Fishing Report – 9 February 2023 

The full moon this week combined with big tides and a persistent moderate to strong South Easterly wind has made conditions a bit tough for everyone fishing on the Tweed and Gold Coast. As we head into the weekend the swell is tipped to jump, making offshore conditions bad – especially with the current state of the Gold Coast Seaway. Sunday looks like the pick of the days with the wind tending from a strong SE to a moderate N/NW, giving you a nice little window to have a look in sheltered water for a feed. Let’s have a look at what’s been happening this week.

Given the conditions for the weekend, chasing a feed of Whiting from the protected rivers, estuaries and canals from the Gold and Tweed Coast will be a great option with some fantastic quality fish being caught the past week. Some sheltered areas to have a look are the Tweed River, Tallebudgera Creek, Currumbin Creek, Nerang River, Coomera River both South and North Arms, Pimpama River, Jacobs Well and the Logan River all offer spots to fish with protection from the wind.

Time to Fish

I normally find that the fishing is at its best either a few days before, or a few days after the full moon. The weekend will be a good time to try your luck. Try to time your trip for after a tide change, Whiting will bite best when the water has plenty of tidal flow. The water flow tends to stir up the bottom and assists the fish to expose their food source helping them to feed for longer periods in a certain area. It pays to have a good hunt around when you are chasing Whiting, the schools will tend to move around a bit, spend 15 to 30 minutes in each spot until you can find better numbers of fish to target. Sometimes you don’t have to move far to find the school if they move on, it’s quite common to find them just 50 to 100m meters away.

Bait, What?

Quality bait is a must have when targeting bigger fish, live bloodworms, beach worms and yabbies all make great bait. During the warmer months I still think the better sized fish are more commonly caught at night, if you are willing to put in the effort it’s worth it when you land a 40+cm fish. Another tip is not to strike at the fish too early, especially when using worms for bait, Whiting will tend to chew on the worms for much longer I just let them hook themselves majority of the time. A light estuary outfit with a sensitive tip will work best, matched with a small alvey or spin reel spooled with 6 to 9lb mono, a long 6lb fluro carbon trace, sized 6 or 4 bait holder hook depending on what bait you are using and a size 3 to 5 ball sinker to keep your bait on the bottom depending on the water flow.

Mangrove Jack and Jewfish

Once the swell eases try the Gold Coast Seaway entrance, the area has been fishing well the past week or so producing some great sized Jewfish and some quality Mangrove Jack, that have been schooling up before they head out offshore and make a new home on the reefs. Live baits have been working best, Pike, Herring, Mullet, Yakkas, Winter Whiting and Silver Biddies will all do the job. The best time to fish is the last 2 hours of the run-in tide, and the first 2 hours of the run out. Have a good look around on the sounder to locate bait or fish actively schooling. You will usually find activity on the pipeline and around the hole at the north wall. You will also find some Trevally and Tailor in the same area.

Bull Shark Fishing

Bull Sharks are another option to target until the weather eases, they will inhabit all waterways on the Tweed and Gold Coast. A few good spots to try the Tweed River, Nerang River, Coomera River, Pimpama River and the Logan River all hold good numbers of Sharks. Fresh water Eel is the best bait followed by Pike Eel and Mullet, I prefer to use dead baits over live bait. Try cubing up WA pilchards as a berley trail. Don’t use too much, just a few small cubes in the water at a time to get the smell going through the water column. A nylon coated wire trace between 50 to 100lb, a size 6 to 8 hook rigged on a medium to heavy outfit spooled with 20 to 30lb line will handle most of the average sized Sharks you may encounter.

QUOTES FROM THE BOATS 

Brad from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports:

“This week started well with plenty of Giant and Bigeye Trevally caught on MMD splash prawns on the surface around the middle reach of Tweed River. There were also School Jew and Flathead in the deeper holes upstream, Ecogear Breamer vibes and Ecogear ZX40’s worked well. Fishing got tougher as the week went on, it paid to get out there early to catch fish and concentrate on finding any bait in the drop offs.”

Clint from Brad Smith Fishing Charters reports:

“Mixed results this week with the hot water, but on Wednesday some cooler water moved in from the ocean bringing it down from 29 degrees to 22 degrees, then back up to 25 degrees in the Broadwater by Friday! It was quite amazing to see lots of Flathead appear with the cooler water then disappear as quickly as they had arrived in the shallows and drop offs. There was some Sand Whiting on the banks, but they were hard to find. In the channels around the reefs and wrecks we caught Moses Perch, Snapper, Tuskfish, Slateys, Flathead, Flounder, and masses of Tarwhine/ Bream. Best lures were Ecogear ZX40 in 440 colour, and Ecogear Breamer vibe in 06 colour, and Zman 2.5 inch Prawnz in Opening Night and Beer Run colours. Live Yabbies were the best bait. Best areas this week were the deep hole, Carter’s reef, and Crab Island channels.”

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