathom reefs fora feed of Snapper, Moses, Trag jew, Tusk Fish and Pearl Perch. Float lining WAPilchards, large whole Squid, Mullet Fillet or live Yakkas will do the job.

The winter westerlies are a great sign for the Bream fishos keen to hit thewater and chase a feed. Those who are keen to brave the cold nights out on thewater should be rewarded with some top quality Bream. Some good spots to startlooking will be Upper Reaches of the Tweed River, Whalleys Gutter, Tiger MulletChannel, Perrys Hole, Short Island, Cobby Passage, Kalinga Bank and Marks Rockin the Logan River. Land based try Lands End Biggera Waters, Marine Parade RockWalls, Gold Coast Seaway, Southport Bridge, Nerang River, Paradise Point.Burley is a must when chasing Bream, a lot of fishos will have a secret brewthey use, I recommend stimulate burley pellets. Just keep a regular trailgoing, don’t feed them too much just enough to keep the fish interested. Somethe best baits will be Mullet Fillet, Mullet Gut, White Pilchards, Prawns andYabbies.

Squid numbers will increase during Winter, they are fun to catch and evenbetter to eat a fresh feed of Calamari. The Gold and Tweed Coast waters willhold a mixture of Arrow Head and Tiger Squid being the larger of the twospecies. Try using a Squid Jig between 2 to 3 inches long until you find thesize that works the best. If you’re land based try looking for jetties and boatramps that are well lit up, the lights will attract bait fish which will alsoattract the predatory Squid. Paradise Point, Grand Hotel, Southport Bridge arejust a couple of spots to try your luck.

School sized Flathead are showing up in good numbers throughout the Gold Coastand Tweed River, they love the cooler weather and can school up in big numbersat times. Flathead will be slowly on the move making their way out of therivers and heading towards the ocean entrances over the next three months as wehead into breeding season during September and October.

Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports as the days are getting shorter and themornings are definitely getting cooler as we inch our way into winter.
Flathead are in good concentrations in the warm shallow areas through themiddle reaches of the Tweed and Gold Coast waterways and are taking both castand trolled lures.

There has been a report of both Tailor and Bream making their annual migrationup our coastline which is very exciting as they will move into our rivers inmass proportions from now until August.

Report 31/5/19

As we make the transition into winter the offshore bottomfishing should started to improve with the current dropping. You can expect amixed catch of Snapper, Moses Perch, Samson Fish, Hussar, Spangled Emperor,Tusk Fish and Pearl Perch on the 18 and 24 fathom reef east of the Seaway. Asthe water cools some bigger Snapper and Cobia will move in once there is plentyof bait around.

Flathead have dominated catches this week, one local angler has been gettingamongst some nice fish up to 80cm the past couple of weeks. Try the Aldershots,Brown Island, Tipplers Passage, Coomera River, Tiger Mullet Channel, JacobsWell and the Logan River. Whilst targeting the weed beds keep an eye out forsquid, plenty have been caught. Try Plastics and hard body lures.

Jumpinpin Bar entrance has been producing some nice Jew Fish, Tailor andTrevally this week, plenty of bait in the area has attached the hungrypredators. Live baits and lures will work, best to fish the last 2 hrs of therun in and the first hour of the run out tide.

Our houseboat customers have reported some nice Bream around Short Island andTiger Mullet Channel along with a couple of good sized mud crabs. MulletFillet, Mullet Gut, Prawns and Yabbies are great bait for the fish while wholemullet is best for the crab pots.

Brad Smith Fishing Charters have reported a few big bream starting to appear onthe Tweed and expect the size and numbers of fish to increase during the monthsto come. Through the Winter months Flathead will often move up out of deepwater to feed in the shallower sun heated flat areas. Trolling and castinglures over the shallow flats on the run in tides is where the best number ofFlathead can be found.

Report 24/5/19

Our houseboat customers have been having a great time thisweek and reporting good catches of muddies and flathead. Seems most of theaction has been up around the pin and Tiger Mullet channel areas, with thereally big muddies coming from the Pimpama River.

If you have a boat and are thinking of trying your luck for some muddies thisweekend, try setting your pots in the mouth of the North Arm of the Coomera,Pimpama River, Tipplers Passage, The Never Fails Islands, Whalleys Gutter, TigerMullet Channel and the Mouth of the Logan River. If you don’t have a boat,anywhere you can fish along the Coomera River is worth a go. Set your pots,throw in a line and you may get a bream or a flathead to go with the Crabs. Youwill have yourself a seafood smorgasbord.

Quality Bream are still being caught in good numbers, so as we head into winterit looks like a great season on the way for the Bream fishers. Jumpinpin andthe Gold Coast Seaway are good spots to try.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters fished the deep holes in the middlereaches of the Tweed River this week targeting some flathead and jewies.Fishing around the tide changes will always give you the best chance at hookinga jewie as they spike in their feeding pattern at this time. Hopefully it won’tbe long before some schools of tailor and bigger sea bream start to enter theriver now that we are pushing more into winter.

Clint reports he has caught 17 species of fish this week on the Broadwater. Thewinter species are starting to come thorough, with legal size flatheadspreading around to feed after disappearing from their summer breeding grounds.Squid are becoming more common too. Clint catches them on Ecogear ZX 40 vibes,these lures work well during the day time and draw the squid out of weed beds.Flounder this time of year are a lovely eating size, we are catching dinnerplate size ones often on vibes. Tuskfish are plentiful this month too, plusthere are tons of winter whiting around the Broadwater anywhere between Southportand Sovereign Island. Young Maclay with his dad Duane were on a private charterwith Clint last week and caught a released his first Tarpon on 6lb line. Goodsize too and on a live yabbie in 10m deep water. He also caught a hard fightingmorwong and a variety of other species.

Report 17/5/19

We had quite a windy start to the week which has now easedoff and looks like a less windy start to the week end. Earlier in the week wehad the report of Cyclone Ann working her way to the coast around the top ofQueensland in the Port Douglas area, fortunately the threat has now passed andthat cyclone has become a rain depression and was never any threat to us hereon the Gold Coast.

For anglers lucky enough to head offshore this week end, fishing the local18-24 fathom reefs off the seaway will be a good option to chase a feed. May isa great transition time of year sometimes you just don’t know what can show up.Main target species will be Snapper, Tusk fish, Moses, Trag Jew, Pearl Perch,Maori Cod and Jew. We should see Cobia, Sampson and even Yellow Tail King Fishas the water starts to cool down. Once you find a good area to fish keep aregular burley trail on the go to attract the fish, you might even find a lateseason Spanish Mackerel on the closer reefs.

Customers have scored some nice Whiting in the rivers and throughout Jumpinpinand the Broadwater this week, some good size fish up to 40cm have been landedby our Houseboat customers. Try Tiger Mullet Channel, Bedrooms, CanaipaPassage, Shoals at Jacobs Well, Coomera River North and South Arms, ParadisePoint and Wave Break Island. Worms and Yabbies are the best bait. Our customershave also scored a feed of Mud Crabs this week from the Broadwater and Pinareas.

Flathead have started to show up throughout the local rivers, Jumpinpin and theBroadwater as the water cools down a bit, not monsters but most fish have beenbetween legal 40+cm range. Try looking around the North Bedrooms, Gold Bank,Kalinga Bank, Tiger Mullet Channel, Canaipa Passage, Jacobs Well, Brown Island,Currigee and Wave Break Island.

On the Tweed Brad Smith Fishing Charters report Flathead are starting toincrease in numbers in the deeper holes between Chinderah and Tumbulgum thisweek, probably due to the cooler weather.

Clint lets us know that good size tuskfish, flounder, flathead and heaps ofwinter whiting are feeding in the Broadwater at South Currigee, Runaway Bay,Land End and Seaworld resort. It’s great to see flathead around the 40 – 50 cmmark turning up in bigger numbers in the Broadwater. This month I techniquethat works very well is drifting with yabbies which can easily be pumped on thelower tides from the sandbanks between the Broadwater caravan park andWavebreak Island. Use 6lb braid main line, then a no.2 size ball running sinkeror bigger if needed to reach the bottom, onto a small swivel then 1 metrefluorocarbon leader with a size 4 Mustard baitholder hook, and a 2-4kg rod with2500 size reel. This is all you need to catch a good size fish, just rememberto not tighten the drag too much and play bigger fish carefully. Drift alongthe edges of channels in 2 – 4m of water and you’ll catch various species of fish.If you don’t know the area well, drift between the channel makers and you can’tgo too far wrong.

Report 10/5/19

Fantastic conditions over the May Day Long Weekend sawplenty of boats heading offshore in search of a feed of reef fish. May has seena drop in current and water temp which has helped stir up a few early seasonSnapper on the Gold Coast and Tweed. Some great eating size Snapper have been showingup along with a few big trophy models. Being on the water early is a must, findyour spot and start a berley trail before sun up to take advantage on thesunrise bite time. Feeding down lightly weighted WA pilchards, whole largeSquid, Mullet Fillet or live Yakka’s is a great method to temp the big Snapper.A few spots that produced are the local 18, 24 and 36 fathom reefs off the GoldCoast Seaway, Sullies and the Cottons off the Pin and Fido’s and Nine Mile offthe Tweed. Customers have also scored a feed of Pearl Perch, Tusk Fish, Moses,Trag and some good sized Jew Fish.

Some nice sized Tailor have been showing up along the Surf Beaches from theTweed Coast north to the Pumping Jetty at the spit, the morning and night timehigh tides have been the best time to target Tailor. The Broadwater, Jumpinpinand Rivers are also fishing well with some big Tailor showing up. Best tip isto keep your eye on the sounder for bait fish, birds diving on the water andalso splashes from schools of fish feeding on the surface. Best baits are wholeWA pilchards, Mullet Fillet and White Pilchards work well in the estuary.Tailor will respond well to trolling diving lures, Surface lures and MetalSlugs.

The cooler weather has fired up some good catches of Flathead in the TweedRiver, Broadwater, Jumpinpin and joining estuary systems. My favourite methodis drifting and throwing soft plastics in the 3” to 4” size range like ZmanMinnowz and StreakZ on a 1/4 to 3/8 jig head and working soft or metal vibesdepending on water depth. Drifting lets you cover as much water as possibleuntil you find an area holding good numbers of fish to concentrate your effortson.

Customers have reported catching some quality late season Mangrove Jack whichis great, Sam (see photo in report) did well last Friday night scoring a nicebig Jack using a dead Whiting for bait in the Coomera River. Reports of nicefish have also come from Tallebudgera Creek and the Tweed River.

On the Tweed Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports similar to lastweek’s report with the mid to upper reaches of the Tweed River still producingthe goods. Flathead are taking vertically jigged vibe lures in the deeper holesand are responding to trolled pontoon 21 crackjack and osp dunk lures trolledover the shallows and along the edges of the banks. We are still getting theodd Jewfish as well around the tide changes on vibes and plastics and juvenileGiant Trevally.

Clint reports there has been good variety of great eating fish in theBroadwater this week but it pays to move around constantly and slowly to findfish, as they are always moving with the tides to find food. We have beencatching some beautiful Tuskfish this week as well as Flathead up to 76cm,Squid, Flounder, Whiting, Tarwhine and Bream up the back canals at Benowa. Thetrick is to find areas that hold bait fish or jelly prawns which show up aspatches or scattered dots on the fish finder. Then drift at no faster than 1knot and no slower than 0.4 knots to achieve best results. Best areas this weekhave been Southport, the Spit, Hollywell, and North Currigee.

Report 3/5/19

As we transition into the May the night time temp hasstarted to drop enough to stir up some quality Jewfish around the Jumpinpinarea. Customers have done well reporting consistent catches this week duringthe daytime and night time in the Jumpinpin Bar mouth, Kalinga Bank, CanaipaPassage and Marks Rocks in the Logan River. Live Pike, Herring and Mullet are agreat option. Also a nice fillet of Tailor or Mullet should do the job. Besttime to target a Jewfish is aprox 1 hour before and 1 hour after a tide changeas they fire up as the current drops off.

Coomera Houseboat Holidays customers are scoring a great mixed feed of MangroveJack, Bream, Spotted Grunter and Mud Crabs from the North Arm of the CoomeraRiver. The rain we have received has been a blessing flushing out the bait fishand also getting a few late season Mud Crabs on the move. Also try the TweedRiver, Nerang River, Pimpama River and Logan River for a mix of species at themoment.

Coomera Bait and Tackle customers managed to sneak out offshore last Sunday andfinally take advantage of some nice conditions. A mixed bag of pelagic and reeffishing was on offer seeing a few nice Wahoo being caught off the Tweed Bararound Nine Mile Reef and Fidos on hard body lures and trolling dead baits. Afew Spanish Mackerel and the odd big Cobia have been landed around the 18 to 24fathoms reefs east of the Gold Coast Seaway, Mermaid Reef and the Gravel Patchwith slow trolled baits working the best. Bottom fishing saw a nice mixed bagof Snapper, Pearl Perch, Moses, Trag Jew, Tuskies and nice sized Jew Fish. Anearly start is the key getting the dawn bite time will maximise you chances oflanding some quality fish.

On the Tweed Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the after therecent rain is has made the upper reaches of the Tweed River muddy anddiscoloured so the mid to lower reaches is the place to be for some nicequality flathead with trolling some pontoon 21 crackjack lures and the everfaithful micro mullets. The rain and dirty water is just what the river systemneeds to set up the foundation for a great winter season.

Clint reports his charter guests have been getting some delicious keepersdaily. Currigee, Runaway Bay, and Paradise Point have been the best areas tofish, producing some great Tuskfish, Dusky Flathead, Bartail Flathead, bigFlounder, Whiting, Squid, Tarwhine and Tealeaf Trevally. Drifting with lightlyweighted yabbies and tea bagging vibes is a great way to catch the abovespecies. Look for bait on the fish finder then do long drifts in 3-5 m depthwater.

Report 26/4/19

Due to weather conditions fishing sheltered waterways hasbeen the best bet for getting amongst some fishing action on the Gold Coast andTweed lately. The top end of the Coomera has had another flush out with plentyof fresh water moving down the river. Fishing has been good in the Coomera withthe Maxwell family (see pictures in report) finding a good mixture of MangroveJack, Moses Perch and Flathead at the junction of the North and South Armsusing WA Pilchards for bait. The water temp is still high enough to be holdinglike Mangrove Jack, Estuary Cod and Trevally. Fishing rock walls aroundSanctuary Cove and Hope Island with live baits like herring, garfish, silver biddiesand mullet has produced some top quality Estuary Cod.

Some good sized Flathead have been caught during the past week, targetingdeeper holes in the Tweed River, Nerang River, Pimpama River, Coomera River andLogan River has produced some good quality fish. Flathead are a great targetspecies for land based fisho’s, find a nice stretch of bank with a few weedbeds and a bit of a drop off and cast and retrieve a soft plastic or divinghard body lure. Live yabbies, bait fish or frozen baits like White Pilchardswill work well, just have a cast and let your bait drift along with the tide,if you have no luck just move up the bait a bit and repeat the process. Onceyou find a Flathead hopefully there should be a few holding up in that area.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports the mid to upper reaches of theTweed River is the place to be as most fish seem to migrate upstream as theweather gets cooler. There are some good schools of medium sized flatheadtaking the lures in the shallow areas of the river and schools of smallTrevally busting up around the bridges on the tide changes. The bait shouldstart schooling up in the deeper holes in the river.

Clint reports A week of mixed weather but the fish were biting well most of thetime. Some great Tuskfish have been coming through, we’ve caught over 40 thisweek on our Broadwater Charters. Also big schools of winter whiting have beenprominent, and are very aggressive lure takers and a lot of fun on lighttackle. Some dinner plate size Flounder, Squid, small Snapper, Tarwhine andGrassy Emperor. Some great areas to fish with the lures are the keyholeopposite Seaworld, along Labrador, both sides of Carters bank, the edges of thechannel both sides of Crab island, the reef and weed beds at Currigee.

Report 19/4/19

Bread and butter species like Bream, Whiting and Flatheadare a great target option if you’re keen to chase a feed of fresh fish for GoodFriday on the Gold Coast or Tweed. All these fish can be targeted by everyoneeither land based or if you have a boat or Kayak. Land based try Jacobs WellJetty, Cabbage Tree Point Beach, Coomera River Highway Bridge, Santa Barbara,Jabiru Island, Paradise Point Jetty, Lands End Biggera Waters, Grand HotelJetty, Marine Stadium, Nerang River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek andTweed River. If you own a boat try around Currigee, Paradise Point, Wave BreakIsland, Nerang River, Tiger Mullet Channel, Jacobs Well and the Tweed River. Irecommend using burley when targeting Bream, a pellet burley like Stimulate orWilson Pellets will work well. The best bait for Whiting is worms, for Breamand Flathead try Prawns, White Pilchards, WA Pilchards, Mullet Fillet orYabbies.

Customers reported schools of Tailor around the Gold Coast Seaway, NorthernChannel near Currigee, Paradise Point, Pin Bar mouth, Tiger Mullet Channel andup Canaipa Passage this week on the run in tide. Also a few Tailor have beencaught in the surf around Surfers Paradise, Main Beach Sea World and the SandPumping Jetty. Best baits were whole WA pilchards, White Pilchards and stripsof Mullet Fillet. Towing Hard body lures is a good option & help to coveras much ground as possible to locate schools of Tailor. Once located, throwingmetal slugs or surface lures should do the trick if they are feeding on thesurface.

Sand Crabs have been around in good numbers throughout most of the mainchannels in the Broadwater and Jumpinpin this week. Usually placing your potson the edges on the channel near the drop off will work well. At high tide thecrabs have still been moving on top of the sandbanks in amongst the weed beds.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed River Now that thewater temperature has dropped the flatties are starting to fire up in the deepholes and along the shallow sand and mud flats. Try using some Ecogear ZXblades and soft plastics in the deeper holes and try trolling some Pontoon 21crackjack minnows along the shallow edges. Remember that the lures must becontinuosly tapping the bottom when trolling when targeting flathead.

Clint reports Currigee and Runaway Bay were firing on yabbies, and Ecogear ZX40blades smeared in Sax Scent goldprawn. Fish caught included good size Tuskfish,Whiting, Squid, Squire, Flounder, Flathead and Grassy Emperor. Areas thatfished well were Lands End, Runaway Bay, the reef at Currigee and Biggerawaters.

Report 12/4/19

Fishing offshore last weekend produced some quality Wahooand a few Spanish Mackerel trolled up on hard body lures off the Tweed aroundFidos and the Nine Mile. A few Spanish were also caught around Palm Beach Reef,Gravel Patch and 24 fathoms east of the Seaway on slow trolled live baits andlures. Out wide boats fishing the Gold Coast Game Fishing Club tournament didwell taking advantage of a great run of hard fighting Blue Marlin tagging andreleasing some fantastic fish.

Coomera Bait and Tackle customers have done well managing a good feed ofWhiting this week, fish up to 40cm with plenty of good eating size fish aroundthe 27 to 30cm mark. There is no shortage of Bream around stealing the worms beforethe Whiting have a chance. Fishing can be slow during the tide change but oncethe water starts to run the fish were biting regularly. If your targetingWhiting make sure you have a long leader up to 1 m long of 6lb fluro carbon,size 6 bait holder hook and either 4 – 5 ball sinker depending on the waterdepth and tide to keep the bait in the strike zone. If your sinker is to lightyou will catch Bream over Whiting. Coomera River, Pimpama River, Logan River,Nerang River and the Tweed River have fished well. Worms or yabbies are thebait of choice.

Banana Prawns have been a bit hit and miss this week, the best areas to lookare from Cabbage Tree Point north to Macleay Island. We went for a look onTuesday and ended up with about 3kg, the Prawns were very scattered and onlyactive for about 30 minutes. Top of the tide has been the best time to look,keep an eye on the sounder and also other boats in the area casting nets. It’sgreat fun for the kids on school holidays as they love to help sort out the catchand have a go at casting the net.

Smithy from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed River not much haschanged from last week’s report with the deep holes in the river stillproducing the goods. Trevally, Flathead, Bream, Tailor and the odd School Jeware hitting the Ecogear ZX40 lures worked along the bottom of the deeper holes.The surface fishing has gone quiet but once the water clears up it should pickup again.

Clint has been doing well on the Ecogear ZX40 vibes in the Nerang River fishingdeeper holes close to slack tide producing some top quality Jewfish for hiscustomers. The Broadwater is fishing well with a mixed bag of Snapper, WhitingFlathead, Flounder and Squid.

Report 5/4/19

As we gear up for the SchoolHolidays it’s a great time to get the kids out of the house and go fishing. Youdon’t need to spend a fortune on rods and reels, a basic cheap kid’s combo westock here at Coomera Bait & Tackle will do the trick. Keeping it simplewill help keep the kids interested, fishing off a jetty near a playground is agood idea as they can have some time out if the fish aren’t biting. ParadisePoint, Grand Hotel Jetty Labrador, Jabiru Island, Broadwater Parklands andJacobs Well are some good spots to fish. For the kids, fun is the main idea,make sure you give them plenty of praise when they catch a fish. Bread andbutter species like Bream, Tarwhine, Whiting, Garfish and Flathead can becaught from the shore or in a boat. A packet of Prawns, White Pilchards, Wormsor Yabbies will work well. If you need advice just drop past and we can helpyou out.

With a bit of extra fresh water in the system targeting a Jew Fish in the GoldCoast Seaway or the Jumpinpin Bar will be a great option. Try fishing the tidechanges on either high or low, best fishing will be an hour each side when therun slows and the Jew are in feed mode. Live baits like Mullet, Pike, Herringand legal Tailor will be irresistible to a hungry Jew Fish. Large soft vibeslike Zerek Fish Traps or Soft Plastics like Zman Streakz on one ounce jig headshave been a favourite lure.

The fresh water has stirred up the bait in the local rivers in turn firing upthe predators. Good quality GT, Golden and Big Eye Trevally have been around ingood numbers smashing live baits like Herring, Garfish, Mullet and small WinterWhiting. Casting metal slugs, working small metal vibes or flicking softplastics are all great options if you prefer using lures. We are still seeingplenty of smaller Mangrove Jack being landed which is great news.

Coomera Houseboat Holiday customers have been scoring some nice feeds of SandCrabs, the tops of weed banks around high tide seem to be producing the bestcatches this week. Some good spots are the mouth of the North Arm of theCoomera River, Wave Break Island, Never Fails, Tipplers Passage, Tiger MulletChannel and Canaipa Passage.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed River fishing thedeeper holes this week using Ecogear ZX40’s and Atomic soft vibes has producedsome Flathead, School Jew and Queen Fish. Flathead do not show on the sounderas they are partly submerged into the sand or mud bottom in the deep holes.Once bait is found they will usually be holding underneath and waiting inambush.

Clint has been finding his customers some top quality fish including a hardfighting 68cm Golden Trevally (see photo in report) in the Nerang River fishinghis favourite metal vibe lures. Tailor have been around in good numbers in theSeaworld Channel and are great fun on light tackle. Clint has also been scoringhis customers some nice Whiting, Flathead and Squid. If you’re keen to have afish on the Tweed River or Gold Coast give Brad Smith Fishing Charters a call.

Report 29/3/19

Good conditions last weekendsaw lots of anglers heading offshore chasing a range of different species. Forthe sports fisho’s a good run of Black Marlin has continued fishing around spotX and the 50 fathom line east of the Seaway, a mixture of trolled skited luresand live baits have been productive with many boats catching multiple fish.Spanish, Spotty and School Mackerel have been around in good numbers, anglersdid well at Mermaid Reef, Palm Beach Reef, Gravel Patch and the local 18 to 24fathom reefs off the Seaway. Local fisho Wayne managed to get his deckhand Gregonto a 115cm Jewfish (see photo in report) whilst bottom fishing the 18 fathomarea, there has been a good variety of species including Snapper, Moses, Tuskand Trag on offer. WA pilchards, Whole large Squid, Mullet Fillet, TailorFillet and Yakkas are all great baits to choose from. Hopefully the new SE windchange and increase in swell doesn’t hang around for too long.

Coomera Bait and Tackle customers did well scoring a nice feed of Banana Prawnsfrom the Powerlines and the Logan River around the high tide last weekend andearly this week. Hopefully we get enough rain to push the Prawns out of theriver and they spread out more around Russell Island.

The hot humid days leading upto the SE wind change and rain stirred up the local Mangrove Jack population onthe Gold Coast seeing some great quality fish landed in the Nerang River,Coomera River, Paradise Point, Runaway Bay and Logan River. Live baits likeMullet, Herring, Silver Biddies and Whiting work well enticing a bite. For thelure fisho soft plastics like Zman MinnoZ or Storm So Run Joker Shads haveworked a treat.

Coomera Houseboat Holiday customers have managed a feed of Mud Crabs and a fewSand Crabs this week. Some of the better spots were Tiger Mullet Channel botheastern end near the feeder creek on Crusoe Island and western end feedercreeks near the Kangaroo Island reserve sign. Also Eden Island, Cobby Passage,Kouryabba, Logan River, Cabbage Tree Point, Jacobs Well, Never Fails, CoomeraRiver both north and south arms. The good run should continue after thepredicted rain.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports on the Tweed River after the rainwe have received combined with the new showers on the way try finding andfishing the area where the dirty water meets the clear current on the run intide for trevally, and the lower reaches is the place for flathead and bream. Afew nice Mangrove Jack have also been crunching deep diving Atomic lures.

Clint has been catching his customers some quality Mangrove Jack on his nightcharters in the Nerang River on live Whiting. Daytime in the Broadwater Clintis finding his customers a good variety of species including Flathead, Whiting,Tailor and Squid.

Report 21/3/19

After such a dry spell on the Gold Coast rain is a muchneeded ingredient to help flush out the rivers and get the bait and fish on themove. We seem to get either feast or famine when it comes to rain lately but wewill see the benefits of good fishing as we transition into autumn and focus ondifferent species of fish to target.

My advice for fishing this weekend after the rain would be to look for colourchanges in channels where the fresh water meets the salt, bait should beconcentrated around these areas in turn attracting a mixed bag of predators.Fishing closer to the open ocean entrances like the Tweed Bar, Currumbin Bar,Southport Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar should be productive.

Mud Crabs have been around in good numbers after the rain with our CoomeraHouseboat Holiday customers catching a nice feed after the flush out. TheCoomera River, Pimpama River, Paradise Point, Never Fail Islands, Tiger MulletChannel, Canaipa Passage and Logan River have all produced a feed. Mullet andfish frames make great bait, just move your pots regularly until you find wherethe Crabs are in better numbers.

Report 15/3/19

It was great to finally see a long overdue break in the weatherfor anglers keen to get offshore and chase pelagic species. The strong SE windsand swell of the past couple of weeks did the job and pushed in some qualitywarm water into the 18 to 24 fathom line, combined with stirring the bait uphas seen some fantastic Spanish Mackerel being caught by lucky anglers. Goodquality fish have been responding well to trolling a mixture of diving lures atfirst light rigged on a short piece of single strand wire. Once the bite slowsdown switching to slow trolled live Yakkas on a twin hook stinger rig has donethe job well. Keep your eye on the sounder for bait schools, if the fish aredeep just slow down to near a complete stop and let the baits sink enough forthem to respond. A down rigger is a great option to run a bait deep to covermore area.

Coomera Bait and Tackle customer John Hutchesson had a great day fishing offthe Tweed last weekend landing a 1.5m 20+ kg Wahoo (see photo in report) whichtook a hard body diving lure. The fish put in some blistering runs before Johngot the upper hand landing his awesome catch. Hopefully we will see some greatpelagic action during the next couple of months.

Coomera Houseboat Holidays customers have scored a feed of Bream Flathead andWhiting from the Sandbanks and channels around Wavebreak Island, Crab Island,Coomera River, The Never Fails, Curtis Anchorage, North Bedrooms, Tiger MulletChannel, Jacobs Well around the shoals, Logan River and Canaipa Passage.Yabbies are great all round bait, the kids will have fun pumping them. I’d alsorecommend Worms, Prawns, White Pilchards and Mullet Fillet to catch a feed.

On the Tweed River Brad from Brad Smith Fishing reports Trevally are stillmarauding the bait schools around the tide changes particularly on the last ofthe run out and first of the run in tides. Flathead are holding in the deeperholes where the water is cooler on the bottom and the Bream and Whiting arestill taking surface poppers over the shallow flats. Mangrove Jacks arefavouring the very early morning and late afternoon tide changes through themiddle reaches.

Clint has returned from a break and some boat maintenance and found hiscustomers a good variety of fish this week. The Southern Broadwater hasproduced Whiting around the 30cm mark, Winter Whiting, Flounder and Flathead.The Gold Coast Seaway is producing a mixed bag including Maori Cod, Flatheadand Snapper

Report 8/3/19

With a bigger swell still hanging around fishing inshore in protected watershas been the go this week. The big swell has stirred up the feed on the closereefs and pushed some nice sized Snapper into the Gold Coast Seaway, Broadwaterand Jumpinpin areas giving anglers an opportunity to target these hard fightingfish in shallow waters. Drifting the Seaway, main channels or the Jumpinpin Barmouth with live Herring, WA Pilchards or working Soft Plastic lures and Vibeshas produced some larger Snapper than normal this week. We have also seen a fewnice Grassy Sweetlips, Spangled Emperor, Tusk Fish and the odd Cod.

I spent Saturday afternoon dodging the showers of rain fishing in the CoomeraRiver, we did well scoring 3 Mangrove Jack, 1 Estuary Cod, 1 nice Trevally anda big Bream using live Herring we cast netted in the river. Coomera Bait andTackle customers have also done well scoring some nice Jacks, Trevally and Codin the Coomera River, Nerang River, Logan River, Currumbin Creek and the TweedRiver on a mixture of lures and live baits. Fish structure like Bridges,Pontoons, fallen Trees and Rock Walls where the bait and predators will behanging out.

Our Houseboat customers have managed to hide out of the wind and score a fewnice Flathead, Whiting, Bream, Sand Crabs and Mud Crabs this week. Good spotsout of the SE winds have been Tiger Mullet both eastern and western end,Tipplers Passage, Coomera River North Arm, Pimpama River, Crusoe Island NorthSide, Slipping Sands and Coby Passage. Prawns and Yabbies have been a good all roundbait for most species. White Pilchards are great for Flathead and for Whitingworms and also Yabbies have tempted some quality fish.

Report 1/3/19

After a wild weekend of strong winds and big swell thanks toCyclone Oma it’s nice to see our weather pattern returning back to normal forthe last week of Summer. Let’s see how the bad weather affected the fishingthis week.

We were very lucky to have escaped the worst of Cyclone Oma over the weekend,gale force winds and big swell put a stop to most outdoor activates. OurHouseboat fleet remained tied to the jetty for safety for the weekend untilthey could venture back out on Monday as the weather eased.

Big tides due to swell surge over the weekend has stirred up the Mud Crabs thisweek, if we score some of the rain forecast the crabbing will just get betteras we head into March. Houseboat customers did well this week, some good spotsthat produced a feed were Jacobs Well, Tipplers Passage, Rudy Maas, Kouryabba,Tiger Mullet Channel, the Neverfail Islands, Pimpama River and the CoomeraRiver. Just work your pots around a bit in case the crabs are on the move.

Coomera Bait and Tackle customers reported a few Tailor showing up aroundJumpinpin during the week towards top of the tide. The Pin Bar entrance, CrusoeIsland, Bedrooms and the Mouth of Whalleys gutter all produced fish. Keep aneye out for surface action like splashing when the Tailor are feeding , alsokeep an eye on the sky for birds feeding on the bait fish and left over scraps.Surface lures and metal slugs worked at speed should attack a bite.

The bad weather didn’t seem to deter some anglers chasing Mangrove Jack in therivers protected by the wind, live baits have been very productive in theCoomera River. The Rock walls near the Sanctuary Cove in the main river andthen down the south arm have been producing some good Jacks, Estuary Cod andTrevally this week. Jabiru Island East towards Paradise Point is a good spot totry along with Sovereign and Ephraim Island as the wind eases. The Gold CoastSeaway has seen some Mangrove Jack action with the larger fish starting toschool up and feeding before heading out to the reefs as the weather starts tocool down.

On the Tweed River Brad from Brad Smith Fishing reports Flathead are startingto respond well to trolled lures along the drop offs and the deeper holes areproducing a few on plastics and Ecogear ZX40s. Trevally are still making randomraids on the baitfish around the tide changes while bream and whiting arecrunching surface lures over the shallow flats.

On the Gold Coast Clint has found some solid flathead around the 60cm mark forhis clients around Paradise Point and Sovereign Island, on Ecogear ZX40 bladescoated in Sax scent goldprawn flavour, and soft vibes and soft plastics inbloodworm colour. There are still some Squid, Whiting, Squire, Flounder,Tailor, and Trevally.

Report 21/2/19

At the time of writing my report the BOM are still a bit unsure of themovements of the big low pressure system hovering East of the Queensland costand the impact on the wind and swell. Fishing this weekend will depend on justhow strong the winds are.

The hot weather and humidity earlier in the week stirred up some qualityMangrove Jack , Estuary Cod and Trevally. Coomera Bait and Tackle customershave been finding some nice fish in the North Arm of the Coomera River atBullock head creek, Jewel creek, the rock walls at Sanctuary Cove and aroundthe Santa Barbara boat ramp. Other good spots to try are Sovereign Island,Ephraim Island, Local Canal Pontoons and Bridges around Runaway Bay and ParadisePoint, Marina Mirage and Nerang River. Best baits are live Mullet, Pike andHerring. For the lure fishermen both soft plastics and hard body’s work welldepending of the areas you are targeting.

Bull Sharks have been very active in the Coomera River, we have seen plenty ofgood sized Sharks free jumping at all hours of the day. The Logan and NerangRivers have been fishing well with plenty of good catches reported. Recommendedrig for the average sized Sharks is a plastic coated wire between 50 to 100lb,either a circle hook or J hook between 6/0 to 10/0 and a medium to heavyspinning or overhead combo will do the trick. Fresh Water Eel and Mullet willmake great bait.

Big tides this week combined with the full moon and the possibility of rain onthe weekend will make targeting a feed of mud crabs worth a go weatherdepending. I have been catching a few good full crabs in the Coomera Riverbetween Santa Barbara and the railway bridge. Coomera Houseboat customers havescored a feed around Tipplers Passage, Brown Island, Jacobs Well, CurtisAnchorage, Cabbage Tree Point, Cobby Passage, Tiger Mullet Channel, theNeverfail Islands and the Pimpama River. Mullet is one of my favourite baits,using a bait bag and clip stops the smaller fish and pike eels from stealingyour bait and increases your chances of catching more crab. Don’t forget tohave your Crab pot and float clearly marked or Fisheries will confiscate yourgear.

On the Tweed River Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters has reported Trevallyof all shapes and sizes are dominating the strike in the tweed at present.Schools of Tea Leaf, Diamond, Big Eye and Giant Trevally are demolishing thebait schools around the tide changes. The deep channels opposite the shallowsea grass flats are where we are targeting these line burning speedsters onsurface lures this week. Keeping an awareness of any bird activity is the bestway to find them and make sure that you position the boat upwind for a longcast back into the action.

Report 15/2/19

Local angler Wayne Young did well finding a few elusive Gold Coast Tarpon on anearly morning trip with his mate Pete fishing the Broadwater using softplastics. Tarpon are a hard fighting sport fish pound for pound, they regularlyjump during the fight. Unfortunately they have a very abrasive mouth and willwear through the leader quickly. Tarpon are a pinnacle sportfish for someanglers with a poor eating quality and should be released to fight another day.

With a weekend forecast looking like we will see strong S/SE winds on the GoldCoast I’d recommend sticking to the local rivers and estuary’s if you’re keento get on the water for a fish. The Coomera, Nerang and Tweed River have beenconsistently producing some great catches of Mangrove Jack and Trevally againthis week. Kirsty Walter (see photo) did well landing a quality Trevally on asoft plastic in the upper reaches of the Coomera River.

Coomera Bait and Tackle customers have been doing well on a mixture of ZmanMinnowz soft plastics and also live bait catching some top quality MangroveJack around the canal pontoons in the Coomera River, Paradise Point, RunawayBay and Nerang River all the way up to Broadbeach.

Customers have been catching a feed of Bream, Whiting and Flathead around WaveBreak Island, Brown Island, Coomera River, Dux, Jacobs Well, Tiger MulletChannel, Short Island and through Canaipa Passage. The mangrove lined banks areholding some nice Bream and try the edges of the Sandbanks on the run out tidefor a Flathead. Try using Worms for Whiting and Yabbies, Prawns, WhitePilchards, Mullet Fillet for Bream and Flathead.

On the Tweed River, Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters has been finding hiscustomers a few Flathead in the deeper holes and on surface lures across theshallow flats, where Bream and Whiting have also showing up. Schools ofbaitfish are also being smashed by the local Trevally especially around thetide changes.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing charters reported the Gold Coast Broadwatercontinues to produce a variety of species on Ecogear ZX40 metal blade lures andZerek Fish Trap soft vibes. The Seaway has produced a few nice Flathead,Flounder, Squire, Tarwhine, and Trevally. Clint has also been finding some bigKingfish using live Whiting for bait on the pipe line, unfortunately they couldstop these Seaway brutes.

Report 8/2/19

Mud Crabs are a great option to target after a bit of rain, this week has seen a little more activity which is good news. Coomera Houseboat Holidays customer Kevin Sherring (see photo in report) managed to score a nice feed from the Coomera River. Catches are a bit inconsistent with a mixture of small and female crabs to pick through until you score some good sized bucks. Try the Coomera River both arms, Pimpama River, Logan River, Cabbage Tree Point, Tiger Mullet Channel, Cobby Passage, Jacobs Well, Canaipa Passage, The Neverfail Islands, Brown Island and Tweed River are producing a feed.

Trevally have been smashing bait schools in the Coomera River around River Links, young Akyah Attard (see photo in report) did a great job to land his hard fighting Trevally near the Highway Bride in the Coomera River. Other good spots to look are the Runaway Bay and Paradise Point canals and bridges especially the well light up ones at night that attract bait schools. Surface poppers and stick bait will work well. If the Jacks are a bit quiet it’s always good to know you have a chance at hooking a hard fighting Trev.

It’s that time of year to start looking for a feed of Prawns They can be fairly well spread out for now so searching a few different areas will be required. Try looking around The Powerlines, Rocky Point, Logan River, Russell Island, Macleay Island, Cabbage Tree Point and Jacobs Well.

A top pocket cast net is the best option as the net sinks the prawns are pushed in to a catch pocket in the top of the net, I recommend if you feel prawns in the net you need to pull on the rope a few times and that will make the prawns head into the top pocket. This makes emptying the prawns from the net an easy task then you can go straight back into casting at the school of prawns. We do have a few options of nets in stock at Coomera Bait and Tackle. Make sure you’re informed about the current rules about White Spot Disease
https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/animal-indus … e/overview

On the Tweed Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters has been staying upstream chasing Whiting and Trevally on surface lures. He is also getting the odd mangrove jack near Chinderah. February and March are his favourite months for jacks as the bigger models begin to migrate downstream ahead of their permanent exodus at the end of summer to the open ocean.

Clint has been doing well finding his customers a good variety of fish in the Broadwater including Tailor, Barracuda, Queenfish, Moses, Flathead, Whiting, Squire, Flounder, and Tuskfish working Ecogear ZX blades and Zerek fishtraps being the lures of choice.

Report 31/1/19

Coomera Bait and Tackle regular Brett took his son Angus (see photos in report)for a night fish up the Nerang River and scored a great feed of quality Whitingup to 40cm in length. Brett was using worms for bait, a nice long rod to helpwith hooking the fish, an extra long 6lb fluoro carbon trace matched with asize 6 short shank bait holder hook and 4 ball sinkers to keep the bait in thebite zone. The Nerang has been producing consistent catches so far this Summer;other good spots to try are the Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Coomera River,Pimpama River and the Logan River. Using a second anchor out the back of theboat will stop you swinging around and make the presentation of your bait muchmore natural which intern should produce more fish.

Some quality Mangrove Jack have been landed in the Coomera River over the longweekend with Marinas around Hope Island and Coomera holding some big fish and abit of bait. Try casting or trolling lures along the rock walls and pontoons.The Tweed River, The Nerang River, Runaway Bay Canals, Paradise Point bridges,Ephraim Island and Sovereign Island. Fishing with bait is a great way to temp abig Jack, also plenty of Estuary Cod and Trevally will respond to this method.Live Herring, Mullet, Garfish and Pike are fantastic bait, also Mullet Filletand WA pillys will do the trick.

On the Tweed Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters has been finding some hardfighting trevally for his guests. They have been turning up around the shallowweed beds around Chinderah at high tide. There are some decent ones and a realthrill on surface lures and light tackle.

Once again the best options at the moment are targeting whiting on surfacelures on top of sand banks at high tide, trolling for jacks along deeper rockwalls, live baiting for them at night around structure, and tea bagging thedeeper holes with vibes for flathead and bream.

Clint has been getting some great results for his charter guests on the GoldCoast Broadwater, catching and releasing over 100 fish some days, with a greatrange of species showing up. Some nice flathead have been appearing in thedirty water in canals where dredgers have been operating. In the Broadwater thebig tides have stirred up some discoloured water. Species caught in theBroadwater on charters this week have included Flathead,Whiting, Tarwhine,Bream, Flounder, Snapper, Spangled Emperor, Grassy Sweetlip,Tuskfish,Barracuda, Pike, Queenfish, Squid, small Cobia, Mangrove Jack and Trevally.

Customers scored a few Mud Crabs this week, with a hint of rain on the forecastthis weekend it will be a good time to get the pots in and chase a few.Jumpinpin has crabbed well during the week, Tiger Mullet, Whalleys Gutter, EdenIsland and joining feeder creeks have produced the goods. Also have a lookaround Canaipa Passage and the Logan River. Down the Southern end the CoomeraRiver, Pimpama River, The Never Fails and Brown Island are worth a go.

Report 25/1/19

I was lucky enough to be ableto sneak offshore with my mate Wayne and daughter Bec last Sunday for a lookfor a few bottom fish off the Seaway. Bec ended up with the fish of the daylanding a nice big Spangled Emperor, we also scored a few Trag, Squire, MaoriCod, Pearl Perch and a few other species including a bite off from a niceSpanish. The current was an issue around the 40 to 50m mark east of the Seawaymaking getting your baits to the bottom a bit hard, we ended up using an 8ballsinker to get amongst the fish. Closer in the 18 fathom reef was more fishablewith less current.

There was plenty of Marlin action happening over the weekend with multipleboats hooking up to little Black Marlin anywhere from 20kg to 100+kg betweenthe 36 and 50 Fathom depth line including Spot X which was holding good baitschools over the weekend. Trolling a pattern skirted lures like Pakula’s orslow trolling live baits on circle hooks is the best way to attract a bite. Themain things you’re looking for is bait balls and fish on the sounder,temperature changes, current lines, fads like logs or debris and birds hoveringor diving into the water. Usually spotting the above signs and combining somepersistence will normally pay off with a strike and hopefully landing a BlackMarlin.

Ben Russell sent in a pic to Coomera Bait and Tackle (see photo in report) ofan awesome Gold Coast Barra measuring 120cm he caught and released while he wasfishing for Jacks using live bait. During the hot summer moths the Gold Coasthas consistently produced catches of Barramundi usually as bycatch when fishingfor Mangrove Jack, the Coomera River and Nerang River and Jacobs Well are spotsthat have seen these illusive fish caught.
Coomera Houseboat Holiday customers have done well scoring a feed of Whitingfrom Canaipa Passage, Tiger Mullet Channel, Gold Bank, Cabbage Tree Point,Logan River, Jacobs Well Shoals, Wave Break Island and the Coomera River thisweek on Yabbies and Worms as bait. With the big tides just remember to use atleast a 4 to 5 ball sized sinker to keep you bait on the bottom.

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters has been putting his guests onto somesolid whiting, bream, trevally, queenfish, and flathead using surface lures.The Tweed continues to produce the odd big flathead too in the deeper holeswhere it’s a bit cooler in this hot weather.

Clint recommends getting an early start with the extra holiday water traffic,there are some good fish around though and lots of variety. Clint has beengetting his customers between 20 and 70 fish a day in the Broadwater. Speciescaught this week included Squire, Bream, Tarwhine, Flathead, Whiting, GrassySweetlip, Estuary Cod and Trevally.

Just keep in mind it will be extra busy out on the water for the Australia DayLong weekend, please show your fellow boaties and fishos some patience andcourtesy and everyone will have a great time on the Gold Coast waterways.

Hope you all have a good weekend and get out for a fish, if you have any greatcatches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know howyou went.

Report 18/1/19

Good numbers of quality Whitinghave been caught this week, Coomera Bait and Tackle regular Wayne Young tookhis friends Ken and Amm up the Nerang for a fish during the week and scored agreat feed (see photo in report). I also went for a look up the Pimpama on theweekend and found a few nice Whiting in the mid 30’s using beach worms the kidscaught the day before over at the Spit. The Western side of Wave Break Islandhas also been producing good numbers of Whiting fishing the shallow banks withYabbies that can be pumped in the same area. Some other good spots are theCoomera River North and South Arms, Logan River, Canaipa Passage, Bedrooms,Currumbin Creek, Tweed River and the Eastern end of Tiger Mullet Channel.

Mangrove Jack have been liking the hot weather lately with plenty of good sizedfish hitting a mixture of lures and baits on the Gold Coast and Tweed. Localfisho’s Scott and his daughter Jayda have been doing well landing somefantastic Jacks using live Mullet for bait (see photo in report). When baitfishing it pays to have a fairly heavy drag set as they will hit like a freighttrain and try to drag you back into any nearby structure in the blink of aneye. Good fish have been showing up the Coomera River, Nerang River, SovereignIsland, Ephraim Island and Tweed River.

Finally some good news for anglers that enjoy chasing Mackerel, with a fewSpanish starting to show up at the Gravel Patch and the odd Spotted beingcaught around Mermaid and Palm Beach Reef over the weekend. While the S/SE windchange kicked in the water cleaned up a bit, water quality can play a big partin finding fish, the E/NE winds we have been getting do affect the waterquality. Spanish have responded well to slow trolled live baits and the Spottedhave been hitting slow trolled WA pillys in pink skirts and also unweightedcubed pilchards fed back into a burley trail. Fingers crossed they are going toappear in better numbers in the coming weeks.

Another summer species that has been around in good numbers in both the Loganand Coomera River is the Bull Shark, locals have been having plenty of funcatching good numbers of smaller pups right up to larger adult Sharks withFresh water Eel being the number one bait.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters has been catching good numbers of Breamand Squire fishing around the Gold Coast Seaway and Wave Break Island onYabbies, Squid and metal vibe lures.

Brad has been fishing in the upper reaches on the Tweed River targeting thedeeper holes and scoring his customers some quality Flathead. Brad is alsodoing well tempting plenty of Whiting on surface lures.

Report 10/1/19

Flathead are worth targeting on soft plastics, soft vibes metalblades and shallow diver or surface lures. Local angler Brett Doolan has donewell finding some top quality fish for this time of the year in the shallowwater around the high tide mark. You could try trolling small bibbed luresaround the edges of Sandbanks on the run out tide, creek mouths and tops ofsandbanks towards high tide. Work the area with your lures until you get a fishor a bite then concentrate on that area as there is normally a few fish to befound.

Despite the lack of good rain Coomera Houseboat Customers have been scoring afeed of Mud Crabs this week. Sand Crabs are also around in good numbers, targetthe deeper main channels on the Broadwater, Jumpinpin, Russell Island,Karragarra, and MacLeay Island. Some good spots to target Mud Crabs are theCoomera River North Arm and South Arm, Pimpama River, Tipplers Passage, TheNever Fail Islands, Brown Island, Eastern Side of the Aldershots, Jacobs Well,Eden Island, Tiger Mullet Channel, Tabby Tabby Island and Canaipa Passage.

Coomera Bait and Tackle regular Will Henderson has been scoring a few good Bassin the freshwater on the Rous River around Murwillumbah and Oxley River on theTweed, Will said a lot of quality fish are coming off the top water with somegreat surface bite action. Will has also been finding a couple of solidMangrove Jack working Zman Minnowz in Calico Candy around the Barneys PointBridge and Terranora Lake.

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters has been catching nice Tuskfish, SandWhiting, Winter Whiting, Spangled Emperor, Grassy Emperor, Flounder, Bream,Tarwhine, and plenty of Squid in the past week in the southern Broadwater.Clint has been using metal vibes, yabbies and fresh squid.
Brad has been getting some big flathead despite the hot conditions, with biggerlures tempting them. The surface lures have been accounting for Whiting,Queenfish, Trevally and Flathead. Brad said the best areas to fish will beupstream of Chinderah, and the deeper holes where the water is a bit cooler anddarker.

Hope you all have a good weekend and get out for a fish, if you have any greatcatches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know howyou went.

Coomera Houseboat Holidays/Coomera Bait & Tackle now have Hire Tinniesfollow the link to view http://www.coomerahouseboats.com.au/our… e-tinnies/
Seabreeze is a great website to access a local forecast http://www.seabreeze.com.au/graphs/
If you have any great catches to report or fishing photos please email them to brett@coomerahouseboats.com.au

Good luck with the Fishing, Brett

Coomera Bait & Tackle operates with Coomera Houseboat Holidays. We areopen 7 days a week offering a great range of Fishing Tackle Gold Coast for ourlocal area as well as bait & ice. We have the experience and localknowledge to get you out catching fish in no time. We offer off street parkingand also a courtesy jetty for customers arriving by boat. Call 07 5502 6200
Coomera Houseboat Holidays Website www.coomerahouseboats.com.au
Coomera Bait & Tackle Website http://coomera-bait-and-tackle.business.site/
Coomera Bait & Tackle Facebook page www.facebook.com/CoomeraBaitandTackle
Coomera Houseboat Holidays Face Book page www.facebook.com/CoomeraHouseboatHolidays

Proudly brought to you by:
Fisho Tackle and Coomera Houseboat Holidays now have Hire Tinnies follow the link to view http://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/

If you have any great catches to report or fishing photos please email them to brett@fishotackle.com.au Good luck with the Fishing. Brett.

Fisho Tackle operates with Coomera Houseboat Holidays. We offer a great range of Fishing Tackle on the Gold Coast for our local area as well as bait & ice. We have the experience and local knowledge to get you out catching fish in no time. We offer off street parking and also a courtesy jetty for customers arriving by boat. Call 07 5502 6200

Coomera Houseboat Holidays Website www.coomerahouseboats.com.au Fisho Tackle Website https://fishotackle.business.site
Fisho Tackle Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FishoTackle/ Coomera Houseboat Holidays Face Book page www.facebook.com/CoomeraHouseboatHolidays

Gold Coast and Tweed Report (2024)

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Report 29/8/19

Report 23/8/19

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Report 26/7/19

Report 18/7/19

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Report 31/5/19

Report 24/5/19

Report 17/5/19

Report 10/5/19

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Report 26/4/19

Report 19/4/19

Report 12/4/19

Report 5/4/19

Report 29/3/19

Report 21/3/19

Report 15/3/19

Report 8/3/19

Report 1/3/19

Report 21/2/19

Report 15/2/19

Report 8/2/19

Report 31/1/19

Report 25/1/19

Report 18/1/19

References