Fishing Bliss on a Houseboat Hire Holiday and More

As we head towards the weekend the swell was forecast to ease, the wind was also due to ease and tend more E/NE, with some rain also expected to fall. Depending on how much rain we get it might be worth soaking a few crab pots for a feed of Mud Crabs.

It may be worth a look offshore this weekend, at the time of writing the report the swell looks like easing and the wind dropping but a bit of rain on the way, just make sure you check the latest forecast before heading out.

Tuna and Mac

Reports of good catches of Spotted Mackerel are good news for fishos keen to get out and catch a feed. The bait has been pretty well spread out between the bait grounds out to the 24 fathom reef off the seaway the past week or so and this is attracting schools of predators including Spotted Mackerel, Striped Tuna, Mac Tuna and Yellow Tuna sometimes all swimming together making each cast a bit of a lucky dip. Some of the Spotties are a pretty good size and put up a great fight. Keep an eye out for any surface action and birds diving as these are tell-tale signs on predatory fish actively feeding on a bait school. The best way to fish the school is to try to get down-current and let them come to you, if you drive too close or over the school they will spook. Try to match the hatch as close as possible, this means choosing the correct size lure to cast, a mixture of metal slugs, surface walkers, surface poppers and soft plastics. The predators get fixated on the school of bait and will generally not hit a lure that is too big or too small. It is a great visual way to fish and very rewarding to get a surface hook up. If the surface action settles down it is always worth having a drop on the 18 or 24 fathoms reefs for Snapper, Spangled Emperor, Moses Perch, Tusk Fish, Trag Jew, Silver Jew, Maori Cod and Cobia.

Houseboat Fishing

Good quality Whiting like the elbow slapper Eric caught on his houseboat holiday are being caught the past week on live bloodworms, beachworm and yabbies for bait. The rivers continue to produce the best quality fish in the mid 30 to 40cm size range, which are great fun to catch on light tackle. They never give up pulling line all the way to the boat or shore if you are land based. The esplanade of the Broadwater from Paradise Point, Runaway Bay all the way through to Labrador will offer good land-based fishing for a feed of tasty Whiting. If you are fishing land based, I use the same approach as when I’m in a boat, fish a certain length of the bank, if you don’t get a bite or a legal fish after 15 minutes just keep moving along until you find fish actively feeding. Some other good spots to fish are the ever-reliable Nerang River, Wave Break Island, Coomera River, Pimp ama River, Jacobs Well Shoals, Bedrooms, Cabbage Tree Point and the Logan River. Keep the gear as light as possible and a good tip is not strike at the fish when you are getting a bite, just let them hook themselves.

Fishing Structures

The hot weather so far during March has been good for fishos chasing Mangrove Jack on the Tweed and Gold Coast. Once the weather starts to cool down during Autumn, they will tend to go off the bite. Fishing heavy structures during the night (in the past week or so) has seen some very solid fish caught like the one Callum Woodbury managed to land in the Nerang River. Mangrove are dirty fighters and can pull line of a reel at a great rate of knots even if you struggle to pull line off by hand. You must be in go mode all the time when fishing structure like rock bars, rock walls, bridges, jetties, pontoons and fallen trees. If you give them an inch you will be busted off in a second on the structure. Live Mullet, Herring, Silver Biddies, Pike and Winter Whiting are all prime baits. Mullet Fillet and dead Poddy Mullet also make great bait and will usually get a bite if the fish are at home. Try the Tweed River, Currumbin Creek, Tallebudgera Creek, Runaway Bay Canals, Coomera River, Jacobs Well and the Logan River.

QUOTES FROM THE BOATS 

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports:

“I had a few days off the water this week, but I still put in a couple of days on the water. The barometer was once again very low as it has been for the best part of this month which really makes the bite slow, but with hard work comes success. Deep water jigging proved to be the most successful technique and provided us with a mixture of Flatties, Bream, Grunter, Tarwhine and small School Jew.”

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports:

“The fishing this week has again been challenging but as Smithy said, with hard work comes success and we have to grind it out to find fish. I did have some good bite sessions with one day producing a number of legal Flathead using MMD soft prawn vibes on the shallow flats, and other days fishing deeper using the same lures plus yabbies and Ecogear Zx40 blades and catching Jewfish, Trevally, Flathead, Tuskfish, Flounder, Snapper and Winter Whiting.”

Gavin from Sea Probe Fishing Charters reports:

“Mackerel, Stripe Tuna and Yellowfin schools have been great off the coast only a few miles out, spinning and trolling for them have been working well a lot of fun on light tackle. Dolphinfish are starting to show up on the fads again and Wahoo on the 36 and 50 fathom lines.”

LINKS & INFO

If you have any great catches or photos you would like to share, please email us and let us know how you went. brett@coomerahouseboats.com.au or brett@fishotackle.com.au     

Stay up to date with all fishing regulations in Queensland https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries

Fisho Tackle and Coomera Houseboat Holidays now have Hire  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/  

Good luck with the Fishing. Brett