THIS WEEK’S GOLD COAST AND TWEED ESTUARY FISHING REPORT
22 August 2019 fishing report
TWEED RIVER by Smithy
Hi guys, there is no doubt that the old saying “August is the windy month” is true with Westerlies being the dominant wind .
In saying this we have had some great weather and the water temperature is on the rise which means i will be starting to do a bit more surface lure fishing in the near future.
We have had the odd bream rise and take the MMD splash prawns and Bassday Sugapens but no luck at this stage getting a whiting or flattie to rise off the bottom. They will with the oncoming summer months.
The most consistent results have still been coming from trolling the shallows and fishing the bait schools in the deeper holes for flatties. We did get on to a school of trevally, queenfish and tailor over the weekend. Although they were all very small they did provide some fun on light gear. To catch these juvenile size fish is a healthy sign for the waterway with the big giant trevally usually arriving and destroying the bait population from october onwards.
GOLD COAST RIVERS by Clinto
I noticed the average water temp increasing this week and more bait fish present in the Gold Coast broadwater.
It looks like jack season will start early and be a good, long one, especially if we get some decent amounts of rainfall in Spring.
We have been catching tailor, flathead, flounder, the odd squid, bream, tarwine, squire, and a few tuskfish on our charters this week. Our guests have enjoyed keeping a few for dinner, flathead, whiting, squid, and flounder are all delicious to eat.
Best lures have been Ecogear ZX40 colours 440, 447 and 415, as well as Zerek fishtraps in Fat Betty and Olive Guppy colours. It pays to smear a drop of Sax scent goldprawn over your vibes to attract that return bite when fish miss the hooks.
The most consistent spot has been the area between South and North Currigee along South Stradbroke island, in the early mornings.
An effective technique when 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 are schooled up it helps you find “nests” of feeding flathead. You can then stop and cast at them with lures.
Using minnow hardbody lures, tap over and around sandbanks in 0.5 to 2.5m depth at a speed of less than 2 knots.
Pontoon 21 crackjack 48 SP DR and Ecogear SX48 lures are as good as any at smashing flathead, we have both these lures available in packs at our facebook store here:
https://m.facebook.com/bradsmithfishingcharters/shop
We use these particular go to colours every day on our Gold Coast and Tweed river fishing charters.
If you’d like a custom order put together get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.
The coming week features neap tides so it’s best to focus efforts near the river mouths where there’ll be more run. The reef area between wavebreak island and the Southern end of South Stradbroke island near the seaway is a good spot in these conditions, for snapper, bream and flathead.
Also try along both edges of the main channel between the seaway and Crab island, and on the edges of weedbeds around Crab island.
Cheers and chat next week,
Smithy & Clinto
https://manychat.com/l1/bradsmithfishingcharters
To book your private charter guaranteed to catch fish on lures:
SMS 0432 900 302
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